1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to safety systems generally, and more particularly to certain new and useful advances in emergency communications of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Promoting the safety of personnel in the workplace continues to be the chief responsibility and duty of an organization. Awareness of dangers within an environment is communicated in a variety of ways. One of these is by sound and light signaling an emergency and the need for personnel to move out of the endangered area at a deliberate and reasonable speed. However, in many instances the alarm annunciator advises only that there is a situation of concern but does not advise where the source of the danger is or a possible route to use for egress.
Additionally, most security and safety systems are centralized in nature, meaning that the decisions they make and the alarms they issue are located in one or a small plurality of fixed locations, usually within the boundaries of the installation. This localization makes it difficult for such systems to tailor emergency evacuation and/or security advisories to each person in or on the installation. Moreover, it is generally more difficult and ultimately more costly to improve or extend such systems to provide greater coverage as the installation expands and/or as the installation adds, modifies and/or removes specific services, devices and/or entire menus of options.