Is your fire alarm system ready for 3G sunset?
With technology constantly evolving to support increased demands, cellular companies continue to transition equipment and support to newer and faster networks. The “next generation” of cellular data support is here, with new towers built for LTE and 5G networks. As a result, slower and outdated networks such as 3G are being phased out and eventually discontinued.
This is called “sunsetting,” and by the end of 2022, 3G networks will be completely shut down.
How does this impact your fire alarm system?
Many fire alarm systems use cellular networks to transmit and report emergencies to local fire stations, providing you with the help you need—fast. Once 3G networks are shut down, any alarm panel that hasn’t been converted to 4G/LTE networks will no longer be able to communicate with your central station. If there is an emergency, your central station will not know to call the authorities or send help.
Every service provider has different plans for this transition. Some have a deadline as early as Fall 2022.
What can you do to ensure your fire alarm system works?
The good news is that you don’t need a whole new fire alarm system, just a cellular communicator update to keep it working with the updated cellular networks.
If you haven’t already, you should begin to convert all of your 3G network devices to 4G/LTE as soon as you can to ensure that your system keeps reporting fire alarms and sending for help in an emergency.
At FEI, we are ready to help! Just contact FEI and let us know you are ready to update and we’ll arrange to have one of our expert technicians come and update the cellular communicator in your fire alarm panel. This will ensure that there will be no disruptions for your central station monitoring service in the event of an emergency. And, you can rest assured that FEI will make the transition to the newer system as smooth as possible.