However, because the footprint of the initial system-connected devices are much larger than the current crop of detectors, new detectors will not completely cover holes or wall outlines left by the old detectors. As a result, CO detector replacement may not be as simple as pulling out the old detector and wiring up a new one, especially in commercial or residential applications where the space’s aesthetic appeal is important.

To address this issue, System Sensor introduces the CO-PLATE detector replacement plate for use with the CO1224T. This new plate mounts in seconds to perfectly cover previously installed CO detector footprints for a clean, low-profile finish ideal for commercial and residential applications.

Most importantly, this new plate makes it easy for installers and customers to benefit from the CO1224T’s unique RealTest technology, which makes the CO1224T the only detector fully compliant with NFPA 720: 2009 CO testing requirements. RealTest enables installers to functionally test the CO sensing cell with a short spray of canned CO. In minutes, the installer can verify that detector is doing its job, protecting customers from deadly CO.

System Sensor also has CO learning options in its webinar archives. “Selling CO Protection” shows you the benefits of offering system-connected CO detection as part of your service and why your customers will want to buy CO detection from you. “Carbon Monoxide Detection: Code and Legislation Updates” provides the latest updates on CO detection state legislation and regulatory mandates. It also recaps many of the key changes to the 2009 edition of NFPA 720.

Online training and webinars can be accessed at systemsensor.com/training.

Here are five reasons why you should be their provider and three reasons why your customers will want to buy CO detection from you.

Why You Should Provide CO Detection

1) Capitalize on an expanding market.

As public awareness grows, new local, state and national legislation for CO detection is being adopted. For example, recent CO poisoning tragedies in Colorado were the impetus for passing CO legislation in that state. More than half of the U.S. states already have CO legislation. Several more have legislation pending. (System Sensor keeps an ongoing legislation tally at www.systemsensor.com/co.)

One thing all this new legislation means for you is that CO detection is a growing market with a built-in customer base. Many of your customers are required now or will likely soon be required to have CO protection. Why shouldn’t you be their provider? With a CO offering, you can differentiate yourself from your competition with an additional service offering while increasing your commission and providing needed life safety protection for your customers.

2) Build longer-term relationships and extend your revenue stream.

Another big reason to offer CO detection is that customers who subscribe to fire protection monitoring are less likely to cancel their security monitoring service. The same is likely to be true for CO detection services. So if you sell CO detection as part of your overall security offering, this can result in less customer attrition and longer-term recurring monthly revenue for you.

3) Gain referrals as a life safety expert and grow your income stream.

While your customers are becoming more educated about the dangers of CO in their homes, they may not be aware that monitoring options are available. In fact, it’s likely that they believe retail detectors are their only option. By providing expertise around life safety solutions and legislation that your competition can’t and offering a CO detection solution, you can gain customer trust and build your business through recommendations to their friends and family.

4) Win jobs over your competition.

With a CO detection option, you can differentiate yourself from your competition with a solid product and service offering while increasing your commission.

5) CO detector guidelines are more clearly defined than ever.

The revised 2009 edition of NFPA 720 is a complete rewrite of the CO detection standard. It provides you with information on detector installation, placement, testing and maintenance, and off-premise signal transmission for both commercial and residential occupancies. So you now have the guidance you need to enter confidently into this growing market and provide your customers with the highest level of CO protection available. (System Sensor also offers a free Applications Guide for system-connected CO detectors that you can access at www.systemsensor.com/co.)

Why Your Customers Will Buy CO Detection from You

1) CO protection saves lives!

This is the obvious selling point for CO detection. Your customers may have heard about some of the recent CO tragedies, but what they may not have heard is how CO detectors are already saving lives. The most common factor with CO tragedies is there are no operational CO detection devices installed in the occupancy. But all across America, CO detectors are averting tragedies in schools, office buildings and homes.

For your customers, CO detection can provide peace of mind against the “silent killer” of carbon monoxide. There is no other way to protect against it.

2) System-connected detectors provide more protection.

