How Does Fire Alarm Monitoring Work?

Mammoth Takeaways

• 24/7 Protection: Fire alarm monitoring offers around-the-clock surveillance, ensuring your property is always protected against fire threats, even when unoccupied.
• Automatic Emergency Response: These systems quickly alert authorities and designated contacts, enabling a faster response to mitigate damage and ensure safety.
• Enhanced Fire Detection: Advanced fire alarm systems can detect fires at early stages, reducing potential damage and increasing safety for occupants.

A fire can destroy property and lives. And even worse it can spread quickly.

So, how do you protect against the threat of fire so that your business, assets, and employees are safe?

Fire alarm monitoring adds a layer of security to a building that not only warns people of a fire in progress, but also notifies the proper authorities.

What is Fire Alarm Monitoring?

You may be wondering what fire alarm monitoring is, and that’s a good question. The term refers to the process of having an installed fire alarm system connected to a monitoring station for 24/7 coverage. What this means is that your company is protected against fire damage every hour of every day. Much like how a central burglar alarm is connected to a monitoring center, so are these types of fire alarms.

Benefits of Fire Alarm Monitoring

Fires can start in a variety of ways and in a multitude of locations. Sometimes fires can even start behind walls due to faulty wiring, where no one can even see it. Luckily, fire alarm systems are able to detect most types of fires early, meaning less damage and less spread.

There will be times when your business is unattended, such as overnight. Fire Alarm Monitoring means that your equipment is constantly watching for hazards when you can’t, and if something does occur, a monitoring service can notify you and call the fire department.

Types of Fire Alarm Systems

Manual Call Point

A manual call point, which is also called a ‘pull station’, is a physical device with a lever that can manually activate the fire alarm. These boxes are often located in very public locations for ease of access for the tenants of the building. The box in which it is housed is usually red or yellow for easy visibility.

Light-Scattering Smoke Detector

As suggested by the name, these smoke detectors use a beam of light to detect particles. When the beam of light is disrupted between the origin and the sensor, the alarm is activated. These types of detectors are also referred to as “photoelectric detectors.” These models are most effective with smoldering or slow-burning fires.

Ionization Smoke Detector

Using a trivial amount of radioactive material, specifically Americium-241, these detectors generate a small electric current in the unit. When smoke is present, the field is disrupted, and the alarm is activated. Ionization detectors work best on flaming fires, which produce large flames and less smoke.

Combination Smoke Detector

These smoke detectors are equipped with both ionization detectors and photoelectric detectors. These are considered the most comprehensive and are often able to mitigate false alarms which photoelectric are prone to.

Heat Detector

A heat detector is a piece of technology that is activated by heat. There are two modes. One, rate-of-rise detectors, sense a sudden increase in temperature denoting a fire. The other, called fixed-temperature detectors, can be set at a specific threshold so that when a certain temperature is passed, the alarm activates. There are also units that possess both of these modes.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless, poisonous gas. This gas is a byproduct of carbon-based burning materials such as wood, charcoal, natural gas, propane, and coal.

There are two varieties of carbon monoxide detectors. The first is electrochemical, which works by producing a chemical reaction that is able to detect the presence of carbon in the air. The other type is a biometric CO detector.

Using a high-precision sensor, this unit functions by detecting changes on a disk coated with a special gel that reacts to the presence of carbon monoxide. This gel mimics how human blood reacts to the gas, and when the gel changes color, the alarm is activated.

Components of Fire Alarm Monitoring Systems

Like any sophisticated piece of sensing technology, fire alarms and their monitoring are part of a network that communicates in order to detect and alert of a possible fire.

Fire Alarm Control Panel (FACP): This hub functions as the control station of the fire alarm system. This panel receives all the connected sensor data, processes it, and activates alarms and/or contacts the authorities. This device can also be referred to as a Fire Indicator Panel (FIP) or Fire Alarm Control Unit (FACU).

Smoke Detectors: As mentioned previously, these are sensors, either photoelectric or ionized, which use unique processes to detect the presence of carbon in the air.

