Patent ID: 7380210

Claim:
A method for controlling and displaying information about a fire safety system including a plurality of elements, said method comprising: configuring a user interface having a display to display information related to said fire safety system; displaying information an alert more relating to one or more system events detected by at least one of said plurality of elements; establishing an installation mode configured to allow a user to install one or more elements in said fire safety system; configuring the installed one or more elements via the user interface to perform in a desired manner; and installing one or more device loops in said fire safety system utilizing said user interface which comprises: a map of the facility in which the device loops are to be installed, said one or more device loops comprised of a plurality of fire safety elements connected in said device loop, wherein device loops already installed in said fire safety system remain functionally operational to detect system events in said fire safety system while said one or more device loops are being installed, and receiving a user request utilizing said user interface to install a system node while other nodes in said system remain operational.