The two main types of Fire Alarm Systems are Conventional and Addressable Alarms. While they are similar in many ways, they are not completely the same.
The main difference between these two systems comes in the means of identifying and locating specific detectors or call points in each circuit.
When a detector is triggered in a Conventional system, the circuit and zone can be identified from the control panel. However, to identify the specific detector in question, manual tracing is required.
Addressable systems, on the other hand, are designed to make the location of specific detectors from the control panel much easier, thanks to their use of detectors with a built-in address.
Furthermore, Addressable systems use a loop to connect all the call points and detectors in a single circuit to the control panel. Conventional systems do not use a shared connection instead of using individual cables to connect each detector to the control panel. This means that Addressable systems are easier to install; however, they are costlier to procure than Conventional systems.