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NetSOLO® Broadband
When it comes to Distributed Network Fire Alarm Technology, NetSOLO Broadband stands alone.

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Many fire safety products are touted by their manufacturers to be “innovative” or “unique” or “breakthrough.” But the truth of the matter is, the arrival of a real one-of-a-kind breakthrough product is a rare occurrence, an event duly heralded by awards and often followed by immediate sales. The arrival of NetSOLO® Broadband from Gamewell-FCI was such an event. Gamewell-FCI, part of Honeywell’s (NYSE: HON) Fire Systems Group, is a performance and technology leader in the life safety systems industry for commercial, industrial and educational applications worldwide.

One singular sensation

Never before has a single pair of wires delivered so much. In fact, NetSOLO Broadband is the first product to deliver on a single pair of wires—full network control and communications, digital messaging, live voice instructions, and fire fighter telephone communications, all through a distributed network fire alarm system. It’s no wonder that the technology behind this system was awarded the highly-coveted Honeywell “Automation and Control Solutions Technical Achievement Award” for product development involving voice-over LAN. This technology is not only award-worthy; it’s way ahead of the curve and has helped set Gamewell-FCI apart as an industry leader.

According to the system developer and Gamewell-FCI’s vice-president of engineering, Mario Casamassima, “With previous technologies, one was required to use multiple pairs of wires from building to building, which made installation more difficult and the whole system more cumbersome and expensive. NetSOLO Broadband requires only one pair of wires for all functions, simplifying building to building communication within a setting of multiple, large buildings.”

Prior technologies have required the use of up to five pairs of wires, as well as a much bigger control box and an array of expensive supplies. The main NetSOLO system consists of only three small footprint panels – the INI-7100, INCC and INX – which are in turn comprised of just nine system boards. Also, older technologies featured a centralized command –- one focal point of intelligence. Meaning, if if the main control panel was shut down communications to the main control panel were lost for any reason, a potentially dangerous communication breakdown would result.

Smart parts

This new technology incorporates a distributed network with algorithms that allow peer-to-peer communications. Every part of the system has its own brain. So you can still have live audio announcements and instructions, or call the fire department, even if the digital portion of the system goes down. And you can still receive digital text messages, even if the phones are no longer working. In fact, even if the phone system is blown to smithereens, NetSOLO Broadband’s loud speaker system will continue working, to ensure that essential instructions can be delivered to people in the building.

Also, NetSOLO’s two wires run up each side of a given building, so if the wires are cut on the right side, they still remain fully operational on the left side. This built-in Style “7” capability makes for a much more reliable fire safety system.

A sound investment

NetSOLO delivers advances in both digital and audio messaging. For example, NetSOLO does for fire alarm system audio what DVD technology did for movie sound on your television. It provides superior sound quality. In fact, Gamewell-FCI recently demonstrated the system’s sound at the NFPA-sponsored “America’s Fire Expo” trade show by piping classical music through the speakers. What this means in terms of fire safety is clear, easy-to-understand voice instructions, which is music to the ears of building engineers, designers and developers.

Think fast

NetSOLO Broadband carries its second name proudly. With its 625/k broadband pipeline, it is the fastest fire alarm network system on the market today, faster than the average residential cable modem connection. It provides the bandwidth to ensure actions take place fractions of a second after a command button is pushed. Action is not delayed by other traffic such as phone-to-phone communication, a real fire alarm or paging on the network.

Going NetSOLO

Although relatively new to the market, NetSOLO Broadband is already being networked into a variety of new buildings and building renovations, and is being specified for many future projects. Gamewell-FCI distributor Mike West of West Fire Systems, Inc. of Spencerport, NY, originally thought to quote Gamewell-FCI’s FireVac7200 for a project for the Larkin at Exchange building, owned by City View Properties. But after considering everything that the new NetSOLO product brought to the table, West changed his mind.

“We were hired to specify the fire alarm system for the Larkin at Exchange building, a ten-story office building in Buffalo, NY that was the first of what was to be a five-building project,” explained West. “Within a year to 18 months, all five of the buildings would have to be networked. NetSOLO’s distributed intelligence makes it ideal for taller buildings, and also groups of buildings that share a network. What made the decision to use NetSOLO an easy one was that system’s ability to run digital voice communication, firefighter intercom, analog input circuits and more, all on a single pair of wires.”

According to Donna Kostrewski, vice president marketing/tenant relations at Larkin at Exchange, "This high tech fire safety system is an important feature to tenants at Larkin at Exchange.”

Jones Engineering is the consulting engineering firm on the project and Whittburn Enterprises, Inc. is the electrical contractor installing the system.

Even though NetSOLO had just recently been released for production, Gamewell-FCI was able to ship most of the equipment within days of the order, with the balance following shortly thereafter. West said, “We were able to maintain a rigorous completion schedule due to Gamewell-FCI’s timely efforts in getting the product out to us.”

The simplicity of NetSOLO Broadband’s installation and operation was another key attraction for West. He continued, “NetSOLO Broadband’s new technology along with its simplicity and the ease with which the system components can be wired together make it a very attractive entry into the control panel market. Gamewell-FCI is doing more with less—more functions, more control and more peace of mind.”

West is so excited about this new product that he intends to present NetSOLO as the flagship product of his Gamewell-FCI line, and is scheduling a series of product demonstrations geared toward area engineering firms and select end-users.

Meanwhile, in Syracuse, NY, Gamewell-FCI distributor Syracuse Time & Alarm Co., Inc. is also finding NetSOLO Broadband to be an ideal fire safety system option for a number of new projects.

“We feel strongly that the new technically advanced platform Gamewell-FCI created with NetSOLO Broadband is the ideal solution for many fire alarm upgrades,” said Syracuse Time & Alarm Co. director of marketing, John A. Urciuoli, “NetSOLO’s architecture offers the fastest communication and control capability of any system on the market today. Its advanced board design reduces ‘spare parts’ requirements to fewer than a dozen components. And its minimal wiring requirements substantially reduce installation costs.”

Among the projects Syracuse Time & Alarm Co. is currently working on with NetSOLO Broadband is the total refurbishment of The Masonic Home, a large nursing home in Utica, NY. The newly-refurbished nursing home will contain state-of-the-art art areas for therapy, a new in-ground pool, and expanded clinics for physical, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Among its myriad of benefits, the NetSOLO integration is introducing voice announcements to the facility, delivering easier and clearer communication of fire safety protocol. Uriciuoli is beginning with the installation of NetSOLO in The Masonic Home’s central healthcare building, but hopes to eventually take advantage of the system’s networking capabilities and network/link the facility’s entire campus of buildings.

Other projects for which Syracuse Time & Alarm is specifying NetSOLO broadband include a networked 21 building project for a local hospital and a 33-story hotel complex. Urciuoli, believes that, for heavily populated facilities such as these, NetSOLO’s system redundancy and simplicity are key factors in ensuring safety.

“Probably the single most important issue facing life safety systems is the ability to continue operating even under adverse conditions,” Urciuoli explains. “With its distributed network, NetSOLO stays up and running even if a part of it shuts down. And with its few components and simplified wiring requirement, the system is more reliable. In most cases, systems with multiple risers will be severely compromised when any one riser is damaged. With NetSOLO, it is much easier and far less expensive to achieve the highest degree of survivability.”

Based on the excitement it’s creating, the accolades it has garnered and the jobs it has already won, it’s clear that this new arrival to the fire safety world will be saving lives for a long time to come.