EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ALARM SYSTEMS BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK! The following is a brief discussions about alarm systems. It is hoped that these discussions will give the reader a quick and general understanding of the various components in an alarm system and to help make a distinction between a conventional ”commercial” alarm system and a ”proprietary” alarm system.

I. CONVENTIONAL (COMMERCIAL) ALARM SYSTEMS

A. HOW DOES A TYPICAL COMMERCIAL ALARM SYSTEM OPERATE?

Most commercial burglar alarm systems will use magnetic contacts to provide protection on all perimeter doors and glass break protection on vulnerable windows. Many systems will include interior protection by using motion detectors at critical locations throughout the facility. Warehouses and facilities with large expanses of overhead doors may employ photocells (IR beams) across these openings as a cost effective means of perimeter protection.

Commercial fire alarm systems will provide protection with smoke and/or heat detectors. If the building has a fire sprinkler system installed, the commercial alarm system will monitor for water flow and shut-off valve(s) position.

Commercial alarm systems will include both burglary and fire protection in one system The burglar alarm system will be turned on (armed) and turned off (disarmed) daily while the fire alarm system will remain active 24 hours/day. Most commercial alarm systems will be connected to a remote central station for monitoring and alarm response. The alarm control panel will be connected to the central station via a telephone modem built into the control panel.

B. ALARM SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Following are the major components of a conventional (commercial) alarm system This type of alarm system is one that would be commonly installed in a great number of businesses, factories, office buildings, etc.

A commercial system will include the following five (5) main components:

1. Alarm Control Panel – A microprocessor based unit used to process signals, to set up areas (zones) of protection, and to transmit all al signals to the remote monitoring central station. This is a low voltage system with battery back-up.
2. Keypads – Used to and disarm the system.
3. Sensing Devices – Field sensors used to detect an alarm condition. Typical sensors would include magnetic contacts, glass break detectors, photocells, motion detectors, smoke detectors, etc.
4. Alarm Alert Device(s) – A sounding and/or visual device used to signal that an alarm has occurred (i.e. horns, strobes, bells). Fire alarm systems must include local sounding and visual alert devices. Many commercial burglar systems are ”silent” systems with no local alert device.
5. Wiring – Low voltage cabling that allows communication among all of the above components. (Note: existing technology also allows the use of ”wireless” components!)

II. Proprietary Alarm Systems

The basic differences between proprietary and commercial alarm systems are in two areas:

1. Proprietary systems are typically used in very large plants or facilities, which have their own security personnel. As a result these systems are monitored on the premise in a dedicated monitoring/command center.
2. A proprietary system will typically integrate CCTV, access control, intrusion alarms, and fire alarms into one computer-based head-end system.

A. HOW DOES A TYPICAL PROPRIETARY ALARM SYSTEM OPERATE?

Because proprietary alarm systems are used primarily at large industrial facilities, the major concern is fire protection. These facilities will normally have numerous fire sprinkling systems with many risers and shut-off valves. Some facilities will have a dedicated fire pump (large diesel engine powered) to augment the domestic water supply pressure in event of a fire.

Most of these facilities are government by Underwriters Laboratory (UL), Factory Mutual (FM), Industrial Risk Insurers (IRI), and other large fire insurance company regulations. The proprietary fire alarm system must meet the appropriate insurance company requirements.

The proprietary alarm system will include the same types of protection discussed previously for commercial a1arm systems. Monitoring and response will be provided by an on-premise alarm system manned by on-premise &e/security personne1. Integration of access control, CCTV, and Video Badging are other common tasks which may be included within the proprietary alarm system. These multi-task systems are commonly referred to as Integrated Systems.

B. ALARM SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Most proprietary alarm systems will include the following components:

1. Computer based head-end system with:
   1. Microprocessor based central processing unit (CPU)
   2. Integrated software package with specific programs for fire/intrusion alarms, CCTV, access control and video badging including data management software
   3. Printer/video badging outputs
2. Communications – Ability to communicate over existing local area networks (LAN) and/or wide area networks (WAN)
3. Field Control Panels – (Similar to ”alarm control panels” in a conventional system)
4. Sensing Devices – (Same devices used in a conventional system)
5. Alarm Alerting Devices – (Same devices used in a conventional system. Some very large fire alarm systems must also have an approved voice evacuation system.)
6. Wiring – (Similar to wiring in a conventional system, including the use of ”wireless” components)

III. HYBRID SYSTEMS

In large chain stores, which have multiple product lines and services, the use of ”hybrid” systems has become common practice. A hybrid system incorporates some or all aspects of both conventional and proprietary systems. With hybrid systems, alarms are monitored both on premise and at a remote central station. In effect, these systems offer the end user great flexibility in the number and use of security personnel and independent control of specific departments such as pharmacy, jewelry, and cash office.

 

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