Security Sales & Integration May 2022 - 36

Fire
Cutting-Edge Smoke
& Heat Detection
and characteristics of smoldering and smoke
drifting upwards, and the illumination and
natural behavior of flames.
These capabilities make this type of video
monitoring highly efficient and robust against
false alarms. It raises an alert only when the
danger is real, and a response is necessary.
Smart, video-based methods detect fires directly
at their source, rather than relying on
heat and smoke to first reach the sensors of
classic smoke detectors.
Future generations of the technology will be
even more advanced and completely AI-driven,
with no need for definable criteria input,
thanks to a continual accumulation and
sharing of real-life data and experience. IoT
technology is thus making fire detection and
prevention much faster, more precise - and
safer - than ever before.
Waste management and
recycling plants, which hold
flammable or explosive
chemicals and materials, is an
example of a vertical market
where industrial fire-prevention
systems are essential.
Algorithms
developed based
on recorded
video footage can
be customized
by adjustable
sensitivity
settings.
Mitigating Outdoor Dangers
The fact that the video cameras can be installed
where they are needed, at optimal angles
just like surveillance cameras, and outside
under sheltered outdoor constructions, offers
huge advantages. Even after operational hours,
when staff are safely not on the premises, financial
costs of fires to businesses can be huge.
If a fire ignites and takes hold of outdoor
storage shelters containing a high fire load,
the entire business stock is at risk of being
devoured by flames. A fire will not stop at
adjacent buildings or any machinery or vehicles
nearby; they too can quickly turn to ash.
Thanks to smart communications, AI indicators
in video cameras can instantly alert safety
personnel and emergency services before the
risk of major damage occurs.
Another advantage with video-driven safety
technology is that monitoring in low-light
conditions - overcast days outside or poorly
lit spaces indoors - can be covered by specially
fitted infrared lighting. IR illuminators
help the cameras to function efficiently around
the clock, not just in bright daylight or welllit
areas. So even in pitch darkness, intruders,
vandals and any clear sign of fire or smoke are
picked up by the cameras thanks to the artificial
lighting. Alarms can then be promptly
triggered and smart alerts can be sent within
seconds. Housing around the latest surveillance
cameras protect their lenses from dust and condensation,
so they are continually effective in
all conditions.
36
Security Sales & Integration MAY 2022
Future of Fire Prevention
Ignition, kindling and even combustion cannot
be prevented altogether with precautionary
measures, due to a whole host of hazardous
sources and conditions. However, using the
latest fire- and smoke-detection technology,
dangers of smoldering vapors turning into billowing
toxic smoke and small flames growing
into devastating fires that cause total damage
can be averted. Limits of classic fire-prevention
equipment have been overcome by stateof-the-art
developments.
Algorithms providing precise recognition
of heat, smoke and fire at their source,
with customized anomaly detection, all built
into video-based solutions, make personnel,
property and local environments much safer
than ever before. Reliable and rapid solutions
save businesses huge costs in insurance and
damage repairs, and business continuity is
improved massively with fewer false alarms
and shutdowns. By installing smart solutions,
premises are safer and more secure,
and business costs related to fire damages and
frequent interruptions to business continuity
are reduced.
From a business perspective, there are clear
advantages of this cutting-edge technology:
efficiency, as the flame- and smoke-detection
technology can be installed at the same site as
existing surveillance equipment; and speed, as
by reliably identifying a real fire at its source,
these solutions trigger a much more rapid response.
And they are unmatched in their ability
to monitor for fires under outdoor sheltered
constructions, even overnight.
Systems integrators offering the latest technologies
to clients can, thus, finally meet their
demand for round-the-clock fire monitoring
in challenging business environments, such as
industrial sites featuring high fire loads or hazardous
materials. The new AI and IoT developments,
combined with video surveillance,
equips them with unprecedented business opportunities
in a highly competitive landscape
for fire safety provision. Opportunities for
them to position themselves as a supplier of
innovative detection and prevention methods
which ensure fire safety and business continuity
for clients of all sizes are diverse. SSI
THERESA GRUNEWALD is the Global
Business Development Manager at Bosch
Security and Safety Systems.
securitysales.com
PAVEL/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
http://www.securitysales.com
Security Sales & Integration May 2022

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