MNEC 101 – Fire/Life Safety Perspective

Agenda MNEC –Why, What & When Codes –UFC –NFPA-72 MNEC (ECS) –The Parts and Pieces Audio Integrators –Why Sell MNEC –Selling Strategies

Why MNEC BostonJoplin, MOAurora, CO Virginia Tech Sandy Hook Elementary School

It is both a communications AND emergency management tool to provide real-time instructions and information to building occupants and visitors during an emergency event. What is MNEC

 Weather emergency  Medical emergency  Security breach  Public disturbance  Act of terrorism  Chemical release  Fire  Utility outage Joplin When is MNEC Used?

When is MNEC used?  Homeland Security Terrorist Threats Bioterrorism Cyber Terrorism  Public Health SARS West Nile Virus Swine Flu  Power Outages  Cyber / Virus Events Result in System Losses Trading / Pricing Systems Electronic Banking Transactions  Market Interruption / Volatility  Inclement Weather Hurricanes Blizzards Tornadoes Flooding Earthquakes  Life Safety Regulatory Issues  Water Contamination Loss of Pressure in High- Rise Complexes

Primary MNEC Function…  What is happening  What to do  Where to go  When it is safe To notify people in a building, on a campus or a geographic area about an event … Very Different Function of a Fire Alarm System

MNEC “IS” Internal Overhead Paging Signage External Speakers “Giant Voice” Wide-Area Text Messaging Paging

 Tier 1 Immediate & intrusive Sirens, indoor/outdoor loudspeakers Fire voice evacuation Electronic signage Code compliant  Tier 3 Public alerting Sat/AM/FM radio broadcasts Sat/off-air TV broadcasts Location-specific text messages Levels of MNEC…. Tier 2 Personal alerting SMS Text (cell phones) Computer pop-ups Tone alert radios Broadcast (Internet) Automated voice dialing & text messaging Tier 4 Locally relevant alerting Handheld bullhorns Radio cell phones Two-way radios

MNEC is “NOT” Fire Alarm Fire Alarm is an Input Mass Messaging SMS Textual Signage Paging System

Codes – They are not scary Nomenclature: –NFPA -72, UFC –AHJ, ECS, EVACS –STI, STIPPA History –UFC Began the Code Changes for NFPA Codes –UFC (Most of us do not need to worry about) –NFPA-72

How it Started….. Terrorists act - Khobar Towers Housing Complex, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, issued post-incident report Antiterrorism/Force Protection Standards developed by USAF

How it Started UFC Minimum Antiterrorism Standards for Buildings The initial requirements for Mass Notification Oct 2004 The Air Force petitioned NFPA to develop MNS standards The military found that they could not use approved fire alarm systems for Mass Notification while remaining in full compliance with NFPA 72 UFC Design and O&M: Mass Notification Systems requires combination voice fire alarm and mass notification systems Effectivity Date June 2003

How it Started Allow for the use of fire alarm systems integrated with other systems Provides guidance for the application, installation, location, performance, and maintenance of Mass Notification Systems NFPA 72 – 2007 Annex E UL 2572 CONTROL AND COMMUNICATION UNITS FOR MASS NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS NFPA 72 – 2010 Chapter 12/25 Coordination of the functions of a mass notification system with those of a fire alarm system is essential in order to provide effective communication in an emergency situation. NEW Standards by UL. For systems to comply and provide MNEC with Highest priority. 2007October

Where it is Now Local code officials have adopted the code for MNEC quicker than any other major technology State, local and municipal building codes

UFC Requirements An in-building mass notification system shall include one or more of the following components: (1) Autonomous control unit (ACU) (2) Local operating console (LOC) (3) Fire alarm control interface (4) Notification appliance network (5) Initiating devices (6) Interface to other systems and alerting sources Unified Facility Criteria These are the building blocks of MNEC

NFPA Changes –Requires Mass Notification to be part of fire alarm/life safety system. –Permits a mass notification control unit to take control of fire alarm notification appliances including amplifiers, speakers, and strobes. –MNEC has highest priority over fire alarm. –Will require a MNEC voice message any time the priority is granted to the mass notification control unit. –Strobes used for dual purposes shall not be marked ‘FIRE’, strobes to be blank or ‘ALERT’. –Dedicated MNEC strobes shall be AMBER and ALERT wording. –Operation of MNS system is based on the emergency response plan. –Intelligibility of voice messages are required to meet the requirements of chapter 7 (notification). –Visual notification to be completed through strobes, textual, graphic or video displays. National Fire Protection Association

Mass Notification Emergency Communication

Life Safety Interface Servers Inputs Outputs MS1 Ancillary Features: Logging, Scheduler, Universe-wide Paging, 3 rd Party Interface, VoIP Main LOC LOC: Local Operation console TTS af Standard PoE Secure Network Infrastructure (‘the world’) Inputs Remote Control End of Line Device ACU Outputs Control Ambient Noise Compensation

ACU: Autonomous Control Unit Supervises the entire ECS Interfaces with Inputs and Outputs The “brain” of MNEC Requires redundancy 8 Simultaneous Messages sent UL 2572 Approved Controls all Inputs and Outputs for Emergency Communication

Placed in areas that have the ability to send Emergency Messages Local Operating Consoles LOC

