Security Dealer & Integrator

OCT 2016

Find news and information for the executive corporate security director, CSO, facility manager and assets protection manager on issues of policy, products, incidents, risk management, threat assessments and preparedness.

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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.

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