October 2016 www.SecurityInfoWatch.com / Security Dealer & Integrator 67
72, only an authorized person on site
with a PIN could report an actual fire
(smoke, heat, flames, etc.) at the pro-
tected property. e 2016 edition now
allows anyone the operator reaches at
the site to inform them of a "true fire."
It remains in both editions that only
authorized personnel on site using a
PIN can verify a false/unwanted alarm
and stop the operator's dispatch of the
local FD. Both editions also state if
the operator cannot determine from
talking to on-site persons if a true fire
emergency exists, the operator must
call the local FD and report the fire
alarm signal just in case — all within
90 seconds.
I think the title of this new section
is misleading, since no one is actually
trying to verify an alarm signal; and to
further complicate matters, we already
have the term "alarm verification" used
in regards to smoke detectors. A better
Request information: www.SecurityInfoWatch.com/10486354 Request information: www.SecurityInfoWatch.com/10486354 Request information: www.SecurityInfoWatch.com/10486354 Request information: www.SecurityInfoWatch.com/10486354
section title might be: "Fire Emergency
Verification" or "Occupant Verification
of a Fire Emergency."
Whatever it is called, this third step
will definitely add more time before
a dispatch can occur. It is possible
that inspectors finding your calls not
coming in quickly enough may not
be aware of all the requirements sur-
rounding this communication process.
Using a butt set to listen in on a
DACT transmission process at the
site during the first transmission step
could at least make you aware of a
communicator glitch early on.
When the digital information
leaves the protected premise, there
are some signal paths along the way
to the fire department that could
become delay points.
Usually, it is how the final alarm
notification call is handled by the telco
and/or dispatch center for which you
and the monitoring company cannot
be held responsible. Given that the
adopted code allows for the two com-
munication steps, no inspector should
require a fire department notification
time of less than three minutes.
Starting with the adoption of the
2013 or 2016 edition of NFPA 72, the
fire department could require on site
verification that could make that wait
time up to 4.5 minutes. ■
»
Greg Kessinger is SD&I;'s fire
alarm and codes expert and a regular
contributor. Please email him your fire &
life safety questions at greg@firealarm.org.
Editor's Note: Take a look
at Greg Kessinger's detailed
flow chart of this situation
in the online version of this
article: www.securityinfowatch.
com/12260390.