One of the biggest reasons that your customers should be getting their CO protection from you is that monitored detection connected to the security or fire system provides a much higher level of protection than stand-alone retail detectors. Specifically, you can offer 24/7 central station monitoring capabilities that protect your customers when they cannot respond to a local alarm for any reason (i.e., they are not home, they are sleeping or they are already suffering from the effects of CO poisoning). Also, system-connected devices can be monitored to provide proactive maintenance to ensure that CO detectors are providing constant protection with no system downtime due to damage, the end-of-life of the CO cell, or technical and mechanical problems.

3) Many of your customers are already required to have CO protection.

More and more states are requiring CO detection. To meet these requirements, many of your customers are going to get CO protection from somewhere. Service providers who already offer fire and/or security monitoring capabilities are uniquely positioned to provide customers with comprehensive, monitored CO protection services, while ensuring that CO detection is properly installed and maintained.

In addition, if the CO legislation is new in your area, many of your customers may be unaware that they must have CO detection. You can educate them on the laws for your area, while offering them an excellent solution for meeting their CO requirements.

The reality is, the customer’s decision usually comes down to money, and it’s difficult to justify extra expenditures in this economy. Yet some dealers are reporting an uptick in system sales. How? By solving their customers’ problems and providing systems that may carry a higher up-front cost but will save their customers money in the long run.

It just goes to show that people are willing to pay for what clearly provides value to them. Those of us in the industry know it’s important not to skimp on critical fire and life safety systems, but do our customers always know when more advanced technology can provide higher returns on their investment and increased performance?

The Rumba Room, a Hollywood nightclub, is a prime example of how site problems revealed the inadequacies of a basic system (see cover story). The club, which previously experienced frequent, costly and disruptive nuisance alarms, has now installed the System Sensor Advanced Multi-Criteria Fire Detector. This technology exceeds what the nightclub was required to install, but the payback has been enormous in both life safety protection and cost savings.

This issue also offers tips for enhancing business by expanding service options with carbon monoxide (CO) detection. “CO Detector Saves the Day” is not the type of headline you’ll typically read in a newspaper; a story about a CO incident with tragic results is more common. But if the industry does a better job of promoting system-connected CO detection, people will eventually come to understand the benefits of CO monitoring, and we’ll read fewer stories about preventable CO-related deaths.

Together, let’s educate the market about why better protection systems and services are worthwhile for personal, as well as financial, reasons. Go to System Sensor Expands Training Opportunities to read how System Sensor is adding training options for professionals. When each of us has more knowledge about fire and life safety systems, we can then share that information with customers and improve service and protection. It’s a win-win for all of us.

 

Todd Alford

Marketing Manager — Commercial Business Unit

Webinars

This new Webinar series will focus on providing relevant and timely information on products, market trends, and legislation and enable you to have your questions answered from the comfort of your home or office. There will be multiple chances for you to sign up and attend a live version of each Webinar. Just go to systemsensor.com/training to check the schedule and register. If you can’t attend the live presentation, System Sensor will be archiving each presentation for you to view at your convenience.

Archives will include the October Webinar, Meet the New Problem Solver: Advanced Multi-Criteria Fire Detector, which introduces you to the world’s most accurate fire detector for your most challenging applications. In this 35-minute Webinar, you’ll learn about the advanced technology that enables this detector to provide the highest levels of sensitivity, while maintaining unmatched nuisance immunity. You’ll see a case study that shows the detector solving highly challenging, real-world problems. And you’ll get an overview of ideal applications for this amazing new technology.

Our November Webinar will be: Selling CO Protection: Don’t Leave Money on the Table. With increased legislation and higher public awareness, carbon monoxide detection is a quickly growing market. See how you can provide your customers with the most comprehensive CO protection available while building your business.

Online Training

System Sensor is updating its Online Training courses with new voiceover options, appealing and informative visuals, and increased interactivity to provide you the information you need at a time and place that is most convenient for you.

