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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>Subject:</B> Blind People
and Fire Alarms<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV><FONT size=3><STRONG>Audible Exit Technology Sets The Tone For Life
Safety<BR><BR><BR>The Chief Engineer, IL, </STRONG></FONT><SPAN
id=lw_1181685422_0
style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed; HEIGHT: 1em"><FONT
size=3><STRONG>USA</STRONG></FONT></SPAN><BR><FONT size=3><STRONG>Friday, June
01, 2007<BR>Today's fire alarm control panels are highly sophisticated systems
that<BR>use innovative smoke and heat sensing technologies to deliver a
rapid,<BR>intelligent<BR>response to fire emergencies. When activated, a fire
alarm system is<BR>capable of performing hundreds of pre-programmed action
sequences <BR>within<BR>fractions<BR>of a second. But regardless of how
technologically advanced these fire<BR>alarm control panels are, their primary
purpose is very simple - to <BR>save<BR>lives.<BR>Fire alarm systems notify
building occupants that a fire emergency <BR>exists<BR>in the building. And in
the cases where the fire alarm panel includes <BR>an<BR>emergency<BR>voice
evacuation system, occupants can be provided with detailed<BR>evacuation
instructions based on their location and proximity to the<BR>emergency. But
in<BR>an emergency, a timely evacuation can be challenging. Fire alarm
<BR>systems<BR>use a combination of audible and visual appliances to notify
building<BR>occupants<BR>of an emergency. In addition, visual queues such as
exit signs are use<BR>d to guide occupants to the nearest building exit. Exit
signs work <BR>very<BR>well in most applications. However, in a fire emergency,
they can <BR>become<BR>obstructed<BR>and difficult to see due to smoke
conditions. Exit signs are passive <BR>and<BR>require people to track them down,
which becomes increasingly difficult<BR>if the<BR>occupants are unfamiliar with
the building layout and the location of <BR>its<BR>emergency egress routes.
Factor in the smoke that accompanies a fire<BR>emergency,<BR>and the occupants
can easily become disoriented or lost in the <BR>facility.<BR>Furthermore,
persons with visual impairment are unable to follow exit<BR>markings<BR>or
signage, rendering them virtually ineffective. Finding an <BR>alternative<BR>to
using traditional exit signs and egress markings was the challenge<BR>facing
Bud<BR>Liptak, director of facilities at The Seeing Eye(r), North
America's<BR>premier guide dog school. Bud found the answer in Onyx(r)
ExitPointT, a<BR>revolutionary<BR>audible exit technology from Notifier, a world
leading manufacturer of<BR> commercial fire alarm systems and
technology.<BR><BR>Since 1929, The Seeing Eye Dog in </STRONG></FONT><SPAN
id=lw_1181685422_1
style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed; HEIGHT: 1em"><FONT
size=3><STRONG>Morristown NJ</STRONG></FONT></SPAN><FONT size=3><STRONG> has
matched nearly <BR>14,000<BR>specially bred and trained Seeing Eye dogs with
blind men and women <BR>from<BR>across<BR>the </STRONG></FONT><SPAN
id=lw_1181685422_2
style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed; HEIGHT: 1em"><FONT
size=3><STRONG>United States</STRONG></FONT></SPAN><FONT size=3><STRONG> and
</STRONG></FONT><SPAN id=lw_1181685422_3
style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed; HEIGHT: 1em"><FONT
size=3><STRONG>Canada</STRONG></FONT></SPAN><FONT size=3><STRONG>. In pursuit of
its philanthropic mission <BR>to<BR>help blind people achieve greater
independence, The Seeing Eye teaches<BR>dogs to<BR>guide blind people. Not only
does the school instruct blind people in <BR>the<BR>proper use and care of the
dogs, it also breeds and raises the dogs,<BR>teaches<BR>instructors the science
and technique of training the dogs, and <BR>educates<BR>the public on how guide
dogs enable blind people to live independently.<BR>This school<BR>is entirely
unique; only dogs trained at The Seeing Eye can accurately <BR>be<BR>called
"Seeing Eye dogs."<BR><BR>The school is, undoubtedly, unique, and requires a
fire alarm system <BR>with<BR>the flexibility to address its special needs as
well as the needs of <BR>its<BR>occupants.<BR>That's why, The Seeing Eye turned
to Notifier and its local Engineered<BR>Systems Distributor, United Fire
Protection [UFP] for a new fire alarm<BR>system. Although<BR>The Seeing Eye has
been a customer of Notifier and UFP, it was just<BR>recently that the school and
Liptak learned of the Onyx ExitPoint<BR>evacuation guidance<BR>system that
perfectly addressed the needs of the blind students.<BR><BR>It was Frank Savino,
president and CEO of United Fire Protection, who<BR>actually brought this new
technology to Bud Liptak's attention.<BR><BR>Savino recalled, "About a year ago
at the Notifier Annual Distributor<BR>Conference, I saw a demonstration of the
Onyx ExitPoint notification<BR>device, and it<BR>just clicked with me; The
Seeing Eye was an obvious candidate for this<BR>technology."<BR><BR>What Savino
saw, and what Liptak soon implemented, was an entirely new<BR>audible exit
technology that supplements visual exit markings like<BR>emergency
lighting,<BR>signage, and photo luminescent guidance strips with interactive
<BR>auditory<BR>guidance. Capable of reducing evacuation times up to 75%,
Notifier's <BR>Onyx<BR>ExitPoint<BR>system uses varying tones and intensities to
provide directional cues<BR>that don't conflict with traditional devices such as
horns and bells.<BR>ExitPoint emits<BR>four different field selectable sound
pulse patterns to help direct<BR>occupants to egress pathways and building
exits. It clearly defines an<BR>immediate escape<BR>route, especially for those
without the gift of sight.<BR><BR>Installed at building exits or along egress
routes, Onyx ExitPoint is a<BR>compact sounder that produces broadband noise,
acting as an audible <BR>exit<BR>sign. Onyx<BR>ExitPoint is triggered by a
building's fire alarm control panel; it<BR>guides building occupants towards the
exits. Using changes in pitch, <BR>for<BR>example, a<BR>descending tone sound
that goes from a high pitch to a low pitch,<BR>ExitPoint can direct the students
on upper floors to the exits on the<BR>ground floor.<BR><BR>" Rich Fischer (the
regional sales manager from Notifier) gave us a<BR>presentation, and everyone
here at the school was on board right from <BR>the<BR>start," Liptak<BR>said.
