As we discussed last week, smoke will trigger a fire alarm, but that alarm just makes a noise and/or flashes a strobe light. It doesn’t indicate a fire’s location or provide a route to the nearest exit. Stand-alone alarms like this are inadequate because they don’t provide critical details. But we know that specificity matters.
A situational awareness system processes triggering events, automatically converting random alarms into detailed alerts, including department names, wings, floors, room numbers, for delivery to the appropriate response teams. These “modes and actions” are customized to each facility with vector mapping enabling location data to be included in any alert.
Video-enabling your alarms adds yet another level of specificity to alerts. Video paging through SARA’s eMessenger better informs responses and protects business continuity. For example, an overflowing toilet in a restroom will set in motion a much different alerting and response plan than a flood in a server room.
Giving SARA “eyes” through security camera integration enables live video streams to be viewed from desktops and mobile devices. Photos and maps also can be associated with a triggering event, up to four data streams in effect.
Organizations can integrate all of their security systems with SARA for integrated alarm management and better security outcomes.
