FireAngel’s software product manager, Jaison Mathai, explores why housing providers should consider adopting a mobile-first approach to not only increase productivity for alarm installers but to also empower residents to take control of their fire risks.
Adopting a mobile-first approach in housing through the use of apps can give tenants a more convenient and engaging way to be aware of their safety risks at home, such as fire, carbon-monoxide or the presence of damp and mould.
Insight collected and shared through these apps can also support housing providers in working more efficiently by using real-time data to pinpoint properties or residents at risk and enabling proactive intervention.
With mobiles now ubiquitous, alarm installers and contractors working for housing providers can now experience a mobile-first approach with FireAngel’s range of apps.
Installer-ready app
Using FireAngel’s free Installer mobile app, installers can fit and deploy a network of smoke, heat and carbon-monoxide (CO) alarms and even Zigbee sensors with a FireAngel gateway in just a matter of minutes.
Once in a property, an installer can add the gateway details and register it to the FireAngel Connected platform. Using Smart RF technology, which enables wireless communication through intelligent radio frequency (RF) technology, the alarms are ready to pair within minutes and will become visible on the Installer app.
Zigbee is an open standard, supported by a wide range of devices, applications and manufacturers, which makes it easy to add new devices to a Zigbee network and to integrate with the FireAngel platform. This scalability can support housing providers in future-proofing their properties and adapting to residents’ changing needs as part of a long-term digital transformation.
Zigbee sensors can be easily onboarded through the Installer app, due to the built-in Zigbee capability of FireAngel’s Home Environment gateway, specifically designed for the social housing sector. After installation, the app can then be used to support and maintain a resident’s network with remote access and device monitoring.
Photographs of installed alarms can be uploaded in the app, with the ability to add locations and labels for future reference or audits, supporting compliance with Hackitt’s ‘golden thread’ of building information.
And in a sector-first approach, the Installer app uses NFC Sync-It technology to quickly and quietly extract diagnostics from FireAngel’s FA3328-EUT CO alarm. NFC (near‑field communication) is a short‑range wireless technology used to transfer information between devices through wireless communication by holding a phone against a device; it’s the same trusted technology used during mobile payments.
Empowering end-users
FireAngel’s new app Connected helps end-users such as residents in managing their fire risk through Predict integration while offering features that support independent living. Using the free app, residents can remotely test all interlinked alarms without the need to climb stepladders (or find a broom), ideal for more vulnerable residents.
With interlinking alarms, when one sounds, all the alarms sound, to give a resident time to take immediate action and reduce the risk. In such an event, when using the Connected app, residents will receive a notification and can silence alarms from their phone to leave only the initiating device sounding.
The app also supports the creation of multiple-credential access for family members so that Predict fire-risk visibility, along with the ability to monitor the ‘risk stratification’ of a property, is available to all.
A step-change in the fire industry, FireAngel Predict protects residents, properties and communities from preventable fire risks using unrivalled insights. Predict is the only tool of its kind on the market that uses AI to identify high-risk behaviours behind closed doors, providing housing teams with the opportunity to stage earlier interventions and reduce the probability of future fires.
A mobile-first approach to risk
FireAngel’s Connected app supports the provision to multiple properties, such as for vulnerable family members or neighbours, so that residents’ Predict risk levels can be monitored in real-time with a ‘safe and well’ visit from the local fire and rescue Services arranged if needed.
The app engages residents with easy access to damp and mould risk in their property, displaying the same information housing providers can view on the Connected dashboard, before its likely onset to support proactive prevention. This is enabled using the data from built-in temperature and humidity sensors in the Home Environment gateway.
Details of recent events, such as low-level carbon-monoxide, missing internet connections, alarm initiations or devices being off the base, are also available on the homepage of the Connected app to ensure key safety aspects aren’t missed.
An app-ortunity for connected communities
To find out how FireAngel’s range of end-user and installer-facing apps can support a mobile-first approach as part of a long-term digital transformation strategy or to discover more about FireAngel Predict, please get in touch with our team of specialists by visiting fireangel.co.uk/connected-contact.
Jaison Mathai is a software product manager at FireAngel.
