Voice Sounders Solve Problem For Norwich Cathedral

The specification for the new system called for three independent members of the Cathedral’s staff to approve the sound quality and sign-off the project,” commented Paul Field, Project Engineer with BBC Fire Protection, the installers of the upgraded voice evacuation solution. “They found that the Fire-Cryers^┬« gave good intelligibility throughout the building – quite an achievement considering relatively few sounders were used to cover the interior of this grand Cathedral.”

The key to the success of the project was the use of the Maxi Fire-Cryer^┬«, which is an industrial sounder delivering an output of 116dBA and designed for open spaces, warehouses and harsh industrial environments. Six Maxi Fire-Cryers^┬« were installed in the Triforium above the Nave and in the North and South Transcepts, with six standard Fire-Cryers^┬« in various offices, the shop and a storage area.

Even though the Fire-Cryer^┬« is capable of broadcasting 7 messages, the Cathedral used a single simple message; “In the interest of safety please evacuate the building immediately”, to ensure an orderly evacuation and to eliminate any confusion. The Fire-Cryer^┬« is a cost-effective solution for this type of application and is increasingly being installed in ecclesiastical buildings, including other well known churches such as St. Martin in the Fields in Trafalgar Square.

The Fire-Cryer^┬« family is the most extensive range of voice sounders available on the market today with five models to choose from. Each unit can be programmed with up to 7-messages from a library of thousands, many of which are multi-lingual, ensuring that any site requirement can be fulfilled. The units require no special wiring and can be retrofitted to existing installations. They can be fully synchronised and have a low current consumption allowing simple replacement of existing sounders and bells.

Details of the Fire-Cryer^┬« range can be downloaded from the Vimpex website where visitors can also access sample messages and a range of video clips covering the history and application of voice sounders.

For further product or company information contact:

Vimpex Limited
Star Lane,
Great Wakering,
Essex,
SS3 0PJ

Tel: +44 (0) 1702 216999
Fax: +44 (0) 1702 216699
E-mail: sales@vimpex.co.uk
Web: www.vimpex.co.uk