A fire alarm system has two critical roles in the event of an emergency. To alert the building’s occupants to get to safety and to contact the fire department. All fire alarm systems must perform the first function. But only some facilities must utilize fire alarm monitoring. So why should all facilities take advantage of this feature known as fire alarm monitoring and how does a fire alarm alert the authorities about the problem?

Benefits of Utilizing Fire Alarm Monitoring

Some facilities view fire alarm monitoring as another monthly expense. They won’t adopt it unless the code requires it. But fire alarm monitoring takes advantage of the fire alarms ability to detect a situation. It makes the problem known to the fire department that can solve the problem. When there’s a situation monitoring alerts the authorities so there’s no need to dial 911. In the event of an emergency every second counts, and it’s important to get first responders on the scene immediately. This helps to save lives and reduces the risk of property damage. But how does the fire alarm system alert authorities about the problem?

How Does It Work?

When the fire alarm system senses a trouble or fire event it sends a signal to a central monitoring station that identifies the problem. Then the central station dispatches the fire department and contacts the person in charge of the facility about the issue. This all happens within moments of the event occurring which gets first responders to the scene as soon as possible.

Even though fire alarm monitoring isn’t required in all facilities it’s still an important added function of a fire alarm system. All fire alarm systems will alert the building’s occupants to get to safety but a monitored system will reduce the fire department’s response time. Alerting first responders of the problem as soon as it takes place helps to save lives and property.

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