The safety of your business is your top priority but at the same
time, you must save money especially during times like these.
With Protegis Fire & Safety, we can help you save money on your fire
alarm monitoring without sacrificing the quality and reliability of your service.
Call us today to learn more about the cost savings you can receive while enjoying the benefits of the latest technology.
800.875.7200
3G/CDMA Programmed Devices Will Stop Working
as phone companies upgrade their equipment.
Cellular carriers are replacing older cellular networks with LTE and 5G.
If your fire alarm communicator is programmed for 3G/CDMA,
your fire alarm communication could be at risk.
Although the full transition is a couple of years away, make sure your fire alarm monitoring service is not disrupted.
Do you have a fire alarm communicator? Does it use 3G or 4G technology? If the answer is yes or I’m not sure, it is important that you keep reading.
Carriers are replacing 3G and 4G cellular networks with LTE and 5G. To get a better understanding of why this is so important, you have to consider how the fire alarm communicators are programmed.
With cellular fire alarm communicators, the units are programmed for 3G/CDMA or the newer LTE/5G networks. If it is programmed for the older network, your fire alarm communication could be at risk.
For example, if a tower gets upgraded and the systems lose communication without the equipment being upgraded first, an emergency service call may be required to restore system communications on the upgraded platform.
Below, we have provided important dates for your reference on the planned sunset of the old technology.
It is imperative that an upgrade plan be in place in order to prevent any disruptions of service. Protegis Fire & Safety can assist with your upgrade plan and make your transition as smooth as possible. Call 844.430.6013 today.
WIRED (LANDLINE) REPORTING
The requirements for fire alarm signaling have been defined by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 72) National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code. Up through the 2010 revision to NFPA 72, building owners were required to provide two analog phone lines, at least one dedicated, over which the fire alarm communicator (DACT, or “dialer”) reported to a monitoring center at least once every 24 hours. The intended purpose of having two phone lines was to provide redundancy in case of a line failure. This required property owners to maintain two extra landlines, along with the associated monthly costs.
WIRELESS (CELLULAR) REPORTING
“Old-fashioned” landlines are tested with Central Station once a day and a single line failure is reported immediately over the remaining one, but in the event of total communicator or phone service failure, notification by default can take nearly 24 hours. The 2013 revision of NFPA 72, allows “sole-path” cellular technology (one cellular line instead of two analog lines). With the minimum 60-minute supervision, the cellular carrier knows within 1 hour of any communicator failure, and can report the condition to the monitoring center. With the OK of the local Authority Having Jurisdiction, an approved sole-path wireless communicator can set you free from those monthly landline charges and associated headaches!
Protegis Fire & Safety is one of the top life safety service providers, providing installation, maintenance, inspection and monitoring services (including wireless!) for sprinklers, fire alarms, extinguishers and more. We have the experience, workforce, and capability to perform fire alarm services on facilities of any size and type, for companies across the United States.