Alertacall - Moving on from hard-wired alarm and warden call systems

Communicating about smoke alarm tests and evacuation policy It is also very important for housing providers to routinely communicate with their residents about smoke alarm testing and fire evacuation policies. This was traditionally undertaken with paper-based communication, or via housing officers. However, using a communications system like Housing Proactive from Alertacall, housing providers can regularly and easily communicate essential information to residents. This can be via voice messaging, SMS, emails and messages displayed on a tablet to convey information, although voice messaging has proven particularly effective when compared to other techniques among residents in sheltered and supported housing. Tracking the occupancy of properties each day for fire safety Furthermore, fire safety and response procedures are improved where the occupancy of properties is properly tracked and recorded. Systems like Housing Proactive exist that encourage residents to inform the housing provider of their whereabouts on a day by day basis, allowing the housing provider to quickly access reports outlining who is and who is not in a given group of properties on a given day, essentially providing a fire-register. Best options for emergency contact In the past one of the key features of hard-wired alarm and warden call system has the been the pull cord alarm, or the ability to supply a pendant alarm that connects to that system. Consequently, these personal alarms have for many years been the “go to” product for older people with higher needs. This is despite their well-known weaknesses which include potential users not wishing to be “badged as vulnerable”, pull cords being completely out of reach when needed, and pendant alarm users not wearing them - which could be due to simply forgetting, or even consciously not wanting to do so. Studies show that as many as 80% of pendant alarm users do not wear their device some or all of the time. Personal alarms are also reactive by design, generate little or no preventative data for the housing provider, and cannot help if a user is incapacitated for some reason and therefore unable to activate it. Many housing providers are therefore now seeking different approaches. Mobile phones anddispersedalarms Even where an individual has been assessed as potentially benefiting from an alarm, or has self-identified that they wish to continue using one, there are many options that absolutely do not require a hard-wired alarm and warden call system to be in place at all. Inexpensive mobile phones exist with panic buttons on the reverse from many vendors, and there are customisable small form factor telephones with lanyards on them designed to provide similar capability as pendant alarms, as well as allowing users to call friends and family members and vice versa. Because these devices have greater usefulness than a traditional personal alarm, users may be more likely to carry them, wear them and then use them. Dispersed alarms like those available from traditional alarm receiving centres are also an option for where there is no hard-wired alarm, but because of their lack of utility when compared to some of the mobile phone offerings, they are increasingly less attractive. Nevertheless, for the minority who are happy to wear these devices all of the time they can be a valuable aid. Moving on from hard-wired alarm and warden call systems 10 www.alertacall.com