Heat Detectors: These are temperature-related sensors that monitor the rate of temperature increase or if a temperature surpasses a set limit.

Manual Pull Stations: A physical device that can be activated by an individual by pulling down on the attached lever. This action will immediately initiate the alarm.

Notification Devices: This term refers to the pieces of equipment which emit a warning either visually or audibly. It can include options such as strobes, bells, sirens, and even voice alerts regarding evacuation procedures or a combination of these.

Power Supply: Simply put, this is how the alarm system is powered. There is often a main power supply that is hooked up directly to an electrical grid access plug and a backup system that is battery-based in case of power outages.

Remote Access Control: Some modern configurations are equipped with remote access and control, which is connected to a smart or mobile device. This allows for remote monitoring, testing, and mobile alerts in case of an activated alarm.

Annunciator Panels: These are additional information panels around a property that display the current status of the fire alarm.

Suppression system connections: More advanced fire alarms may implement suppression system integrations. This means that when an alarm is activated, the unit speaks with connected technology that may activate sprinklers, smother the fire through gaseous means, or activate fire doors.

Communication devices: Sometimes fire alarm systems are connected to the building management software. These devices communicate with the software in order to perform actions such as disabling elevator access.

Monitoring Center: This is the data and call center that is receiving the alarm notification. These centers look at and interpret any available data, reach out to the system's main contact, and dispatch the fire department and police if necessary.

Alarm Activation and Transmission

The activation and transmission of data regarding a fire alarm incident is a relatively straightforward progression of steps.

Alarm Pull Stations or Activation of Detectors

The first step in the process involves the alarm being activated, either by the manual action of using a pull station or the smoke or heat detectors sensing a fire.

Alarm Signals

Once the alarm has been informed of the threat of a fire, it enacts the strobes, sirens, and vocal instructions if programmed. This presents a visual and audible notification that there is a fire in progress and the building should be evacuated.

Transmission to Central Monitoring Stations

Simultaneously the fire alarm monitoring system connects to the central monitoring station to report the incident. From there the station will reach out to the appropriate individuals including the property owner and the authorities, if necessary.

Communication Methods in Fire Alarm Monitoring

In order for the fire alarm system to function properly, it requires a series of communication routes in order to receive, display, and submit data regarding the sensors.

Phone Lines

Although becoming more of a thing of the past, some units use physical telephone lines to communicate information. The one benefit is the reliability of a physical connection.

Cellular

Units using cellular communicate via electromagnetic waves that are located in specific bands of frequency. These transmissions are often modulated to encrypt data and ensure a secure transmission from point A to point B. Although convenient and often reliable, this method is subject to possible disruptions in the environment, such as distance or competing frequencies.

Wireless Systems & Internet Protocol (IP)

Some modern devices use the internet to communicate with a monitoring center. Even more, some buildings have fire alarms that communicate over the intranet to send notifications about occurrences and locations. This method can also involve the use of wireless signals, which are not recommended for a fire alarm system due to the risk of interference or a down network.

Alarm Monitoring Benefits

So why is a fire alarm system with monitoring better than just a regular smoke alarm?

Detection of Fire or Emergency Events

More substantial systems that usually incorporate an alarm monitoring service are usually more comprehensive. This more detailed and layered approach enables the technology to sense fires or fire-related dangers quicker than some standard smoke alarms.

Alarm Activation and Signal Transmission

Once the system is activated, it can quickly react and respond to threats. Meanwhile, the alarms and strobes provide warnings for those in the immediate vicinity.

Central Monitoring Station Response & Emergency Services Dispatch

Meanwhile, the system is alerting trained techs and fire officials for a faster response to mitigate damage. This can greatly reduce the physical and financial destruction and is especially helpful if there is no one on site to hear the activated alarm.

Mammoth Conclusion

Your business is important, and you deserve the best in security and fire protection.

Mammoth Security has years of experience and expertly trained technicians who know the ins and outs of the technology they work with.

Reach out to our friendly sales team today to schedule a no-cost, free onsite consultation!