Sunday, April 7, 2019

Benefits of a voice alarm system

Benefits of a Voice Alarm System

Voice Alarm System (VAS) / Voice Evacuation systems have become increasingly popular for providing clear pre-recorded emergency messages. Installed with the safety of staff and general public as a key function, our systems assist in the effective evacuation of an area or building during a fire, bomb alert or other emergency. At all other times a voice alarm system may be used for full-cover or zoned public address announcements, broadcast advertisements or background music.

Traditional bells and sounders only give warning tones, they do not indicate the nature of the emergency, leaving people uncertain and such signals, if ignored, may result in fatal consequences. The VAS helps to ensure that even untrained personnel and the general public are evacuated speedily and efficiently.

Voice Alarm System (VAS) / Voice Evacuation systems  can install in all offices, factories, warehouses, shops, sports arenas, cinemas, theatres, schools and public buildings. Combined with our expertise in all aspects of Fire and Life Safety and our ability to provide bespoke integrated systems – including monitoring and intelligent building systems – we ensure all messages are broadcast clearly and all emergency procedures and systems operate efficiently and effectively to ensure safety.
Controlled evacuation
In high rise buildings with large occupancies, a combination of clear pre-recorded messages and live announcements broadcasted to selected zones enable a controlled and gradual process of evacuation (referred to as phased evacuation). Phased evacuation methods enable selected areas to be evacuated in turn; typically those in most danger will be evacuated first, while surrounding zones are put on alert. The VAS works automatically, with all controls easily overridden by fire officers or building control when needed.

In many buildings it is not possible to use a lift in the event of a fire; lifts are often made to travel to the ground floor the instant the fire alarm system is activated. This leaves the stairwells and other evacuation routes available for people to follow in order to escape the building. In a high rise, or any multi-level building, simply expecting everyone to leave the building at the same time could, potentially, lead to panic and blockage on these evacuation routes. The ability to initiate a controlled, area-by-area evacuation of a building – phased evacuation – helps prevent this.

Staged evacuation is the process where staff or occupants may be alerted to a situation that is being investigated, while the responsible staff ascertain the danger before evacuating the building or cancelling the event. Such a process is best supported using a clear, pervasive and quick method of communication. It may be incredibly difficult to cancel an evacuation in progress without clearly understood instructions and organisations may experience significant business continuity losses in the event of false alarms.

Some manufacturers of professional voice alarm systems and electro-acoustic emergency warning systems are currently working on loop technology for 100 V loudspeaker connections. Usually, loudspeakers are still connected to the voice alarm system through spur technology. If a spur circuit is interrupted, however, all loudspeakers after the wire breakage would fail. During a short circuit, the entire spur circuit fails. In order to minimize risk in the case of wire breakage and short circuit, A/B cabling is used for systems based on DIN VDE 0833-4 (security levels 2 and 3), with half of the loudspeakers in a room operating on different loudspeaker lines. Thus, in a wire-to-wire short circuit (wire breakage, short circuit or ground fault), half of the loudspeakers in the relevant area remain in operation. So if the alarms sound at half power, the sound level is reduced by 3 dB, as long as the loudspeakers are correctly arranged. This level decrease is permitted in accordance with DIN VDE 0833-4 standards. In contrast to fire detection technology, loop wiring technology itself has not yet been established as the standard in the area of voice alarm systems (VAS), because considerably higher power must be transmitted there.

International evacuation standards
The following is an extract from SANS10139. If you are doing phased or staged evacuation on the fire system, then the voice evacuation system will follow the same principles
“There are various circumstances in which a staged fire alarm arrangement may be appropriate. These include, but are not restricted to, the following:
a) In certain large or high-rise buildings, it might be desirable to evacuate first those areas closest to the fire and immediately above it; other areas are evacuated thereafter. A particular example of this arrangement, commonly used in high rise buildings, is known as phased evacuation; in this case, conventionally, the floor of fire origin, the floor immediately above (and, often, any below ground areas) are evacuated as a first phase. Thereafter, each subsequent phase involves evacuation of two floors at a time, until all floors are evacuated in a number of such phases. This arrangement enables the number and/or widths of stairways to be reduced; under these circumstances, it is important that no control is provided to evacuate the entire building in a single phase, as there will be insufficient stairway capacity for simultaneous evacuation of all occupants.
b) Phased evacuation is also sometimes used in other types of building, irrespective of whether there are reduced stairway capacities (e.g. leisure complexes, shopping centres and transportation terminals). In these cases, the initial phase of evacuation may be horizontal, into a place of relative safety within the building.
c) In hospitals, a system of ‘progressive horizontal evacuation’ is used, in which patients closest to a fire are moved horizontally to an adjacent fire compartment. In a large hospital, further evacuation might, again, involve only horizontal movement, without the need for more difficult vertical evacuation.”

