Fire Alarm Control Panels and FieldServer

FieldServer Technologies has developed drivers for the FieldServer gateway for most major fire alarm panels. We have more experience with a wider variety of fire alarm panel protocols than any other single device.

Note that the FieldServer gateway is not UL864 approved so all communication from the Fire Alarm Control Panel (FACP) and the Building Automation System (BAS) would be tertiary information and NOT primary information. Primary information would initiate a fire alarm and fire suppression. Tertiary information is only used for informational or other purposes. However, many building owners want the FACP information available via the BAS so that the data is accessible from a variety of locations.

FACP panels are either directly connected to the FieldServer via a serial interface, or they communicate to some “Master Panel” which then provides the data to the FieldServer. The most common data transferred via the FieldServer are:

• Alarms
• Troubles
• Supervisories
• System Data ( Battery fail, etc.)

Data available varies between alarm panel vendors.

The FieldServer gets data from the FACP in one of two ways, it either requests the FACP to send the sensor status to the FieldServer, or it receives an unsolicited update from the FACP when a sensor status changes.

The Fire Alarm Control Panel protocols available from FieldServer Technologies include (click on the FACP below to view the protocol information page):

• Edwards System Technology
  • EST3
  • Quickstart
• FCI
  • 7100
  • 7200
• Fike Cheetah
• Gamewell
• National Time and Signal
• Notifier
  • Italia CEI_ABI
  • Italia AM6000
  • AFP 200/300/500
  • AM1010/AFP2020
  • INA
  • NCA
  • NFS Onyx 640
  • NFS 3030
• Secutron
• Siemens Building Technologies
  • MXL
  • XLS
• Silent Knight
• Simplex
  • Grinnell TFX
  • 4100
  • 4100U
  • 4020
• Spectronics
• VESDA

Further technical information we recommend that you view the recent Webinar program that covered FieldServer interfaces to FACP.