These online courses provide a self-training option that can enhance your product and application knowledge for use in the field. Courses cover a wide range of subjects, including product overviews, installation and maintenance, and legislation. Once you have completed the course, you have the option to take an online quiz and print a certificate to verify you have completed the course.

The newest addition to the System Sensor Online Training course lineup updates our Carbon Monoxide Detection Online Training Course. Early next year, new courses will focus on the Advanced Multi-Criteria Fire Detector and nuisance alarm reduction, as well as mass notification.

You can access Online Training at systemsensor.com/training. System Sensor will be adding more training modules all the time, so check back frequently.

Seminars

System Sensor Seminars provide live training on a variety of topics from the industry’s most knowledgeable fire system and life safety experts. Seminars are free to attend, often provide CEU credits and enable you to interact directly with the instructor.

In 2010, System Sensor will launch Fire Protection Technology and Design Seminars in many cities throughout the U.S. Subjects will include:

• Notification appliance applications

• Voice evacuation systems

• Mass notification systems

• Carbon monoxide detection, codes and legislation

• Multi-criteria and specialty detection

• Duct detector applications

• Update on NFPA changes

In January, check to see which Seminars are coming to your area at systemsensor.com/training. These events fill up quickly, so be sure to sign up early.

System Sensor found that legislative bodies and major municipalities across the United States were passing laws that required the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in new and retrofitted buildings. In fact, during the past decade, 11 states, mostly clustered in the northern region, and large cities like New York, Chicago, Charlotte and St. Louis, passed resolutions to better protect their constituencies from the danger carbon monoxide poses. Several other states have pending legislation.

Just as regulation played a key role in the growth of system-connected smoke detectors, we believe regulation will be a key factor in the growth of system-connected CO detectors. These ordinances will aid in the adoption of CO detectors in the market.

What System Sensor found, however, was a market void. As a result, the company developed the only UL 2075 compliant system-connected carbon monoxide detector available on the market. The CO1224 carbon monoxide detector meets Underwriter Laboratories’ standard by incorporating a code-required trouble relay into the device. This allows the CO1224 to communicate with the system, for instance, by sending a sensor end-of-life signal to the control panel. No other carbon monoxide detector has this code-required capability. Additionally, the CO1224 incorporates SEMS-type terminal Philips-head screws to provide a quicker and more positive wiring connection while facilitating code-required wiring supervision.

We will continue to look for new products, because providing products that protect the lives of our customers is more than an ideal. It is our way of life.

Richard Roberts

Product Manager
Security Business Unit

A comprehensive fire- and life-safety design requires a cohesive blend of alarm/detection capabilities, an appropriate suppression system and a number of other building construction features that depend on occupancy, type of facility and use of space. An often overlooked component — planning — is integral to keeping occupants safe.

In buildings, like an apartment complex, the alarm and detection system is a critical component because occupants may be asleep. Alarm and detection features can provide functions such as early warning for occupants, fire department notification and unlocking of doors. In large public venues, like a shopping mall or arena, the notification system may integrate a voice-communication function to give emergency instruction.

For healthcare occupancies, correctional facilities, high-rise buildings or other places where evacuation would cause considerable disturbance or not be a desired option, suppression becomes the focus of the system.

“An automatic fire sprinkler system has the ability to control the situation, thereby limiting the effects of the fire, the generation of products of combustion, and in general, allowing additional time for occupants to move to a safe area,” said Solomon.“Of course, the presence of a well-thought-out means of egress, with adequate exits, stairs and doors, is also crucially important.”

In general terms, the means of egress should also be thought of as a “system,” as well. The number, type and arrangement of the egress components are important factors to consider.

Some construction options may require the integration of firewalls, fire barrier walls and smoke compartments, as well as protection schemes for vertical openings between floors.

“There are even criteria for interior finish materials such as floor, wall and ceiling coverings,” explained Solomon.“Each of these building construction features can be specified to achieve the desired level of fire resistance, which is usually measured in hours for a firewall based on the building’s structural system, or for flame spread and smoke-developed characteristics for an interior wall finish. The level of fire-safety performance intended for the building is contingent upon the use of the occupancy.”

