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Right now it's mostly external, but that's changing
The adoption of IP technology in physical security is well established: you've got your IP cameras, your IP access control and IP intrusion detection, but what about fire? Bound by codes, right now fire systems use IP mainly for external communications or "ancillary enunciation" - to perform tasks like remotely checking alarm history or maintenance reports.
However, manufacturers fully expect codes to change and IP to play a bigger role in fire systems in the future. The National Fire Protection Association and Underwriters Laboratories are currently grappling with the next generation of standards for fire alarm panels, and IP capabilities are a big consideration, said Rodger Reiswig, director of industry relations for SimplexGrinnell.
There are companies like AxonX-which uses algorithms to detect smoke and fire from standard DVR video footage-whose technology will soon be FM-listed and was recognized in 2006 under NFPA 72.
LONG ROAD AHEAD
However, standard fire alarm systems have a way to go before they'll be completely IP-based. "Because of stringent requirements in life safety for redundancy and battery-back-up and fail safe, none of the commercial hubs and routers and switchers currently meet UL 864, none of them meet that standard," said Steve Hein, vice president of global fire communications systems for GE. "That means that fire systems today and for the foreseeable future keep a fairly proprietary network between nodes," he said.
Where you might install a security or video system and piggyback on the IT network and eliminate some of the wiring, "you can't do that with a fire system. The AHJ (authority having jurisdiction) will not let a fire system reside on another network. It has to be a dedicated network," he said.
All of GE's products (and other manufacturers' as well) have IP connectivity, which allows end users...