AlarmDelay
Requires ext.adapter 0.1.7 or later.
Description
Marks an Object as capable of alarm delay function that is often used in fire alarm systems.
Alarm delay in fire alarm systems involves a structured process where operators are given the opportunity to verify the legitimacy of a detected incident. Especially in Germany, alarm delay is often referred to as “intervention”. The process begins with a pre-alarm message, which serves as an early warning of a potential fire or another alarm condition. This initiates a “reaction time”, during which the operator must acknowledge the pre-alarm and decide whether to dispatch personnel to investigate.
If the operator acknowledges the pre-alarm or calls the Investigate Operation, an “investigation time” begins, allowing further assessment to confirm the validity of the alarm. If no action is taken within the reaction time, the system escalates to a full alarm. Similarly, if the operator neither confirms nor denies the alarm within the investigation time, the system defaults to issuing a genuine alarm. This structured approach helps reduce false alarms while ensuring that real threats are promptly addressed.
Alarm delay function must be explicitly activated. Otherwise, the fire alarm system reports fire alarms directly without triggering a pre-alarm. Fire alarm systems are sometimes operated in day mode or night mode. If this is the case, alarm delay is typically activated in day mode and deactivated in night mode.
Operations
AlarmDelayOn
Enables alarm delay function.
This Operation should only be available if alarm delay is currently disabled.
AlarmDelayOff
Disables alarm delay function.
This Operation should only be available if alarm delay is currently enabled.
Investigate
Starts the investigation time.
This Operation can be used as an explicit alternative to the “Investigate” Event Operation and should only be available if alarm delay is currently in reaction stage.
ConfirmAlarm
Called to confirm an alarm in case of a real fire after the investigation has been completed.
This Operation should only be available if alarm delay is currently in reaction or investigation stage.
States
AlarmDelay
| Type | Description | Possible values |
|---|---|---|
| bool | Indicates if alarm delay is enabled in the third-party system. | - true: alarm delay is enabled - false: alarm delay is disabled |
AlarmDelayElapseTime
Note: It must be ensured that the system time of the adapter and the system time of the external system are synchronized for the correct operation of this State.
| Type | Description | Possible values |
|---|---|---|
| time | The timestamp, when the reaction or investigation time elapses. | - |
AlarmDelayStage
| Type | Description | Possible values |
|---|---|---|
| int | Indicates whether the timer is currently the reaction time or the investigation time. | 0 (Idle), 1 (Reaction), 2 (Investigation), 3 (Elapsed) |
Workflow in WinGuard
It is possible to configure a user-defined command button that evaluates the AlarmDelay Functionality and displays a reaction or investigation timer. This button can be added to the event list toolbar, for example.
The AlarmDelayElapseTime State is used to set the timer. The AlarmDelayStage State is used to determine, which timer should be displayed:
- 0 (Idle): No timer is displayed in WinGuard.
- 1 (Reaction): A reaction timer is displayed in the event list toolbar in WinGuard. Set the AlarmDelayElapseTime State to the timestamp when the reaction timer should elapse along with this stage.
- 2 (Investigation): A investigation timer is displayed in the event list toolbar in WinGuard. Set the AlarmDelayElapseTime State to the timestamp when the investigation timer should elapse along with this stage.
- 3 (Elapsed): An elapsed timer is displayed in the event list toolbar in WinGuard.