Despite all of the evidence reporting the greatly increased response times and improved evacuation, installations of VAS are still relatively low. For general applications in larger projects such as arenas, shopping malls and high-rise buildings, VAS installations are steadily increasing; for smaller buildings it is still fairly uncommon.

A VAS has to work when needed (especially and specifically during an emergency) and is, therefore, fully monitored at all times. Furthermore, the system is backed up by batteries which are fully charged and checked constantly; this will ensure that during a mains power failure, the system will continue to operate. Each voice alarm system is designed and built specifically for each project; typically, no two systems are identical.

A standard system built using today’s state-of-the-art technology in accordance with DIN VDE 0833-4 or EN 60849, an A/B or simple cabling in spur technology is sufficient, depending on the application. Though loop technology requires additional isolator modules, they initially create additional costs. However, at second glance the entire system can be significantly less expensive, with cost savings in other places. So, depending on the application, cost-intensive E30 cabling can be partially avoided.

In regard to building ordinances, DIN VDE 0833-4 is not specified for required voice alarm systems in section 7.10.3. This may be waived for loop wiring systems of otherwise functional integrity, if it is guaranteed that forward and return lines are routed in separate cables, and that these cables are laid out separately in buildings with fire protection technology. In addition, it must be ensured that the intended function of the VAS is not affected by a single failure in these loop wiring systems. That might be the case in the technology described here.

It is a sad state of affairs that our current building regulations in South Africa do not specifically request the requirement for voice evacuation systems, leaving the door open to omit these systems as a cost saving exercise, overlooking the safety benefit of these systems and putting the lives of people who occupy the buildings in jeopardy.

Benefits of a VAS
• Clear, spoken instructions to people during an emergency event.
• Selectable pre-recorded messages.
• Microphone priority handling.
• Full control during the evacuation of a building/phased evacuation: area-by-area, floor-by-floor, multiple areas/ floors all at once – whichever is most appropriate for the situation and layout of the building.
• Supports dynamic issuing of instructions and routing of persons away from danger through clear communication.
• Battery-backed: the system will continue to operate even in the event of a mains power failure.
• Ability to cancel false alarms and announce all clear messages.
• Ambient noise sensing: broadcasts will still be heard regardless if the background noise levels increase (the VA system can automatically adjust the volume of the broadcast).

• Day-to-day advantages: public information announcements, background music (gain revenue via advertisement injection and more).


26 comments:

  1. This whole explanation above is countered by what most people think of as a "waste of good money".

    To find out if Voice Evacuation is really needed, the whole list of authorities needs to be contacted, especially the licensing and accreditation agencies who sometimes don't get involved until after the building is finished. They may have something to say, and knowing what they are going to say now is better than having them see and require that a problem fixed later.

    Douglas Krantz

    ReplyDelete
  2. In many cases, a fire alarm system is no longer just a fire alarm system. Voice Evacuation is allowing Mass Notification to be used over part of the fire alarm system to announce to the occupants what to do for other emergencies. In other words, an FAS (Fire Alarm System) doesn't just function as an FDAS (Fire Detection and Alarm System) but as a Fire Detection and Emergency Announcement System (FDEAS).

    In a FDEAS (Fire Detection and Emergency Announcement System) the occupant can be told:
    There is fire - get out of the building
    There is a tornado - get to a shelter in the center of the building
    There is an active shooter - get out of the halls and lock your door
    ETC.

    The fire, the tornado, and the shooter require entirely different responses from the occupants. The Etc. for a daycare could even be announcing a child abduction in progress. The fire horns just are not adequate for much of what's needed for Mass Notification Systems, so Voice Evacuation is required in many situations now, especially where children are involved, or where large groups of the public are involved (like auditoriums).

    Many people consider overhead paging to be useful for such situations, but these situations are life-safety situations that require a reliable system. Overhead paging systems just aren't installed, maintained, and regularly tested like fire alarm systems are, so to be reliable, it has to be a separate Mass Notification System or a Fire Detection and Emergency Announcement System (FDEAS).

