Silent Knight creates online resource for industry

NORTHFORD, Conn.—Building a fire alarm system from the ground up; when to use IP or cellular or both in alternative communication systems; and customizing emergency messages for mass notification systems. Silent Knight's new blog covers those topics and more.

Silent Knight by Honeywell on Sept. 2 announced the creation of the new online resource for industry. The blog, which the company's marketing director likened to “a library of mini-white papers” stands out for its content, according to Dave Pakech, Silent Knight's VP of Sales and Elizabeth Richards, the company's communications manager.

“Blogs are everywhere, but we didn't see a 'life safety' blog that focused on topics really close to our customer's needs,” Richards told Security Systems News. “We really wanted to provide a new online resource to educate and inform on everything related to life safety system
She and Pakech said the blog is designed for everyone in the security industry, including installers, engineers, facility managers, security directors, AHJs and first responders. And the topics covered range from codes and technology to training and trends.

For example, one of the latest posts is about building a fire alarm system. Included is information such as panel selection, device use, and notification appliances.

Other topics include alternative ways to communicate with central monitoring stations with the sunset of POTS; mass notification systems and emergency alerts; new 2013 NFPA 72 standards; and requirements** and technology surrounding low frequency notification.

The blog also is interactive, providing a forum for industry members to discuss such topics and trends.

The topics for the blog are chosen in a variety of ways, Pakech said. Along with a team of core teams of content providers, he said, “we are pulling in folks that are experts in everything from code changes and regulations to industry trends and technology. We meet weekly to brainstorm with a number of sources including our field reps, dealers, engineers, end users and [industry] organizations.”

And of course ideas also come up at shows or other events and in Silent Knight training courses and webinars, Pakech said.

The blog also has an advanced search feature that allows visitors to choose which topics to focus on.

“We love this part,” Pakech said. “Not every topic we discuss applies to each reader.”

Richards explained that, along with a general search function, readers can also “narrow down the topic they want to read up on.”

For example, she said, they can search by a blog author's name or by a tagged term, such as emergency communications,” “IP/cellular,” or “fiber trends.”