Overview
Siemens fire panels alert end-users that there is a fire. You can send alerts from
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to the fire panel. You can also activate pseudo-points on the fire panel, which trigger redefined alerts in BlackBerry AtHoc.This document describes the steps needed to set up and integrate the Siemens Indoor Fire Panel fire panel with
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and with the IP Integration Module (IIM) manager. The IIM is used to integrate the fire panel with the alerting system using a Web interface.The Siemens fire panel connects with notification devices using two networks:
- Control network, token ring loop (sustaining single break)
- Audio network, typically digital audio with eight channels (over twisted pair or fiber)
A single Siemens fire panel can control a standard size building, where larger buildings (high rise or very large buildings) might have more Siemens fire panels. In a campus configuration, it is typical to have multiple Siemens fire panels use the same control and audio networks. In that case, a single Siemens fire panel can trigger alarms in remote locations with the same control and audio networks, with override provisions as programmed in the fire panels.
The audio and control networks connect to Flex-50 amplifiers which drive the speakers mounted in the buildings.
The Siemens fire panel is equipped with an RS232 computer port that can be used for control.
Additionally, an Auxiliary Audio Input Module provides line-level audio input. The audio input can be programmed to relay input audio to one of the 8 channels.
The serial interface with a Siemens fire panel includes a connection and fire panel supervision "heart-beat", with which you need to monitor.
You can program the Siemens with pseudo-points (PP), which are similar to keys. The pseudo-points are preprogrammed scripts that can activate audio or visual notification devices.
For example, you can have three pseudo points that control devices in several zones:
- PP 601 can be used to configure speakers in Zone 1 to listen to channel 8
- PP 602 can target Zone 2 speakers
- PP 701 can activate strobes in Zone 1
To activate the Siemens Indoor Fire Panel, send the SET ON command to the Siemens Indoor Fire Panel. When a positive acknowledgment (ACK) is received, stream the audio to the line-level input. When the activation is complete, send a SET OFF command, followed by an ACK. If there was no ON command, there should be no OFF command. If there are multiple zones to activate in parallel, send commands sequentially (ON and then OFF).
The Siemens submits synchronous pseudo-point status updates, which you can use to verify that the command was successfully received. These updates can also be used to activate specific pseudo-points that trigger
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alerts.Configuration Examples
The following diagrams show configuration options:
- Solo Configuration. This configuration uses one Siemens–IIM configuration.
- Redundant Configuration. This configuration has two Siemens–IIM pairs with parallel messages. One configuration acts as a failover if the other configuration fails.
