In Cambridge, the retirement home Home Meadow has 50 flats and ran by housing association, LiveWest. Over the years, the building’s cabling infrastructure had become outdated, and a rewiring for the fire detection and alarm system was deemed impractical due to the disruption and labour required. Hence, Cygnus’ SmartNet-Pro product was installed.
Lee Wilkinson, Managing Director at the installer Advanced Fire Protection SW, says: “This was our third time using Cygnus SmartNet and our largest installation using the solution to date! We highly recommend SmartNet, it was a suitable choice for Home Meadow due to the fact it’s 100% wireless and a stable, reliable solution, with no requirement for cabling or boosters which causes increased disruption to residents. “Additionally, as an installer, it is important to us that our customers are happy and LiveWest have been so pleased with the outcome, it is not only our preferred solution, but it has become their preferred solution for other sites too.”
Due to off-site pre-configuration and programming, the installation of 212 devices took just three days to install, meaning minimal disruption to residents, the installer adds.
Oliver Colenso, Property Delivery Team Manager at LiveWest, says: “We specified SmartNet as we wanted a solution that met the highest safety standards and caused minimal disruption – something its 100 per cent wireless design made possible. Minimising disruption to residents and workers was paramount, and working alongside Advanced Fire Protection SW, as well as our on-site warden, the installation process was smooth and well-coordinated. We’re thoroughly impressed with the outcome, and SmartNet has now become our preferred solution. Since this project, we have now installed Cygnus SmartNet into over a dozen of our sites at LiveWest.”
To become a Cygnus SmartNet certified installer, installers must take training at Cygnus’ offices, in Hereford, or the firm’s Technology and Training Centre in Birmingham. Lee adds: “All eight of our installers at Advanced Fire Protection SW are certified with the basic training programme. A couple of us have also completed the advanced training course. We found the Cygnus Academy informative and helpful for learning the system and software. The environment was relaxed and the tutors very knowledgeable, we highly recommend the training and are keen to send more of our installers to receive the advanced course training too.”
About SmartNet-Pro
As an EN 54 certified, wireless fire detection and alarm system, it uses the patented Cygnus wireless mesh. It allows for 511 devices and up to 96 zones on one system, with the ability to network up to five panels providing a combined solution of more than 2,500 devices. The SmartNet network is built on a combination of radio devices, operating on a self-forming, self-healing wireless mesh network with multi path network redundancy using channel hopping. Visit www.cygnus-systems.com.