Surface mount, networked appliance Controls volume of channel, group or cluster 2 microphone inputs Multiple parameter adjustments in GUI Independent mic gain controls Threshold (with capture), max. and min. compensation Ramp times, ratio and weighting Ambient Noise Control Adjusts loudspeaker volume to compensate for variations in ambient noise

Message Server Facilitates global messaging functions Messaging – storage and playback (8 simultaneous) System configuration – storage and service Inter-world paging Event scheduling System event logging Remote 3 rd party control via Ethernet (‘ETAP’) 3 network ports – CobraNet, Control and VoIP Signage Integration

Text To Speech Server Runs embedded Text-to-Speech Engine (Nuance) Configured in GUI - text entry in Windows Client Up to 40 high quality voice fonts (languages)

Life Safety Interface LSI Control Inputs via RS232 or Ethernet (TCP/IP) for future interconnect flexibility Parallel Control Inputs from Fire detection System and Switches Monitored Parallel Control Outputs to Lamps and Sounders Control Outputs via RS232 or Ethernet (TCP/IP) for future interconnect flexibility Standards Compliant Fault and Alarm Indicators on Panel Interfaces to an emergency or fire detection system in order to meet voice evacuation requirements.

End of Line Device Supervision of Audio Notification Circuit Required Multi-tone ultrasonic testing, FFT based Applicable to 100V, 70V and low Z speaker lines Not reliant on speaker line for powering Verifies the integrity of speaker cables between ACU and End of Line (EOL)

Fire Alarm Integration Example LSI LOC ACU - 1 ACU - 2 ACU -3 Building 1 Emergency mode Disabled Building 2 Building 3 Pre-recorded messages from the ACU or live pages from the LOC go to:

Fire, Life Safety & Audio Integrators Involvement Vision – What is the ultimate goal of the customer? Functionality – What is the Emergency Response Plan? Ease of Use – How will the ECS be used in Emergencies Business Continuity – How does the ECS help with day to day efficiency? Liability – How does MNEC make the customer compliant? Perception – Means everything

Target Applications Corporate Recreation Retail Transportation Hospitality Education Healthcare Government

The Key MNEC Issues … Any message, to any device, anywhere Open standards is essential Integrate and interface systems Create situational awareness Create full interoperability Test as frequently as practical with local, state & federal responders

NSCA members are the EXPERTS! Intelligible Audio IS what Audio Integrators do STI is something you understand Business Continuity through audio Sound Masking – If you can make sound go away, you are uniquely suited to provide quality sound Sound Re-Enforcement – Another word for Intelligible Audio

Why MNEC Is So Important C-Level Code Litigation Perception

Vision - Perception Customer/User Potentials Employee/Staff Community Competitors

Vision - Litigation Physical threats such as local, regional or terrorist-related disasters can severely threaten a company's bottom line. Virginia Tech (Clery Act) More Security Issues = Higher Liability Employees, visitors, all personnel MNEC bring credibility to safety efforts

Functionality - Code Survivability Monitoring Fire Alarms are Monitored and verified to be working as will Mass Notification Devices No Single Point of Failure Auto-Fail Over

Speech Transmission Index (STI) Talker RoomNoise ReverberationBackground Listener Adapted from Ingenieurbüro Michael Creydt

STI<0.3<0.45<0.6<0.75<1.0 Intelligibility Very badbadAcceptableGoodVery good Adapted from Ingenieurbüro Michael Creydt STI Chart Comparison Minimum Per NFPA

Functionality - Intelligibility

Ease of Use – Emergency Response Plan Build System to ERP Know what an ERP is. Partner with those who create ERP’s. One Touch Operation Automated Operation

Business Continuity Day to Day Operations Mass Messaging Scheduled Messages –Bells, Prayers, Shift Change Process Management –Manufacturing, etc. Use the SMART Phone

Next Steps Information –Codes Adopted in your Marketplace –A&Es who can use your expertise –Who is doing MNEC in your area now? –Product –What product will you use? –Look for Notification Product –Wheelock, American Signal –Integration Avenues –Software (RAVE, REACT) –ASK THE QUESTION!

References Gray, A. (2009). Khobar Towers Attack Proved Need For Mass Notification. Retrieved on October 6 th, 2011 from Web Site: Department of Defense. (2008). Unified Facility Criteria (UFC), Design and O&M: Mass Notification Systems, Department of Defense, Washington DC Mayfield, T. (2010). Security on an Education Campus, Presented July 2010, AMAG Architect and Engineer Consortium, Florida Moore, W. D. (2007). Mass Notification Systems: Design Challenges for the FPE. SFPE Fire Protection Engineering, 1 National Fire Protection Association. (2012). NFPA 1 Fire Code Quincy Massachusetts: National Fire Protection Association. National Fire Protection Association, (2013). NFPA 72 National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, Quincy Massachusetts: National Fire Protection Association. National Fire Protection Association, (2012). NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, Quincy Massachusetts: National Fire Protection Association. Newsweek, (1996). A Bomb and 3 Minutes’ Warning, Newsweek, 128(2), 24 Retrieved on October 6 th, 2011 from EBSOCO web site: ite=ehost-live&scope=site ite=ehost-live&scope=site NSCA. (2010). History and Development of the National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code (NFPA 72). Retrieved September 9, 2010 from MNEC web site: Biamp Systems. (2010). Vochia Simplified. Oregon: Biamp Systems UTC – EST. (2010). Mass Notification. Sarasota, Florida: EST Systems

Questions?

For Further Information Chuck Wilson P) E)