Fire Alarm Signal Transmission Times by Method
From the moment a fire alarm signal activates until the time it’s received and confirmed at the central monitoring station must take 90 seconds or less, according to NFPA 72. The three most common methods to transmit a fire alarm signal are telephone, cellular, and wireless mesh radio technology. Although all three meet the time frame requirements, their communication speed, cost, and reliability differ.
Transmission Times
It takes a telephone 45 seconds or more to deliver a fire alarm signal to the monitoring station. Similarly, cellular provides the information within 45 seconds. On average it takes a fire department over 5 minutes to arrive at the site. Since fires spread rapidly it’s critical to communicate the information to emergency services as soon as possible. Fortunately, mesh radio technology sends the fire alarm signal’s message within 1-3 seconds. This immediate signal transmission greatly reduces a fire’s chance to grow and spread throughout a facility.
Cost
Telephone and cellular both can have high monthly fees. Since telephone requires two lines it costs even more and over time the lines will require replacement. Cellular technology changes every few years and upgrading is an additional expense. But mesh radio technology has no monthly or annual fees. The radio technology will never sunset so there’s no high-priced upgrade in the future.
Reliability
Phone lines are problematic because they can jam and delay communicating critical messages. They’re also susceptible to being cut. Cellular networks can fail when there’s increased traffic and if any part of the system fails. There’s no backup to ensure the central monitoring station receives the fire alarm signal. Mesh radio networks have multiple communication paths. Each subscriber acts as a receiver, transmitter, and repeater that creates multiple ways a signal can travel to reach the monitoring station. If a subscriber is down, then the signal reroutes and utilizes a different path. Radio signals also continue to transmit during the harshest weather events such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes etc.
Signal transmission time, cost, and reliability are important factors to consider when selecting a method to communicate a fire alarm signal to a monitoring station. Phone lines and cellular networks send messages slowly to the monitoring station, have monthly fees, require expensive upgrades, and are at times unreliable. Wireless mesh radio is the fastest, most affordable, and most reliable fire alarm signal transmission technology available today.
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