We often get questioned over which system is right for a building or facility when it comes to emergency exit lighting management. In particular should a remotely monitored light system be installed or should a standard system be used that requires physical inspection every 6 months?
Sometimes the choice is easy especially with a new build where installing a system that wasn’t “smart” and connected to the www would just be a waste of money and would leave the building exposed to litigation if something was to go wrong. Budget of course plays a choice in the final decision but this is definitely one of the times spending a little more at the beginning will pay you back in the future.
Lets look at the pros and cons of both traditional manually inspected and remotely monitored light system.
Remotely Monitored Emergency Exit Light System
- No need to visit site for inspection
- 24 hour real time monitoring of system
- Notifies all team members of issues
- Improve safety
- Lower ongoing costs
- Manage multiple sites from one location
- Eliminate human error
- Easy to retrofit or for new builds
- Troubleshoot issues quickly
- Higher initial cost
- May not be economical for small buildings
Manually Inspected Emergency exit lighting system
- Good for small facilities
- Lower initial cost
- Less "moving parts" to go wrong
- Have to inspect in person
- Only monitored by schedule or emergency
- Needs to be monitored by external inspector
- Open to human error
- Site specific equipment
- Higher ongoing costs
It is quite easy to see from the above comparison that an remotely monitored light system has many benefits that a manual system doesn’t. Call us today to talk about the different options between brands and we can explain the different ways we can adapt your manual system such as integrating sensors that make your old system into a “Smart” system.
Our following brand partners all have systems that allow remote monitoring of your emergency exit light system.
