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Message from the CEO Spring 2010 Communication Advancements Kevin Allison, General Manager, is stepping in for this edition of the Fire Monitoring of Canada Inc. CEO message. As the landscape of communication technologies continues to change in North America many of us begin to reflect upon just how these changes have and will continue to affect the security industry, but perhaps more importantly the certified fire alarm monitoring market. A push for the utilization of the newer, faster, and less expensive communication methods continue to be the buzz that we hear in the market, at industry trade shows, and the various association meetings. However, while these three facets that I’ve touched on continue to receive the buzz I but wonder about three others; reliability, practicality, and the ability to certify the technology. In the climate of the fire alarm monitoring industry we must ensure to the highest level of assurance that the technology in which we have utilized at a given property to deliver those signals generated by the local fire alarm system to our Signal Receiving Centre are going to arrive within the specified time frame as referenced in CAN/ULC-S561-03. If for some uncontrollable reason they cannot be transmitted in that specified time frame we must be able to identify the failure to communicate within that specified time frame in order to advise the customer of such a disturbance in their services. For decades now in Canada, we have readily employed the use of DVACS communication technologies in order to facilitate our fire alarm monitoring communications. It is an active form of communication which is completely independent of any of the other services within a building. However, today outside factors continue to push integrators away from the use of the technology, to include cost and ability to certify some of the products. Many of us experienced the changeover of the analog cellular services to the current GSM methods. This conversion allowed for improved communication services. As a result of the introduction of this technology many of the manufacturers have combined the GSM cellular communicators with their existing analog telephone communicators to create a combination non-redundant form of fire alarm monitoring communications which may be CAN/ULC-S561-03 certified (dependent on CAN/ULC-S559 listing of equipment). This raises yet another question though, what if analog telephone goes by the way of the analog cellular network. Where do we go from there? Yes, the internet is prevalent in many of our customers’ buildings today, but are the property managers and building owners willing to install the internet service in their buildings for fire alarm monitoring when they do not have an office in that building. Typically they are not. It brings us back to the question about DVACS, the tried and tested method of communications for fire alarm monitoring that has been readily used for decades now. There are several manufacturers who will no longer submit their DVACS panel/communicators for CAN/ULC-S559 listing. However, there continue to be others who do. This technology has not left us…not for now. Until we see a new communication technology which truly equals that of DVACS in the three facets which I referenced above; reliability, practicality, and the ability to certify the technology, DVACS will continue to exist. The manufacturers understand the demand and are actively pursuing the development of an alternative, but the creation of an active form of communication which can compete with the reliability and cost of DVACS remains unmatched. I wish them luck, and I am excited to experience their alternative when it becomes reality. Unfortunately, the reality is that it does not exist quite yet. For more information on the acceptable methods of CAN/ULC-S561-03 certified fire alarm monitoring please feel free to contact us. Kevin Allison, H.BSc. |