Intelligent fire alarm systems have been developed to address unwanted alarms while maintaining the desired level of detector sensitivity. Although the capabilities of intelligent systems vary between manufacturer's, intelligent systems provide a number of benefits, including decreased occupant notification time, increased detector sensitivity, decreased potential for unwanted alarms and owner notification of required detection maintenance. This article discusses some of the principles of fire detection and focuses upon some of the new intelligent fire alarm detection capabilities. Artificial intelligence has become a 'buzz' word in many fields involving technical products. Intelligent systems have been used in virtually every technical field, involving a wide range of industries, from systems designed for the space shuttle to many computer games.
Artificial intelligence is associated with systems that have the ability to reason and learn.
A number of new fire alarm products have become available, many of which are labeled as components of intelligent fire alarm systems. While intelligent fire alarm systems are not as advanced and sophisticated as artificial intelligence systems incorporated into complicated systems such as those found in the space shuttle, intelligent fire alarm devices incorporate some of the simple logic techniques employed by such systems. Intelligent fire alarm systems were initially another name for addressable systems. These systems provide a unique address for each detection device, providing a higher level of information to the user. Thus, the term intelligent systems was developed.