    ReplyDelete

  3. Well thanks for the information, do not forget to visit my blog too.
    How to Use a Dremel to Cut Glass?

    ReplyDelete

  4. Amazing Article :) Im extremely affected by your blog.I’m happy that you simply shared this useful info with us.I am quite sure I’ll learn many new stuff right here!
    How to Use a Dremel Tool?

    ReplyDelete

  5. Thanks for sharing this quality information with us. I really enjoyed reading.
    How to Carve Wood with a Dremel Tool?

    ReplyDelete

  6. one of the best info .thanks for sharing once again thanks for sharing keep hustling and wea re also giving some safety courses you can checkout us or refer a friend who need this

    NEBOSH Safety Course in Chennai
    NEBOSH Course in Chennai
    Safety Audit Consultants
    Electrical Safety Audit
    IOSH Course in Chennai
    Safety Courses in Chennai
    Fire and Safety Course in Chennai
    Safety Institute in Chennai

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well written and compassionate post. I find your thoughts and wisdom to be encouraging and helpful, many thanks and God bless you always! gear junkie

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is excellent information. It is amazing and wonderful to visit your site.Thanks for sharng this information,this is useful to me. outdoor experience

    ReplyDelete

  9. Useful Post...

    Thanks for sharing this information

    Contrary to popular belief, Commissioning Sprinkler Systems isn’t a difficult task anymore. With the assistance of Pro-Tech Fire, installing fire safety mechanisms has become a demanding and mentally fulfilling task.

    click:-
    Commissioning Sprinkler Systems

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thaks for the Great blog
    Fire and Safety is a important need in daily life. So learning about Safety is more important. Study Fire and Safety Course in Chennai. Spplimited is a professional Training Institute on providing qualified Safety training.
    For more information:
    Safety Course in Chennai
    Fire and Safety courses in Chennai

    ReplyDelete
  11. you need to have time to take care of the kids active.play exciting flash games. you want to relax after a stressful working hours, When you're tired, Thanks you for sharing! camping activities outdoor revivalmy travel trips

    ReplyDelete
  12. "I appreciate the time you spent sharing your skills. All this time later, I've found it love the end result. ""Thank you for such a sweet tutorial - outdoor activitie camping habits outdoor activitie
    "

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks you for sharing! When you're tired, you need to have time to take care of the kids active.play exciting flash games. you want to relax after astressful working hours,hunter hunts adventure in campingoutdoor activitie

    ReplyDelete
  14. Smoke and fire alarms save a lots of lives and prevent damage to a large extent.

    ReplyDelete
  15. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanx for sharing such kind of information about the benefits of voice alarm system.it is very helpful article.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Amazing blog
    Wow! Great Fire Alarm System! I like the way you design it. But, I always recommend being precautioned as a Safety professional by learning all the fire safety skills from Fire safety courses in Chennai @Nationalsafetyschool.com. If you're interested in such kinda stuff, feel free to check out it. Thank you!

    NEBOSH Course in Chennai

    Fire and Safety Course in Chennai

    IOSH Course in Chennai

    ReplyDelete

  18. This information holds a lot many useful tips, thank you for sharing. Keep posting further
    Fire Sprinkle Company

    ReplyDelete
  19. thanks for sharing....

    A fire alarm system in Pakistancan help lessen the fire accidents, and keep the people safe. There is a lesser risk of dying in a fire accidents in places which has a smoke and fire detector installed.

    The
    Fire alarm system price in Pakistan is really affordable so more people should install it in their homes or companies to help detect the issue at its earliest.

    There are various modern fire alarm system in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and other major cities of Pakistan, so get your hands on them immediately!

    Fire alarms are the devices which detects any sort of smoke detector price in karach or fire in any place it is installed, and alerts the residence through various means.

    Various fire alarm system suppliers in Pakistan have managed to provide quality devices to people for both domestic and commercial use.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts with us.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I must appreciate your effort you have put in this article. I read your blog and I find it very interesting. I am really impressed by your content. Now its time to avail aluminum window and door Services in london for more information.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Such a great article share by you. The voice alarm is very for us. I really want this one for my house. Thanks for sharing this article. Now it's time to avail https://zapshutters.co.uk/" for more information.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Firetech fire monitors designed with advanced technology provide the high quality water jet and fog patterns.
    fire fighting equipment

    ReplyDelete