What Is Fire Alarm Monitoring?
Have you ever wondered how the fire department knows there’s an alarm going off in your building? Let’s show you how:
The fire alarm in your building is designed for one reason: to recognize a fire and notify people in the building to” get out”. A fire alarm system is great at what it does but, it is NOT designed to let the fire department know that an alarm has been activated.
This is where Fire Monitoring of Canada comes in. Without FMC or companies such as FMC, monitoring your fire alarm or sprinkler, the fire department won’t know the alarm is sounding unless someone from the building remembers to call 9-1-1. If no one is at the building, the fire department may never know until it’s too late.
How Does Fire Alarm Monitoring Work?
To achieve this, FMC installs a separate piece of equipment in your building to relay alarm information to our ULC-listed Signals Receiving Centre. These signals are relayed through any combination of phone line, cellular, IP, or other ULC- approved methods of communication.
The alarm signals are received at our Signals Receiving Centre in receivers, which our operators handle through our alarm monitoring automation software. Alarms are presented to our operators with your building’s information, and this is what they use to dispatch the fire department and notify the building’s keyholders.
Once the alarm is received, FMC will call the appropriate fire department, verbally relay the alarm and building information to the fire department dispatcher, who will then dispatch the trucks to your location. As per ULC standards, FMC has 30 seconds to notify the fire department of the alarm, and cannot verify the alarm prior to notifying the fire department.
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At FMC, our goal is to reduce response times and ensure the prompt notification of first responders.
If you have more questions about how fire alarm monitoring works in conjunction with your fire alarm panel, do not hesitate to contact us.
Fire Monitoring of Canada has been a leader in fire monitoring and security monitoring industry for over 30 years. Trust the experts and give your property the protection it deserves. Call us at 1 866 789 FIRE (3473), email fminfo@fire-monitoring.com, or fill out the contact form below for more information.