Notifier Union College Case Study

Project Profile Union College College of Schenectady NY over two centuries Union College of Schenectady N Y has been one of the leading independent liberal arts colleges Its mission statement declares school is to the life of the mind A recent investment in a new fire alarm and life safety system is a testament to the school to student and staff life safety Hilton Union College Life Safety officer realized the campus systems were desperate need of an upgrade when he took on the responsibilities of fire safety in the late 90s According to Hilton the existing system was antiquated many ways lacking the intelligence and functionality of modern technology utilized copper wiring which if exposed to various environmental elements countless system troubles and false alarms WORLD HEADQUARTERS Clintonville Road cid 129 Northford CT 06472 USA 203 484 7161 cid 129 Fax 203 484 7118 time we were hit by a lighting storm explains we have problems with throughout the campus and experience of dollars worth of damage considered products from four or five before selecting a NOTIFIER system of ONYX Series NFS 640 alarm control panels provided by Alarm Suppression Inc of Glenville New York came in with something that would be to manage user friendly was cost competi and would allow us to expand in the future minimal cost says Hilton Alarm and Inc has always provided us with support and has a familiarity with our our long range plan and unique needs SOLUTION and Suppression owner Frank Clair the NFS 640 system because the flexibility and adaptability it provides a large variety of campus buildings The of many antiquated conventional with this modern addressable network greatly reduces false alarms while faster emergency response times of Union College old systems in 1999 We have upgraded close to buildings and we in the process upgrading three additional buildings right says Hilton all part of a fifteen year to upgrade the fire safety systems in of the school residential academic administrative buildings NFS 640 panels located throughout the Union College campus are networked NOTI FIRE NET This complete system provides Hilton and his team with a means of system monitoring and control of the new fire alarm systems exterior lines now run on fiber optic cable of copper wire While impervious to the of lightening fiber typically provides more trouble free fire alarm signal of all Union College fire alarm sys is done by the school own central station inside its Safety Building Dispatchers on duty 24 7 to notify municipal fire and departments as well as authorized security and facility personnel SOUND INVESTMENT plans for the Union College upgrades pro priority was given to facilities where commonly reside especially dormito During the retrofit of Richmond Hall built 1955 an ONYX ExitPoint system from was included to improve building ExitPoint system emits a broadband sound like white noise that can heard across all frequencies of the human range The sound is distinctive and does conflict with traditional fire alarm audible such as horns and bells Between the pulses optional voice instructions can be emitted instructing occupants to or to follow the down a fire alarm is initiated the NFS 640 fire control panel activates the system horns and ExitPoint devices Through intelligent the NFS 640 panel activates sounders away from the vicinity of or smoke The sequence of sounders is to prevent occupants from heading danger rather drawing them to a safe exit if located farther away unique technology behind ExitPoint allows to help occupants pinpoint the nearest exit even when visibility is impaired With than 250 student residents occupying Hall the school thought it was impera to expand its new life safety system to this directional sound technology we upgrade residential buildings with new fire systems we are definitely going to make part of the package says Hilton also look at installing ExitPoint in other build that have areas of large public assembly at least five more years remaining in the upgrade project Hilton team and and Suppression are working hard at inte NOTIFIER systems into two to three exist buildings a year Hilton maintains any future are also to include NOTIFIER systems would not open up a competitive bid for dif systems We specify with the contractor or engineer that the distributor shall be and Suppression and the system shall be states Hilton FIRST HAND EDUCATION IN FIRE SAFETY College administrators and students received a first hand education in the of the NOTIFER system when one of the rooms at Fox Hall caught fire recalls It was actually a very intense fire in the common room that was part a three room suite The girls who were in the heard a crackling noise and the fire had gone off They went into the common and saw a fire creeping up the wall At that they immediately exited and luckily shut door limiting fire damage to that room because the fire alarm system had the building was evacuated in just sec and everyone escaped with no injuries asserts NOTIFIER system did its job over 60 years NOTIFIER has been a leader in the fire alarm industry Today we are largest manufacturer of engineered fire alarm systems with over 400 distributors worldwide and support operations on every continent for the flexibility and options your business needs Leaders in Life Safety Technology