Fire alarms for apartments in Houston: there has been a big push lately on the part of the Houston, Tx and Harris County Fire Marshals to increase the fire alarm coverage in multifamily dwellings in the area.
Most of the focus is on (1) sprinkler monitoring, for buildings that are sprinkled, and (2) occupant notification in buildings which have more than 16 units. The biggest challenge that comes along with this: getting the sprinkler information to the management office and then to the monitoring center.
Most alarm companies are using underground data cabling to accomplish this. OMNI typically uses a wireless solution, which means no digging, no wires to be cut by future cable TV or phone techs, and less trouble and false issues due to power surges.The only aspect of this recent activity that surprises me is why have the municipalities waited so long to act on this? I’ve been watching the statistics for year after year, and hardly a day passes in the U.S. without an apartment building fire. Many result in the tremendous loss of property and life.
I realize that this is a burden for the building owners and management companies, which must in turn be passed along to the residents. But when it’s all said and done, if an increase in costs and rent results in a building that is safer and lives that are saved, what price can we place on that?
OMNI’s role now becomes trying to make the system as cost efficient and reliable as possible. This is a role we take very seriously, as we constantly seek the most effective methods and the best manufacturing partners to create affordable solutions.We have been involved in many multifamily fire alarm installations over the past few years. One valuable but costly lesson we’ve learned: it’s not always the largest manufacturer who will be there to support you when the chips are down.
Several years ago, we started using a line of wireless products produced by General Electric, one of the largest companies in the world and at that time in the alarm industry. Suddenly, they advised us they would no longer support the product line, and shortly afterward, they exited the alarm industry all together.
After a four year extensive search, we discovered a much smaller company in Florida, that had been producing wireless UL listed fire alarm products for many years before GE. That is their only product line. They focus on that, and they do it well. In fact, their wireless coverage is exponentially greater than any of the other fire alarm manufacturers.
For more information regarding our fire alarm products, or for an estimate for your multifamily application, please call us at 281-591-6810 for a free consultation.
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