DemiseoftheDigitalAlarmCommunicatorTransmitter(DACT)

Howchangestothecommunicationsinfrastructureareimpactingfirealarmsystems.
ArtBlack|FireProtectionEngineering

Jul1,2011

TheAmericancommunicationsinfrastructureischangingquickly.TherequirementsofNFPA
721forfirealarmsystemcommunicationsbetweenaprotectedpremisesfirealarmsystemandthe
supervisingstationhavekeptupwithtechnologyinsomewaysandhavebeenleftbehindinother
ways.Thisarticleexplainstodaysoptionsforfirealarmsystemcommunications.
ThePast
Priorto1993,firealarmcommunicationsrequirementswerefoundinNFPA71,Standardfor
CentralStationService.WiththecombinationofallNFPAsignalingstandardsintoonedocument,
theserequirementswererelocatedtoChapter4ofNFPA72.2TheorganizationoftheNationalFire
AlarmCodehaschangedsincethen,buttherequirementsstillcanbefoundintheSupervising
StationsChapter(currentlyChapter26).
Inthepast,whenadeveloperofacommunicationstechnologywantedtobringaproductto
market,thefollowingprocedurewasrequired:
a. Thenewtechnologywouldbebroughttothetechnicalcommittee,whereitwasevaluatedduringthe
currentcodedevelopmentcycle.
b. Ifthetechnicalcommitteefoundthetechnologyviable,thetechnologywasaddedtothestandard.
c. OncetheNFPAstandardwaspublished,themanufacturercouldgettheproductlistedandtakeitto
market.

Inthe1980s,whentechnologymovedatamoreleisurelypace,thisprocessworkedwell.Entering
the1990sandthe21stcentury,thetechnicalcommitteerealizedthatthistimehonoredprocesswas
tooslow.
Developmentof"OtherTechnologies"
In1999,anewsectionwasaddedtotheNationalFireAlarmCodetitledOtherTransmission
Technologies.3Thissectionwasdevelopedbythesupervisingstationstechnicalcommitteeafter
muchdiscussionandcommitteeworkandadecisionbythecommitteenottoaddanymorespecific
technologies.OtherTransmissionTechnologiesdetailsanumberofperformancebaseddesign
featuresthatanynewtransmissiontechnologymustmeettobelisted.Ifadeveloperfollowsthis
section,thentheproductcanbetakendirectlytothetestinglaboratoryandgettothemarketina
timelymanner.
TheWorldofTransmissionTechnologiesPriorto2010
WiththeadditionofOtherTransmissionTechnologiesin1999,the
lineupofpossibletechnologiesintheNationalFireAlarm
Codeincludedthefollowing:
a. Activemultiplex
b. Digitalalarmcommunicationssystems(DACS)
c. McCullohsystems

d. Twowayradiofrequencymultiplexsystems
e. Onewayprivateradioalarmsystems
f. Directlyconnectednoncodedsystems
g. Privatemicrowaveradiosystems
h. Othertransmissiontechnologies

Thislineupprovidedspecifictechnicalrequirementsforeachofthetechnologieslisted,virtually
unchangedsincetheywereinitiallyincludedinthestandard.
NFPA722010HousecleaningEfforts
In2010,theTechnicalCommitteereexaminedeachofthetransmissiontechnologiesinthe
standard,usingtheOtherTransmissionTechnologiessectionasalitmustesttodeterminewhether
thelegacymethodscouldbeeliminated.Afterthisexamination,thefollowinglegacymethodswere
eliminatedfromthe2010editionofthestandard:
ActiveMultiplex
Activemultiplexsystems(alsoknownasderivedlocalchannel
systems)weredevelopedbyWisconsinBellin1983withthe
collaborationofseverallocalfirealarmmonitoringcompaniesin
Wisconsin.Thesystemusedasingletelephoneline,withaunitthatsplitthebandwidthbetween
voiceandfirealarmdata.SimilartotodaysDSLunits,thiswasaleapforwardfortheera.Witha
singletelephoneline,onecouldhaveanalwaysonconnectiontothefirealarmcontrolpaneland
stillusethetelephonelinefornormalvoicecommunications.Eventually,thespecializedequipment
requiredforthissystembecameunavailable,andthismethodfellintodisuse.Sinceallrequirements
ofOtherTransmissiontechnologiesweremetwiththismethod,eliminationofthismethodwould
notdisallowanyderivedlocalchannelsystemsstillinuse.
McCulloh
McCullohsystemsareanevenoldertechnology,datingbacktothe
late19thcentury.Thesewerewindupwheelswithcamsthatwould
transmitasignal(originallyviatelegraph)toafirealarmdispatch
center.Aftertransmission,theMcCullohwheelwouldneedtobe
manuallyrewound,whichwasthebeginningofarequirementforarunnerserviceforcentral
stationservice.(Todaysrequirementforarunnertobedispatchedwhenequipmentneedstobe
resetbytheprimecontractor1continuesthishistoricalneed.)Sincedirectcopperconnectionswere
required,andthesignalsdidnottravelfar,subsidiarystationswererequired,andasmonitoring
becameregionalized,thisformoftransmissionlostfavor.Also,sinceMcCullohmeetstheminimum
requirementsoftheOtherTransmissionTechnologiessection,McCullohwaseliminatedinthe2010
editionoftheNationalFireAlarmandSignalingCode.
DirectlyConnectedNonCodedSystems
Directlyconnectednoncodedsystemsweredevelopedforusewithremotestationfirealarm
systems.Theremotestationstandard(NFPA72C)wasfirstissuedin1960,whenthefireservice
beganmonitoringfirealarmsystemsdirectlyatthefirestationoremergencydispatchcenter.
Directlyconnectednoncodedsystemsusedsubvoicegradecoppertelephonelines,and
incorporatedapolarityreversaltechniquetosignalthefiredispatchcenter.Unfortunately,this