As you know, the basic smoke detector frequently used in commercial buildings is not always the answer to protect a warehouse or an exposed parking garage. There are other, more application-specific technologies that have been developed for those different environments.

System Sensor puts a strong emphasis on product development to ensure that we can provide the most appropriate — and most advanced — technologies for our customers and their fire protection needs. Standard fire detection and notification remain an important part of our product line-up. We have also branched into other related fire- and life-safety areas.

Newer technologies include our high-sensitivity smoke detectors, which we developed for highly sensitive environments that require very early warning (see “Bell Canada Relies on System Sensor’s New Laser Duct Smoke Detectors”).

Gas detection for protection against carbon monoxide is another area where System Sensor continues to conduct a great deal of research and product development. Our CO1224 carbon monoxide detector is an industry first — a detector specifically designed for system operation. This detector, along with our monitored smoke alarm detectors, is a logical extension to protecting people from danger. In each of these product areas, System Sensor knows it’s not enough to just meet the letter of the law. System Sensor wants to bring customers the highest level of protection possible from different life- and property-threatening emergencies.

System Sensor will continue to develop other, more diverse technologies that can cover the full gamut of potential fire and smoke scenarios. We’re committed to covering all the bases in detection and notification with the right technology for the job.

Jeff Klein

Commercial Business Line Leader

Then there are times when there’s nothing wrong with the available technology. It’s just that inventive minds think of ways that the technology can be better utilized to serve our customers’ needs. That’s what happened in the case of several of the new products that System Sensor is announcing in this issue of LifeSafety.

The first is our new Advanced Multi-Criteria Fire Detector, which acts as four sensors in one. System Sensor has manufactured products that provide smoke, heat, carbon monoxide and flame detection, predominantly utilizing singular sensors. In the interest of offering the ultimate in fire detection while addressing the longstanding problem of nuisance alarms, we have brought these four detection elements together with advanced, logical algorithms that work collectively to analyze and determine whether there truly is a fire.

The second innovation is the new CO1224T carbon monoxide detector, which provides a simple, inexpensive test to confirm the CO cell’s functionality using canned CO. A one-second test spray lets you rest assured that the CO sensor is functioning properly — a feature that puts System Sensor well ahead of the upcoming NFPA 720-2009 standard for CO devices.

Our third solution, which reflects your feedback on our Innovair™ line of duct smoke detectors, is the new InnovairFlex™ series duct detectors. InnovairFlex detectors offer the ultimate in flexibility and functionality, whether it’s broader environmental specifications, greater wiring capabilities, enhanced sensor status indication or even the detector’s physical footprint.

System Sensor engineering and product development teams continuously strive to not only improve existing detection and notification products, but to define the future standard for the industry. Interestingly enough, our methodology is fairly commonsensical — seek to identify and understand customers’ unmet needs. However, it’s the combination of our customer focus and the application of our leading technology that allows us to continually deliver innovative solutions such as these.

Thank you for the continued opportunity to serve your fire and life safety needs.

Tom Potosnak

General Manager
System Sensor U.S.

At System Sensor, we are committed to expanding the life-safety proposition, never accepting the status quo. This way of thinking led to the development of our ExitPoint™ directional sound product. By challenging the definition of life safety, we determined it’s not enough to just notify people of a fire — with our partners, we’ve done a good job of this for many years — but we should now guide building occupants to safety.

Ten years ago, this industry was not comprised of Fortune 50 companies. Today, with the entry of R&D-focused corporations like Honeywell, the expectations of end-users have heightened. Now, building owners, engineers and installers can expect to see an acceleration of new technology development. With access to a vast library of technological innovation, System Sensor is in a favorable position to address the issues facing the life-safety industry. Our reach now extends into monitoring gas (including carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide), wireless smoke detector systems and high-sensitivity smoke detection.

System Sensor will continue to look for avenues of growth.

Our best to you in 2006.

Jeffrey M. Klein

Commercial Business Line Leader