DeafWatch Fire Alarm for Deaf People Installed at One of the World’s Top Universities

Nov. 9, 2009 - PRLog -- Imperial College London, rated the fifth best university in the world for 2009, is the latest college to install DeafWatch – the Fire Alarm for Deaf People developed by Wireless Alert Solutions. (http://www.wasol.co.uk/)

Fire Alarms for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People
Imperial College is a science-based institution with such a superb reputation for excellence in teaching and research that it attracts 13,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest quality. The innovative research at the college explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, so naturally they would insist on the highest quality products and systems to be used in and around the Imperial College Campus. When such systems are to be used to help protect students and staff, then such a prestigious college places paramount importance on choosing the right systems.

Coverage Problems
Imperial had previously looked into fire alarm solutions for Deaf and hard of hearing people in the past, but the large scale buildings of the South Kensington Campus meant that paging licenced and unlicenced systems always encountered coverage problems. Poorly licenced options required multiple transmitters to cover just a single building, while the size and complex nature of the laboratories and dense materials contained within them made full coverage difficult.

Further Testing
For DeafWatch, the scale and variety of the Imperial College buildings proved less troublesome. A single fire alarm and a single DeafWatch transmitter (http://wasol.co.uk/deaf-fire-alarms-and-wireless-refuge/4...) achieved complete coverage of whole buildings from the ground floor using only a low power five inch antenna. Imperial College earned its place as the fifth best university in the world by detailed investigation, testing and problem solving. One problem occurred when DeafWatch was used in conjuction with Imperial’s sophisticated central control system for identifying fire activations and co-ordinating the management. The system operates over a variety of cabling, the correct method for information only services that are operating and performing well. Appending DeafWatch to this system would make it part of the fire alarm system, so non-fire retardant cable was inadequate. This meant that the college buildings would have to be considered individually or in clusters.

Deaf Alarm Solutions
With the infrastructure of Imperial College meaning some buildings are securely interconnected, twenty six buildings could be secured by only nineteen DeafWatch transmitters, which meant that, along with the bulk purchases for such a large project, significant savings were possible. The flexibility of the Wireless Alert Solutions approach meant that a strong working relationship was built with the in-situ electrical sub-contractor, simplifying the installation. Having local engineers on site with resources and facilities in central London also proved a significant cost saving.

Imperial College London has the legal title ‘Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine’ and this is reflected in department after department of sophisticated technology. The laboratories of Mechanical Engineering, Aeronautics, Biochemistry and Electrical Engineering all threw up unusual and difficult challenges. A combination of different small antennas and a maximum power output of 5W meant that DeafWatch - Deaf Fire Alarm could securely cover all buildings.

Within the college Halls of Residence, DeafWatch utilised its daytime and night time programming protocols, ensuring that daytime messages would not be received by sleeping students, while those still awake would still receive Fire Alarm coverage.

Cost-Effective Conclusion
Imperial College London provided an excellent example of a cost effective Fire Alarm for Deaf and hard of hearing people solution despite the challenging circumstances. Even though the inter-building infrastructure was not able to be exploited in most cases, a flexible approach meant that a cost effective solution was possible in Central London. This resulted in Imperial College London considering a comprehensive approach to their Fire Alarm system within a year’s budget. (http://www.wasol.co.uk/our-approach)

After a successful expansion from the original two transmitters, Imperial College have already expanded the DeafWatch - Deaf Fire Alarm system two a total of twenty two transmitters, covering a total of twenty nine buildings across the whole South Kensington Campus and other sites besides.

“DeafWatch has turned a potential risk into a thorough success within six months. We have achieved complete coverage at a reasonable price. Their flexibility with our strategic partners and their approach to corporate responsibility has been crucial. We are very pleased with the results. For their size, Wireless Alert Solutions Limited punches comfortably above their weight.”
Andrew Hammond, Support Services, Imperial College London.

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Fire safety systems for disabled people. DeafWatch is a comprehensive fire alarm system for alerting Deaf and hard of hearing people. RefugeWatch enables two way wireless communication for refuge evacuation mangement.