Formats With More
Information:
Expanded Formats
Both the
3x1
and
4x1 Standard
formats leave something
to be desired, in that they cannot specify the exact location
of an alarm. Were the codes:
[1 2 3 2]
FIRE ALARM
and
[1 2 3 4 3]
BURGLAR ALARM
used to report events in large buildings with many
entrances – like schools or factories – they would not
provide enough information for them to be adequately
attended to. In the case of the
fire alarm,
the message
doesn't specify where the fire was first detected, and
therefore makes it difficult for the responding parties to
enter the building at the most strategic point. Similarly,
the
burglar alarm
doesn't specify whether the intrusion
was detected at a point on the perimeter or in the interior
– information that could be essential in helping the police
when they arrive. As a result, manufacturers of security
equipment, owners of Central Stations, and even industry
associations sought to develop more comprehensive
reporting formats that would convey information beyond
that produced by the "standard" formats. All the following
Reporting Formats provide additional data to satisfy these
needs, and depending upon the extent of the information
they carry, may be classified as an
Expanded
(or
Extended
) Format, or a
Point I.D.
(or
Contact I.D.
) Format.
3x1 Expanded Format and 4x1 Expanded Format
These
Expanded Formats
(which may also be known as
Extended
or
Universal
formats) supply one additional
piece of information for the Central Station operator –
usually a
Zone Number
– which, in addition to the
Event
Code,
can be of great help to the authorities responding to
the event. The two alarm reports at the top of this page
can now be expanded upon to include a Zone Number, as
the table on the following page suggests:
CP-220A Central Station Receiver Appendix B:
Page B-15
Hook-Up and Installation Manual
Communication Formats