Autocall 6 Tips for Easier Fire System Management Marketing Collateral

6 Tips for Easier Fire System Management Barnes has worked on fire alarm and life safety for nearly a quarter century as a design engineer engineer and hands on technician He performed testing and inspecting everywhere from South to Afghanistan Today he a Senior Fire Alarm Security Design Specialist and NICET certified Senior Technician SET at Jacobs a multi billion dollar professional services firm major part of Barnes fire alarm management knowledge gained during his two years in Afghanistan where he an installation and service operation at Bagram Air Upon arrival he discovered that fire alarm systems not been maintained properly for some time whether was missing heads or pillows duct taped around horn because no one knew how to reset the alarms The made Jeff Barnes realize that anyone managing fire alarm system could benefit from a little timely advice are his top six recommendations 1 UNDERSTAND THE VALUE BUILT INTO SYSTEM fire alarm control units are intelligent devices with a wealth of features and capabilities that can your job easier Many of them can be programmed to testing automatically and automatically document results Control units can send you emails to inform you system troubles supervisory and alarms It important take the time to understand the capabilities of your fire control unit Be proactive don wait until something wrong What you learn will save you time resources headaches 2 TALK TO A DESIGN ENGINEER BEFORE EXPAND YOUR SYSTEM you adding onto or reconfiguring your facility you will to expand your system But before you do first talk to fire alarm design engineer design engineer can steer you away from adding onto a that may become obsolete You can avoid installing that cause maintenance problems for example a smoke detector on a vaulted ceiling which would scaffolding to maintain Your design engineer also about specialized products that are available to handle environments or situations and new products that additional value If you experiencing problems with system don be afraid to ask the design engineer for You get a solution you can live with for years and save thousands of dollars 3 KEEP TRACK OF YOUR DOCUMENTATION taking a road trip without an up to date map or GPS That what design engineers and system face too often when they are called upon to work an unfamiliar system The reason Too often as built are lost or misfiled as builts are the design engineer CAD PDF drawings the fire alarm system configuration updated with the installer notes and additions As such they provide information for anyone working to service or the system Without the drawings it hard to add the existing system and makes things harder to find hours of wasted time and creating opportunities unnecessary costs For example without an as built set a design engineer expanding a system has no of knowing how much power capacity is available This lead the engineer to specify an unnecessary and costly panel or amplifier just to be sure other cases as built document sets are not updated new work is done so the person who called to or update the system would not be working from most current version of the system layout line Keep all as built document set drawings in a location and have them updated in their native file whenever the system has been modified It will save time and expense And while you at it keep all of manufacturer specifications instructions and cut and store them where you can find them 4 READ YOUR MAINTENANCE MANUAL fire alarm systems require regular maintenance to ensure protection and avoid annoying nuisance alarms the maintenance requirements are contained in the code book and available for free viewing via the there are specific instructions on when to perform that on your fire alarm system can avoid many future problems if you adhere to the requirements and perform them correctly at intervals Can locate the maintenance manual to your manufacturer website and download a PDF of the manual to your tablet computer so you always it handy 5 COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR may be thinking your management or building owner more important things to worry about than the status the fire alarm system but it essential that you keep apprised of any potential issues or vulnerabilities well maintained fire alarm system may function effectively decades but chances are there will be situations that that will require capital investments You don want wait until a major problem has occurred to bring your up to date Communicate regularly with your about the condition of the fire alarm system that they can plan ahead and ensure that funds are for upgrades improvements and system when you need them 6 KNOW WHO TO CALL not alone when it comes to managing your fire alarm You have access to a number of qualified experts willing and able to support you top priority is to know whom to call for service Get to your service representative and take advantage of their calls to ask any questions you may have about the and caring for it also pays to turn to your fire alarm system salesperson advice and guidance Yes their primary responsibility to sell but most of them are trustworthy people with knowledge If they tell you your system is it because they want to ensure that you well Otherwise when something breaks you may find spare parts are no longer available important but manageable job Jeff Barnes perspective there no reason why fire system management should be difficult or resource With a little foresight education and periodic care can easily ensure that your fire alarm system continues protect lives and property panels and notification and detection can also make managing your fire system and more efficient To learn more about visit www autocall com Johnson Controls Inc Box 423 Milwaukee WI 53201 rights reserved worldwide displayed are for visual representation only Actual products may vary in USA US ON SOCIAL Fire Detection Systemsfirealarmresources com