Video fire controller

June 2009 Fire & Safety

Siemens combines video technology with the fire alarm system.

Siemens has integrated video surveillance in fire alarm systems. If a fire alarm is activated, live images from CCTV cameras are transmitted for live verification and evaluation of the incident and recorded for subsequent analysis.

With the potential for significant waste of fire and rescue service resources caused by mischievous and malicious setting of fire alarms, the Sinteso video fire controller (VFC) provides the means to immediately verify the incident in a security control centre, for example. This provides live evaluation of the situation to provide more detailed information for the fire and rescue service to act upon before they are dispatched to an incident. Subsequent analysis of the film footage with pre- and post-alarm recording allows for the verification of the cause of an event and for identification of an offender.

The VFC is easily installed with direct connection to video surveillance systems and fire control panels via Ethernet and FDnet (Field Device Network) detector bus, thus it is fully compatible with the Sinteso range of fire detectors and the Sistore range of digital video recorders.

The video fire controller covers a wide range of applications and is particularly suited to areas prone to vandalism or arson such as schools, hotels, hostels and airports, as well as areas where the fastest evaluation of the situation is required. In case that damage or tampering occurs through masking of the camera, for example, a report is sent directly to the fire control panel to immediately alert the operator.

An integrated web function allows access to the VFC to view images from any standard web browser. Protection against unauthorised access is ensured through various password and security user profiles, along with an integrated firewall.

For more information contact Keshin Govender, Siemens Southern Africa, +27 (0)11 652 2412, [email protected], www.siemens.co.za





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