Why Does My Business Need a Commercial-Grade Fire Alarm System?
We all know that businesses and homes must have a Fire Alarm System as local, state, and federal building codes require them. And companies, no matter their size, need a commercial-grade system to pass inspection and protect occupants from a possible fire. Business fires cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damages every year, so ensuring you get the right system for your type of structure is of the utmost importance.
The codes from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the different laws and regulations that vary from city to city can make for a complicated and overwhelming decision to make on your own. That is where our expertise can help, as we are well versed in designing, installing, monitoring, and inspecting Fire Alarm Systems from the leading vendors in the business.
FIRE ALARM SYSTEM BENEFITS
Save lives and allow you to keep your employees, customers, and tenants safe
Mitigate asset and building damage
In many cases, Fire Alarms can reduce the cost of your insurance
Keep your business up to local, state, and federal building code standards
Quick response times by first responders when linked to a monitoring center
FIRE ALARM SYSTEM FEATURES
Instant notification to emergency personnel
Immediate audible and visible mass notification to alert building occupants
Addressable systems can pinpoint the exact location of a fire in your building
Can be integrated with other building protection systems like access control and security systems to increase building security and fire response times
There are Three Different Types of Commercial Fire Alarm Systems
CONVENTIONAL FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS
As the name implies, conventional Fire Alarm Systems are traditional systems that link all initiating devices back to the control panel via wire and are set up in zones. Zones can give firefighters an approximate location where a fire has started, but not the exact location.
ADDRESSABLE FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS
Addressable Fire Alarm Systems are digital systems where each initiating device has an address and is connected on one wire back to the control panel. The significant advantage of these systems is that those addresses allow you and the fire department to know the triggered device’s exact location. This additional information can save precious seconds and preserve life and property during an event.
HYBRID FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS
Hybrid Fire Alarm Systems combine the hardwired zone features of a conventional design with the addressable loops of addressable systems into a single panel. These systems are put into place when the characteristics of either a conventional or addressable system do not meet the needs of a building type or business.
What Makes Up a Commercial Fire Alarm System?
Commercial Fire Alarm Systems are comprised of the following:
CONTROL PANEL
The control panel monitors input from the attached devices, maintains system integrity, and sends out information back to the connected devices.
POWER SUPPLIES
You have to have both a primary and secondary (backup) source of power for your commercial-grade system.
INITIATING DEVICES
Initiating devices are the components that are responsible for the detection of the fire itself. There are two kinds of initiating devices. One is automatic, which are the detectors that can measure smoke, heat, C02, and flames. The second is manual, which requires a person to initiate them like a pulling station or alarm button.
NOTIFICATION DEVICES
Notification devices are responsible for alerting building occupants to the danger of a fire. There are different kinds of notification devices like sirens, speakers, and strobes (flashing lights).
BUILDING SAFETY INTERFACES
Building safety interfaces are components that help a person exit a building safely like exit lighting, magnetic smoke door holders/retainers, and ventilation systems that pull toxic smoke from a building.
OTHER COMPONENTS
Other components include sprinklers, remote display panels, two-way communication devices, fire doors, and elevator recall functionality to send the cabs to the first floor of a building so emergency service personnel can access them. You can also integrate your Fire Alarm System into other building protection systems for advanced functionality.
Monitoring, Inspections, and Preventative Maintenance
Having your Fire Alarm System connected to a monitoring service is critical to make sure you are getting the most out of your system and to keep people, property, and assets as safe as possible. We offer system monitoring to our customers to provide them with comprehensive system experience. We are also licensed to perform system inspections, which are not only required by the government, but they also can reveal any deficiencies in your system. Once these deficiencies are identified, our NICET licensed and trained fire alarm experts can quickly and cost-effectively get your system back to full working order.
Fire Alarm System Integration
When you integrate your Fire Alarm System with other building protections systems such as Burglar Alarm, Surveillance Cameras, and Access Control, you can enhance your overall system performance, security, smart office functionality, and save money.
For example, your Surveillance Cameras can help you and the monitoring center visually confirm a fire near the initiating device. Overall, security can be improved when employees can lock office doors, which can help slow down the spread of a fire and slow down intruders in the case of building security. You can save money by consolidating all of your building protection services to a single vendor. System integration is one of our most requested solutions, and we have helped save our customers hundreds of thousands of dollars by tying all of their building protection systems together.