The pre-alarm and the investigation time are part of the Alarm Verification Concept (AVC) where the operator has time to check whether the alarm triggered from a fire detector is a false alarm or a real alarm. If it is a false alarm, the operator can avoid intervention of fire brigade.

The timers are displayed on the title bar of the Siveillance Control window when the alarms are triggered from the fire system.

This information applies to the following subsystems: FS20 and SIGMASYS. Keep in mind that for SIGMASYS, you receive only the pre-alarm message from a detector and for FS20, you receive both the pre-alarm from the AVC as well as the fire alarm from a detector.

 

Starting Investigation Time

  • The Events/Messages perspective is displayed.
  • The alarm message(s) are displayed in the Message List view.
  • The pre-alarm time label is displayed on the title bar of the Siveillance Control window.
  1. In the Message List view, double-click the alarm message to acknowledge or right-click on the alarm message and select Perform Command > Start Investigation Time.
  • An alarm message from the AVC is displayed in the Message List view.
  • The investigation time starts and the alarm goes to a quiet state.
  1. Double-click the timer to view the details in the Rate Message window.

Stopping Investigation Time

  1. During the investigation time, the operator investigates the fire alarm and performs the following actions:
  • If the incident is minor, the operator resets the alarm.
  • The investigation time stops automatically, and the timer label disappears from the title bar.
  1. In the event of a real fire alarm, the operator stops the investigation time by right clicking on the message and selecting Perform Command > Stop Investigation Time.
  • The fire brigade is informed of the fire alarm.

Different Functionalities of Pre-Alarm and Investigation Time

  • If a pre-alarm time pops up when you are logged on to Siveillance Control, you can double-click on the timer. You are then redirected to the Events/Messages perspective to view the message.
  • When there are multiple pre-alarms from different AVC, the shortest pre-alarm time is displayed in the title bar window.
  • If a pre-alarm time with long duration is running on the title bar and meanwhile an alarm with shorter duration is triggered, then the pre-alarm time with shorter duration is replaced. After the pre-alarm time of shorter duration expires, the remaining time of the first pre-alarm time gets displayed again.
  • When there are multiple investigation times configured, the shortest investigation time is displayed first in the title bar window.
  • When a pre-alarm and investigation time are triggered from different detectors, the pre-alarm time is displayed first.