The Importance of Quality Inspection & Testing

Smoke detectors are one of the most important life safety items in commercial office buildings, retail businesses, schools, and other facilities. They are commonly called “early warning devices” because that is what they do, give us early warning of a fire in progress. For this reason, smoke detectors are extremely important to include in your facility maintenance and service scheduling. The lives they save cannot be measured.

Unfortunately, far too many facility managers fail to take a pro-active position with regards to their smoke detector inspection and testing. There are cases on the books where deals are struck to issue false inspection/testing reports for a fee, which is generally a lot less than a full inspection.

Case in point, one of our staff members was approached by the facility manager of a large company in North Central Ohio about issuing a false inspection/testing report for the fire alarm system in his building, which included a full-compliment of sprinkler heads. Because the building was fully sprinkled, the only smoke detector in use was above the fire alarm control panel, per code, but there were a dozen or two duct-type smoke detectors. When our employee said no, the manager’s reply was, “Then we’ll find another company that will,” and we never heard from them again.

Another case in point, a second member of my staff, while working for another burglar/fire alarm company in city up north, encountered a situation. According to him his boss routinely provided false inspection/testing reports to this company. Then, one day, a fire took place in a section of the facility and the fire alarm did not work. An investigation by the local fire marshal revealed that there were major problems at which time a full inspection was ordered.

The burglar/fire alarm company in question found that over 60% of the smoke detectors on site were not working within the sensitivity range specified by fire code. In the end, the facility manager dropped the alarm company and chose another to do the actual work. To make matter worse, I’m sure that the local fire authorities knew that the alarm company in question had issued false reports, otherwise that many smoke detectors could never have become defective so soon since the last inspection/testing report was issued.

There are several kinds of smoke detectors in a typical commercial building:

• Spot-type smoke detectors
• Duct-type smoke detectors
• Projected beam-type smoke detectors

The test frequency associated with each is the same, once a year. In addition, someone must visually “inspect” each component in your fire alarm system every six months. The fire alarm company you hire to do the actual inspection/testing, such as Electronic Systems Consultants (ESC) of Columbus, Ohio, will arbitrarily “inspect” the system visually as they test the necessary devices. On the off six month inspections, however, you can have a member of your own staff perform them.

Testing for all of these smoke detectors includes a sensitivity check using a test device or method listed by UL (Underwriters Laboratory, Northbrook, Ill). That can include an internal means of calibration, an external tool sold and/or specified by the maker of the smoke detector, or using a third-party-made sensitivity testing tool, listed by UL for that purpose. In some cases sensitivity testing is conducted continually by a sophisticated addressable fire alarm panel.

ESC offers inspection and testing services not only to our current customers, but also to those who may not be totally happy with their present fire alarm company. ESC has the finest technicians available, factory trained, certified, and ready to assist you at a moment’s notice. ESC also services burglar alarms, access control systems, camera systems, and others.

In addition, ESC holds the following certifications and licenses for your convenience:

• City of Columbus Contractors License
• City of Columbus MBE
• Columbus City School LEDGE
• Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council
• Ohio Turnpike MBE Certification
• State of Ohio DBE
• State of Ohio EDGE Pg. 1 of 2
• State of Ohio EDGE Pg. 2 of 2
• State of Ohio MBE Pg. 1 of 2
• State of Ohio MBE Pg. 2 of 2

Give us a call at 614-754-1393, email us at electronicsystemsconsultants@gmail.com, or use the handy contact form below and let us prove to you the power of ESC

John Larkin, ESC Senior Partner

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Battery Life and the Need for Routine Service Inspections

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ESC’s John Larkin Featured in Security Sales & Integration Magazine

John Larkin, ESC Senior Partner, was recently featured in a story published in the July issue of SSI magazine.

Entitled “Bundle to Broaden Your Security Services Package,” the story addresses the issue of how an alarm company becomes a single source vendor by creating incentives for his clients to purchase multiple systems, plus maintenance.

In this story John is quoted concerning how he bundles a variety of services together, creating incentives for his clients to purchase more for less. The publication John appears in is a magazine of his peers, which shows how important John Larkin's actions and business opinions are to other professionals in the field of security, safety, and fire protection.

Check out the story (click here) and then call John for a free consultation. Call 614-754-1393 or use our contact form by clicking on the button on the left.

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How to Avoid the Theft of Expensive Jewelry

The prerequisite for preventing a crime is to be aware of any threats as well as your surroundings. In other words, you must be in the moment during those times when you are the most at risk.

A good example of this is if you were to have a flat tire in the middle of the night in an alley or side street within a major city. You wouldn’t want to call AAA and then sit there thinking about what you’re going to cook for breakfast the next morning. Frankly, in this situation, there might not be a next morning if you are unaware of your surroundings.

In 2011, the following video was uploaded to YouTube. It is a warning concerning the theft of gold jewelry.

“A warning from police departments across the country, crooks are coming after it. The volatile stock market has driven investors to buy gold that’s driven the price of gold to record highs making gold even more appealing for crooks and in some cities the crooks are getting pretty brazen,” says a television news anchor with Fox, channel 10.

If you watch the first portion of the video carefully, you see an elderly woman being victimized by a criminal along the street. Although no one can say that she could have avoided this altercation by not prominently wearing her gold necklace that day, I believe it is reasonable to say that the crook may not have been as likely to notice her.

My advice to women especially is not to flaunt your expensive jewelry, which can be especially difficult to hide during summer months when the neckline is usually uncovered and easy to view. But one way to handle this is to take it off before walking into harm’s way. If you know that you are about to encounter a public area where such an encounter could occur, put your jewelry in the glove box of your car or place it in your purse.

Preventing Jewelry Thefts at Home

Jewelry thefts in the home are also common, especially where workmen are present during daylight hours. Although a theft might not occur during the time they are working there, the fact that you flaunt it on your bedroom makeup table might be enough to entice them to return when you are not there. Remember, daylight burglaries are more frequent than at night. When you have work being done in the home, the best thing to do is put that jewelry away—out of sight, out of mind, and out of harm’s way.

Electronic Systems Consultants LLC can help you keep your jewelry safe by installing a quality alarm system in your home. We use wireless technology which means we do not have to drill and run wires throughout your home.

A 24/7 wireless panic button also assures that if someone does enter the home when you are there that police can be immediately summoned by our quality UL-listed central station. Call us today for a free consultation.

Call 614-754-1393, fill out the “get a quote” form on the right side of this page, or click here. Thank you!

John Larkin, Senior Partner

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John Larkin Featured in Summit Magazine

John Larkin, founder and senior partner with Electronic Systems Consultants LLC (ESC), based in Columbus Ohio, with branch offices in Cleveland and Louisville, KY, was recently featured in the pages of Summit Magazine (page 9). In the article, Summit offers a fairly detailed view of ESC, the company's offerings, and its history.

The writer begins by covering the basic services offered by John Larkin's firm, which includes security systems; access control, both traditional and managed; fire protection, which includes electronic fire alarms, special hazards, sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers--both monitoring and full code-compliant inspection and testing services; emergency and nurse call, video surveillance; perimeter detection; and others.

The article provides information on John's Minority Business Enterprise and Veteran business ownership status, which is an important certification to both ESC and its clients. The article also provides insights into ESC services as well as an interesting section on John Larkin's climb to success.

John's ultimate goal, according to the Summit story is "...to one day become owner of one of the largest Integration companies in Central Ohio, providing jobs and opportunities to people within the I-270 corridor."

To read John Larkin’s story in Summit Magazine, please feel free to download it on PDF, or you can read it on Summit’s website (page 9).

Regards,
Allan B. Colombo, ESC publicity

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