The tragic events of September 11, 2001 forever changed our world. Perhaps nowhere are the effects of this day’s events more prominent than in the field of life safety. The events of that day brought to the forefront of life safety a glaring deficiency in the ability of life safety directors, first responders and others in charge to provide information real time and in a clear and concise manner.

The military acted upon this by creating UFC (Unified

Facilities Criteria) 4-021-01 which is commonly known as the military standard for Mass Notification. The private sector, through NFPA 72, created their own standard for Emergency Communication Systems with the introduction and adoption of NFPA72 – Chapter 24. The principal concept behind both of these standards is to be able to have the power to instantly communicate with the right people and to deliver accurate information in a real time.