Honeywell commercial fire radio for VISTA panels eliminates POTS need

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Honeywell this week introduced a new commercial fire radio that meets NFPA 72 2013 requirements for 60-minute supervision and can function as the sole path of alarm signal transport.

By installing the new iGSMCFP4G radio in place of costly POTS lines, security professionals have a new RMR stream and end users also benefit from the eliminated expense of dedicated phone lines, according to a July 8 news release.

The UL 864-listed radio sends Contact ID messages from a Honeywell VISTA fire alarm control panel. The integration of the fire radio and the panel from the same manufacturer is beneficial to both installers and business owners. “The ability to download to the VISTA panel makes installations more seamless and maximizes serviceability,” said Dean Mason, senior communications product manager, Honeywell, in a prepared statement. “The last thing businesses need to worry about are obsolete technologies, inconsistent support or complex installations. We're proud to offer a true, end-to-end fire communications solution that meets their needs—all from one, powerful platform.”

With the NFPA 72 2013 edition, the alarm communications path must be supervised once every 60 minutes and annunciated at the central station within five minutes of any failure. Supervising at longer intervals can help reduce unnecessary service calls from maintenance communication troubles or intermittent network outages. Additionally, adherence to NFPA 72 2010 supervision rates requires the iGSMCFP4G to send signal failures to central stations within five minutes of an outage.

The iGSMCFP4G uses the Internet as a primary communications path and GSM as an alternative backup.� Dual technologies work in tandem to deliver a robust communications solution for critical fire monitoring.