Maarten Wings, Global Vertical Manager Airports, Bosch Security Systems
Maarten Wings from Bosch Security Systems shares how IP-based systems help avoid costly false alarms and evacuate airports safely during a real emergency.
When a pre-alarm goes off, airport control room personnel only have minutes to make the most important of decisions: evacuate and save lives or, with a false alarm, save the airport from costly embarrassment. Safety must always come first, but overreacting to a false alarm damages the customer experience – and airport revenue. With the right combination of fire alarm and voice evacuation system, security teams can decide what is necessary based on the actual severity of the situation.
Unrealistic verification times lead to unnecessary evacuations
After a pre-alarm gets triggered, security personnel have to physically walk to the location of the alarm to verify. Especially for larger airports, the walking distance to different terminals varies greatly. Traditional fire and voice alarm systems only allow for one standard verification time, essentially hardwired into the system. Understandably, this time is calculated as a worst-case scenario for the entire airport. Security teams often cannot reach faraway terminals in time, which automatically triggers a full-scale evacuation.
IP-based systems help assess risk for an appropriate response
With a combined fire and voice alarm system integrated over IP, airport safety managers can implement multiple verification times based on the walking distance to the alarm site. In the event of a real emergency, smart fire alarms can sync with voice evacuation systems to evacuate the right zone at the right time. This phased evacuation can occur automatically, or safety teams can direct it manually from the fire alarm panel. EN54-certified fire and voice alarm systems get the message out to the terminals most at risk, while diverting passengers from other terminals to an appropriate exit when the time is right. This helps evacuate as safely and quickly as possible, while avoiding panic.
If you’d like to learn more visit the following webpage:
https://www.boschsecurity.com/xc/en/industries/airports/#solutions