systemonlytransmittedafirealarmsignal,notsupervisoryortroublesignalsoriginatingatthefire
alarmcontrolpanel.Also,sinceitwasageneralfirealarmsignal,annunciatorpanelswererequired
tobeinstalledateachprotectedpremisestoindicatespecificzoneofinitiation.Today,aslocal
telephonecompaniesareremovingcopperlines,andarenotmakingtheseries1000subvoicelines
available,thistechnologyisoutofdateandwasremovedfromthe2010editionofthecode.In
addition,anyexistingdirectlyconnectednoncodedsystemsstillmeettherequirementsofOther
TransmissionTechnologies.
PrivateMicrowaveRadioSystems
Privatemicrowaveradiosystemswereprovidedbyahandfulof
manufacturersintheearly1980s.Sincenoprivatemicrowaveradio
systemssurvive,andthetestinglabsreportedthatnoprivate
microwaveradiosystemsarecurrentlylisted,thistechnologywas
removedfromthe2010editionoftheNationalFireAlarmand
SignalingCode.
NFPA722010OrganizationWiththeeliminationofthefourlegacymethods,theorganization
ofthetransmissiontechnologiessectionofNFPA72waschangedtorequirecompliancewithOther
TransmissionTechnologies(changedin2010toGeneral),withexceptionsforDACSandradio,
whichwerefoundtobenotincompliancewiththeperformancerequirementsofOther
TransmissionTechnologies.
IfDACSisselectedasatransmissiontechnology,theDACSsectionshouldbefollowed.Ifanylisted
radiotechnologyisused,theradiosections(onewayandtwoway)shouldbeconsultedforthe
requirements.
DACS
Digitalalarmcommunicationssystemswerefirstintroducedtothetechnicalcommitteeinthemid
1980s,andwererejectedbythecommitteetwicebecauseithadbeendeterminedthatusingregular
telephonelineswasnotreliableenough.Thiswasthefirsttimethatanyproposedcommunications
methodwasnotcontrolledendtoendbythetechnicalcommittee.Instead,itwasproposedtobe
underNFPAjurisdictiononlytothepointofdemarcationattheprotectedpremises,andonce
throughthephonecompany,backunderNFPAjurisdictionfromthepointofdemarcationatthe
supervisingstation.Thiswasrelativelyradicalthinking,andittookaleapoffaithinthetelephone
systemforDACStobeapproved,finally,onthethirdattempt.However,thetechnicalcommittee
membersaskedfor,andreceived,somemodifications,specificallyregardingredundancy.DACSis
theonlycommunicationsmethodeverallowedforfirealarmthatrequiresredundantlines
throughouttheprocess.
HowDACSWork
Adigitalalarmcommunicatortransmitter(DACT)isrequiredtobe
connectedtothepublicswitchedtelephonenetwork(PSTN)aheadof
anycustomerownedequipment.Theconnectionneedstobeonloop
startPOTStelephonelines.(POTSisatelephonecompanyacronym
meaningplainoldtelephoneservicei.e.,standardtelephone
numbers.)DACTsarerequiredtoseizethetelephonelineand

