Fire Alarm Control Panel
This box houses the brains of your fire alarm system and acts as a central point for communication and the relay of information. From here, signals are received from your devices (such as smoke detectors or pull stations) and alarms are sent to our monitoring center and your notification appliances (strobe lights and speakers) in the building. Because of our relationship with Honeywell, a trusted name in the fire alarm industry, we are proud to offer their Vista series of equipment. For those who prefer other brands, our team is also trained to install, service, and monitor systems from Firelite, Silent Knight, Wheel Lock, Potter, and Farenhyt.
Initiating Devices
These are the pieces of equipment that signal the alarm when they sense a fire. Automatically actuated devices are always on the lookout for danger; detecting smoke, heat, flames, or water flow detectors in sprinkler systems. These devices don't rely on human interaction and operate even when no one is in the building. On the other hand, manually actuated devices send alarm signals to the control panel when a person tells it to. These devices include the commonly seen pull stations, break glass stations, call points, or fire alarm boxes. Code requirements, as well as your unique needs, determine how many of these initiating devices are needed and their placement.
Notification Appliances
When an alarm is tripped, notification appliances are the devices that alert anyone at the sight of a fire threat using lights, sirens, or other audio. The commonly seen strobe light is a good example of an appliance that combines two forms of notification in one small device. Often the flashing light is accompanied by a speaker built into the unit, which can play either an alarm siren, pre-recorded message, or live audio instructing those in the building on what to do.