From Fire Panel to Fire Service: Honeywell's CLSS Paves the Way for Faster, More Reliable Alarm Communication

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For decades, the fire and life safety industry has relied on alarm communication methods like plain old telephone service (POTS) lines and other unreliable and outdated systems simply because it’s the way we’ve always done it.

In 2022, an elementary school in Richmond, VA* caught fire after the alarm did not reach the monitoring center due to a missing area code in the plain old telephone service (POTS) line communication. First responders were alerted to the fire by a passerby, but even when they arrived on site, they didn’t have clear information from the fire panel about which detector triggered the alarm.

This is just one example. And now more than ever, there is a need for fast, modern, and reliable alarm communication technologies that service providers and building operators can trust to protect their people and property.

Honeywell is committed to transforming life safety by working to ensure critical and contextual fire alarm data is available to fire and life safety professionals across the industry, reducing the time it takes for an alarm to reach first responders and enabling a better response.

Here’s How:

Connected Life Safety Services (CLSS) is Honeywell’s all-in-one cloud platform that enables stakeholders across the industry to deliver an enhanced fire safety service by leveraging the power of data.

CLSS connects the life safety system, monitoring center, 911 dispatch center, and first responders into a single open ecosystem. This system is built around fast, reliable, and modern digital connectivity. 

CLSS-enabled fire alarm communicators deliver alarm signals to the building’s monitoring center over IP or cellular, ensuring faster and more reliable alarm delivery.

At CLSS-enabled monitoring centers, alarm signals are received faster and with more contextual information due to their integration with the building’s system. Armed with the digital building data from CLSS, monitoring centers can alert 911 Dispatch Centers of an emergency via an automated digital alert, replacing the manual phone call from the monitoring center operator to the 911 operator.

In addition to the alert sent through the supervised monitoring center, CLSS also shares contextual alarm data with first responder apps like USDD, Active911, and IamResponding, reaching 80% of first responders in the U.S and allowing them to arrive on-site better informed.

This saves critical time in transmitting the alarm information, while ensuring the incident details are communicated clearly and reliably. Subsequent alarms are also sent digitally, reducing the number of follow up calls to dispatch. 

The CLSS platform supports Honeywell fire alarm communicators like the CLSS Pathway and the CLSS Gateway as well as partner communicators from Telguard, NAPCO, and AlarmNet by Resideo. Over 130 prestigious monitoring centers are receiving life safety events from the CLSS cloud, bypassing the collapsing POTS network.

We partner with these industry leaders because we believe that connecting as many buildings as possible to the rich data CLSS provides will help achieve our North Star vision of zero losses in our communities due to a fire event.

The CLSS Pathway Communicator

One way to connect your customer buildings to CLSS is through the CLSS Pathway communicator. The CLSS Pathway is:

• Dual-Path + Dual-SIM – AT&T and Verizon in one
• Profitable – Maximize your RMR while lowering customer costs
• Fully encrypted – Backed by Honeywell’s rigorous cybersecurity standards
• Based in the USA – Fully redundant network operations centers (NOC) in California and Virginia
• Used and trusted by many – CLSS is trusted by more than 100,000 buildings in the U.S.
• Brand agnostic – Compatible with any fire alarm control panel
• Monitoring center enabled – More than 130 monitoring centers are currently CLSS-enabled
• Integrated with first responder apps – CLSS can send contextual alarm information to first responder applications, ensuring they have the right information when they need it most
• Software enabled – Access tools like Site Manager for remote diagnostics and troubleshooting, Facility Manager for your customers’ visibility and peace of mind, Compliance Manager for inspection, testing and maintenance (ITM), and more.

The Ask

So, what does this mean for you? There are three clear paths to getting your customer sites connected to CLSS and, as a result, better protected.

1. Purchase and install a CLSS Pathway communicator at your customer sites – available at your local distributor.
2. Prefer to keep your existing NAPCO, Telguard, or AlarmNet by Resideo communicators? No problem. Activate those communicators on the CLSS platform by logging in to an existing CLSS account or creating a new one here – fire.honeywell.com
3. Ensure your customers’ buildings are working with a CLSS-enabled monitoring center to ensure the fastest and most contextual alarm communication – full list here

To get connected with a CLSS expert, please fill out the Learn More form at https://buildings.honeywell.com/us/en/lp/clss-pathway

*https://www.vpm.org/news/2023-04-19/faulty-alarms-richmond-public-schools-fire-safety-unchecked