disconnectanyotheruseofthelineusingaRJ31Xjackprovidedbythetelephonecompany.
DACTscannotbeconnectedtopartylinesorpayphonelines.DACTsneedtogetadialtone,dial
thedigitalalarmcommunicatorreceiver(DACR)atthesupervisingstation,getverificationthatthe
DACRisreadytoreceive,transmitthesignal,andreceiveacknowledgementthattheDACRhas
receivedandunderstoodthesignal.
Originally,therequirementforaDACSwasthattwotelephonelinesneededtobeused.However,by
1996,thetechnicalcommitteehadchangedthatrequirementsothatonlytheprimarymeansof
communicationneededtobeaPOTSloopstarttelephoneline.Thesecondarymeansof
communicationcouldbeanotherphoneline,acellularphone,aonewayradiosystem,aderived
localchannel,aonewayprivateradiosystem,aprivatemicrowaveradiosystem,oratwowayRF
multiplexradiosystem.4
ThetraditionalwayofconnectingaDACTtothefirealarmcontrolpanelusestwoendtoend
copperPOTSloopstarttelephonelines,connectedtothefirealarmsystemviaanRJ31Xjack,as
showninFigure1.
WithtelephonecompaniesintheUnitedStatesrapidlyreplacingcoppertelephonelineswithfiber
opticlines,theinfrastructurethatexistedwhenDACSwereoriginallyapprovedhaschanged.Useof
telephonecompanyfiberopticlinesshouldcausenotechnicalproblemswithsignaltransmission,
butthereisonedrawbacksecondarypower.Wherestandardcoppertelephonelinesarepoweredby
thetelephonecompanycentraloffice(atleast96hoursofstandbybackedupbystoragebatteries,
generatorsandsufficientdieselfuelsupply),telephonefiberopticlinesarepoweredbyeighthour
standbybatterieslocatedinthefield(onthepolesorinthestreetpedestals),whichisaproblem
becausethetelephonelinesareonlyverifiedbythefirealarmcontrolpanelat24hourintervals.
Figure2,comparedwithFigure1,showsthatexceptforthetransmissionmethodoffpremises,there
isnosignificantdifferencebetweentelephonecompanycopperandtelephonecompanyfiberoptic.
Thethirdoptiontodayistousecablecompanytelephoneservice.Whenthecableindustryfirst
beganprovidingvoicetelephoneservice,therewasatechnicalproblemwiththeCODECusedfor
voicecompressionbythecableindustry.
Sincethen,themajorcableprovidershavemodifiedtheirsoftwaretoemulatethetelephone
company,sofromatechnicaltransmissionviewpoint,thereisnosignificantdifference.Theissues
involvedwithcablecompanytelephoneserviceareessentiallythoseofstandbypower.Likethe
telephonecompanyfiberopticservice,cablecompanystandbypowersuppliesareinthestreet
pedestals,andareonlysizedforeighthoursofservice,sothelineverificationissuesarethesame.
Theaddedproblemwithcablecompanytelephones,however,isthatthereisacableboxlocatedat
theprotectedpremisesthatrequiresbuildingpowertooperate.ThelossofACpoweratthe
protectedpremisesmaydeenergizethecablebox,leavingnotelephoneservice.IfthereisaUPS
connectedtothebox,theUPSisgenerallysizedforlessthaneighthoursofservice,which
exacerbatesthelineverificationissue.Inaddition,thereisasinglepointoffailurebetweenthecable
boxandthepointofdemarcationtothecablecompany,which,ifcompromised,takesoutboth
telephonelinesprovidedbythecablecompany.

Figure3showsthetypicalinstallationofacabletelephoneconnectiontothefirealarmcontrol
panel.Therearetwoissuesnotpresentwiththetraditionaltelephonecompanyinstallations.First,
thereisapowerrequirementforthecablebox.Additionally,thereisasinglepointoffailure
betweenthecableboxandthedemarcationtothecablecompany.
Radio
Therearecurrentlyseveralcommunicationtechnologieslistedtoeithertheonewayortwoway
radiolegacymethodsinNFPA72.1Themostpromisingoftheseradiomethodsusesoneoftwo
technologies,whichhavebeenshowntobereliableand,sincetheyprovideheartbeatsonaregular
basis,willindicatelossofchannelimmediately.ThetwotechnologiesaremeshradioandGSM
cellularradio.
TheFutureofFireAlarmCommunications
Therewerenochangesintechnologyincorporatedintothe2010editionofNFPA72.Thechanges
inthiseditionwerehousekeepinginnature,removingobsoletetechnologiesandreorganizationof
theremainingtechnologies.
OnDec.21,2009,AT&TpetitionedtheFederalCommunicationsCommissiontoeliminatethe
landlinetelephonesystem.Intheirpetition,AT&Tstatedthatwitheachpassingday,moreand
morecommunicationsservicesmigratetobroadbandandIPbasedservices,leavingthepublic
switchedtelephonenetwork(PSTN)andplainoldtelephoneservice(POTS)asrelicsofabygone
era.Obviously,thisdoesnotaugerwellforthefutureoflandlinebasedtelephoneservices,and
whenthishappens,itwillspelltheofficialendofthedigitalalarmcommunicatoraswell.
InJanuary2011,theNFPATechnicalCommitteeforSupervisingStationsFireAlarmSystems
approvedtwoproposalsthat,iftheyareacceptedthroughtheNFPAprocess,willalsohavean
impactonthefutureoftheDACT.First,therewasaproposaltodroptherequirementforasecond
telephoneline,makingthealternatecommunicationsmethodanothertechnology.Thiswill
essentiallykilltheDACT,sinceallothercommunicationsmethodsinthestandardarestandalone
methods.Second,anotherproposalwillchangethetimertestforDACTsfrom24hourstosixhours,
tocompensateforthechangetoaneighthourstandbypowersupply.
ArtBlackiswithCarmelFireProtectionAssociates.
References:
1. NFPA72,NationalFireAlarmandSignalingCode,NationalFireProtectionAssociation,Quincy,
MA,2010.
2. NFPA72,NationalFireAlarmCode,NationalFireProtectionAssociation,Quincy,MA,1993.
3. NFPA72,NationalFireAlarmCode,NationalFireProtectionAssociation,Quincy,MA,1999.
4. NFPA72,NationalFireAlarmCode,NationalFireProtectionAssociation,Quincy,MA,1996.