"We knew we wanted to upgrade our system, and ExitPoint certainly<BR>fit the
bill. The system has been installed throughout our
entire<BR>administration<BR>building, and has received nothing but favorable
reviews from students,<BR>teachers, the administration, and the local fire
official.<BR><BR>To meet the budgetary needs of the non-profit institution,
Notifier<BR>donated the new equipment to the school, UFP designed and installed
the<BR>system at no<BR>charge. Both the design and installation phases were
extremely easy. <BR>UFP<BR>was able to seamlessly integrate the product into the
existing system,<BR>completing<BR>the installation in one week during the
school's summer break.<BR><BR>" Part of the beauty of the ExitPoint system,"
Savino said, "is that it<BR>can be easily retrofitted to existing notification
circuits. This makes<BR>for fast<BR>installation. Also, the system draws an
extremely low amount of power <BR>due<BR>to the absence of strobes and other
visual components. In most cases, <BR>it<BR>can<BR>be connected directly to
existing notification circuits without any<BR>additional wiring. However,
consideration for power and load needs <BR>should<BR>always
be<BR>evaluated."<BR><BR>Both Savino and Liptak appreciated the help they
received from Notifier<BR>personnel throughout the installation and ramp-up
period. "Notifier's<BR>Rich Fischer<BR>was very helpful," Savino said. "He took
time to meet directly with us<BR>and The Seeing Eye people, explained how the
ExitPoint technology <BR>works,<BR>and provided<BR>clear demonstrations to
everyone. And from what we hear, the system has<BR>been working without a
hitch."<BR><BR>Liptak agreed, saying "We are very excited to be pioneers in our
field<BR>once again with this important life safety upgrade at our facility.
In<BR>addition to<BR>the benefits of an auditory-based system, we have also
found the<BR>ExitPoint to be extremely reliable."<BR><BR>Onyx ExitPoint is
currently in place on The Seeing Eye's main campus.<BR>"Our students find the
ExitPoint system to be extremely intuitive,"<BR>Liptak said. "Usually<BR>when a
class first enters the building, we hold an Orientation with a<BR>quick fire
drill to help students get their bearings in the building. <BR>We<BR>hold
these<BR>practice frills about once a month when a new class of students
<BR>arrives."<BR>There are also plans for expansion beyond the main campus. "We
have a<BR>'downtown<BR>lounge' in downtown </STRONG></FONT><SPAN
id=lw_1181685422_4
style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed; HEIGHT: 1em"><FONT
size=3><STRONG>Morristown</STRONG></FONT></SPAN><FONT size=3><STRONG> where
students can relax while their<BR>classmates are in training," said Liptak.
"We're upgrading the lounge <BR>in<BR>the coming<BR>months and are encouraging
the landlord to install the ExitPoint <BR>system."<BR><BR>The benefits of this
extraordinary system are clearly easy to hear. In<BR>fact, when it comes to this
exit technology, hearing is believing.<BR><BR>For additional information, please
visit </STRONG></FONT><A href="http://www.honeywell.com/" target=_blank><SPAN
id=lw_1181685422_5><FONT color=#003399
size=3><STRONG>www.honeywell.com</STRONG></FONT></A></SPAN><FONT
size=3><STRONG>.<BR><BR></STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://www.chiefengineer.org/content/content_display.cfm/seqnumber_content/3019.htm"
target=_blank><SPAN id=lw_1181685422_6
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size=3><STRONG>http://www.chiefengineer.org/content/content_display.cfm/seqnumber_conten<BR>t/3019.htm</STRONG></FONT></A></SPAN><BR><BR<BR>--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~<BR>You
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