Consultant Corner

OnGuard and Personal Life Safety Devices

Personal life safety (PLS) systems enable people to instantly notify others when they are in dangerous situations. While a stationary panic button on a wall is usually used for crisis notification, a PLS device is linked directly with a specific person, and is portable to provide a greater level of safety. OnGuard, with its numerous integrations to third party systems, has the ability to integrate with SpiderAlert, a wireless PLS system by Visonic. By integrating with Visonic hardware, OnGuard becomes capable of monitoring a whole new group of devices that meet a specialized purpose, that being wireless personal life safety.  The advantage is that all PLS alarms will come directly into the OnGuard system just like any other alarms, providing a single solution for monitoring a facility.   

The Visonic SpiderAlert system is based on the concept of using receivers, modules that are strategically located throughout a facility and are designed to receive wireless communication. The receivers are connected back to the Spider Local Control (SLC), which acts as the interface between the receivers and a computer. The SLC communicates back to the computer using RS-232.  A Visonic wireless device such as a pendant, wristwatch, or a wide variety of other devices is used as the transmitter. The wireless device has one or more buttons, which are treated as system inputs when triggered. The communication between the transmitter and the receiver uses standard RFID technology, and in some instances infrared technology as well. 

The SpiderAlert hardware  is configured in the OnGuard system just like any other piece of Lenel field hardware. The wireless transmitter devices are also configured in the OnGuard system, and are then linked to either a cardholder or an asset that is also in the OnGuard system. The receivers can be configured in OnGuard MapDesigner to maximize efficiency when using the solution. Triggering a transmitter can pop up a notification directly in the OnGuard Alarm Monitoring window. This trigger will also identify the alarm panel that received the signal, as well as who or what the transmitter is associated with in the system. In addition, triggering a transmitter can: pop up the view from a video camera linked to that panel, to get visual information about what is occurring in that area; trigger an e-mail or paging output, to communicate relevant information to specific individuals; or trigger any number of other standard outputs that are provided in the OnGuard system. The best way to think about the SpiderAlert system is as a standard input into OnGuard, with the added advantages of it being wireless and mobile.

The wireless transmitters have a variety of uses for many different applications. One example is a device that sends an alarm when the wearer of the transmitter is oriented more than 20 degrees from equilibrium, which is essentially a “man down” situation. Such a device is appropriate for a guard working in a prison, for example. If a situation occurs that results in the guard being knocked down, the device will communicate back to the OnGuard system, and the proper response can be made. Such a device is also appropriate for patients in a hospital or nursing home.

Another application for the SpiderAlert-OnGuard integration is at a museum. For obvious reasons, affixing any sort of transmitter to an art object is out of the question. What can be used is a wireless suppression device that will trigger an alarm if a painting is removed from a wall or an artifact is moved from its resting place. Each suppression device is assigned to an asset (art piece), which is also enrolled in OnGuard. When a wireless alarm is triggered, a picture and description of the moved artifact pops up in the Alarm Monitoring application. This trigger can also pop up a video window that displays a view of the area in real time, and can link the video to the corresponding alarm event in the system. These are just a few of the examples of functionality that is available when using OnGuard in conjunction with the Visonic SpiderAlert system.

For more information on this topic, please contact: specifiersupport@lenel.com