make sure they properly operate
when required, but this is com-
monly neglected.
“A lot of times these systems are
ignored or considered secondary.
They aren’t properly inspected
or maintained, and when they
are needed, they don’t function
correctly or at all,” says McLane.
the programming, you have to test
the system in addition to annual
testing so that everything works
correctly. I’ve heard horror stories
from people who recall that when
the system was installed, everything worked great and things were
computer programmed. There
have been instances where people
changed the programming or added
components and didn’t do the test
or didn’t do it the way it was sup-
posed to be done. And when they
needed the system, they found it
didn’t work properly.”
McLane recalls one example
where some additional program-
ming was done to a distributed
recipient system on a campus
so that everyone would receive
1IN-BUILDING AUDIO NOTIFICATION
The most basic form of
mass notification for a
facility is an in-building
system that delivers voice
messages to occupants
throughout the building.
“The audible notification
is by voice messages. It’s
either by a pre-recorded
voice message or a live
voice message,” says Bryan
McLane, Vice President
of the National Training
Center, a training provider
for fire alarm and security
systems. “The live message
will obviously override the
pre-recorded message.”
4 Major Types of Mass Notification Systems
Do you have the proper plan in place to make sure building occupants can respond to critical events promptly?
Ensure that your organization is covered by committing to a multilayered approach to mass notification. These
4 types of mass notification systems can ensure that your occupants will know what to do in an emergency no
matter where they are located.
2IN-BUILDING VISUAL NOTIFICATION
An in-building audio mass notification system is not enough
on its own because it does not
adequately account for any
hearing-impaired occupants.
Thus, a notification system
that is visually oriented is also
necessary.
“For consideration of those
who are hearing impaired, you
need visible notification as
well. With visible notification,
you’ll have strobe lights, but
you could also have message
boards. The message boards
will be just like a voice notification where they will actually
spell out instructions vs. just
flashing the light like a strobe
light would,” McLane says.
In addition to providing a more
ADA-compliant means of communications, visual notification – particularly with digital
signs – gives all occupants
another way to clearly identify
the appropriate action for the
event or emergency.
3WIDE-AREA MASS NOTIFICATION
In-building mass notification systems are great if
you know that all of your
occupants are going to be
inside where they can hear it,
but that is a rare occurrence,
especially on multi-building
campuses. For those moving
from building to building,
like on a university campus,
you will need something that
can fill in the spaces between
facilities.
“For those in campus settings with multiple buildings,
you use wide-area mass
notification. Wide area is
an audible-only notification
usually using high-power
speaker arrays or some sort
of audible notification appliance with voice messages
to give people specific voice
instructions,” notes McLane.
4DISTRIBUTED RECIPIENT MASS
NOTIFICATION
Given our dependence on
phones, distributed recipient
mass notification systems
provide a means of communication that is almost certain
to reach occupants, as they
can deliver detailed alerts and
directions to selected devices.
“Distributed recipient mass
notification is where messages are directly sent out to
individuals like reverse 911 calls
via text messaging or email,”
says McLane. “That usually
follows in campus situations
where you may have people in
a common area, not inside of
a building or where they don’t
have voice notification
to cover that area or any
background noises.”
continued