The safety of residents in retirement villages across the country is set to improve significantly with the launch of a new fully automated smoke alarm platform.
Australian startup Sensor Global’s new generation of ‘smart’ residential alarm systems mean smoke detectors can be monitored, managed and tested from a central location, removing the need for physical inspections, and sending alerts when they require repairs or maintenance.
The smart alarms are part of a new generation of IoT (internet of things) devices that are connected to cloud-based software delivering interconnected smoke alarms across the residences inside retirement villages. This provides a greater level of safety for residents and makes managing life saving devices, compliance and safety significantly easier and less stressful for retirement home operators.
Company co-founder and CEO Andrew Cox said installing Sensor Global IoT smoke alarms removed the need for regular physical smoke alarm inspections and all the cost, coordination and access issues this could create for operators.
“Our team has been motivated by the shocking Fire and Rescue NSW statistic that 56% of fire fatalities occurred in homes that had a non-working smoke alarm and my own personal experiences dealing with elderly residents in retirement villages,” Mr Cox said.
“All retirement village properties have smoke alarms installed, but they all require physical inspections which are a huge impost in terms of time, coordination and cost for operators - and currently if a smoke alarm fails between inspections, the village operator would be unaware, putting residents at higher risk. No one wants that.”
Mr Cox said one of the key benefits for retirement village operators was the fact that the Sensor sends alerts if the alarm is tampered with, disconnected, damaged, or in need of service - meaning maintenance issues could be dealt with immediately. The Sensor smoke alarms also contain 10-year lithium batteries, negating the need for any backup battery changing for the life of the alarm
IoT has huge benefits for the retirement village industry in terms of time and cost savings as well as peace of mind, Mr Cox said.
Mr Cox will be presenting technology sessions about IOT and improving compliance at the Retirement Village Summit conferences held by the DCM group in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney during November 2023
Sensor Global will also soon release water leak detectors, water shut-off valves, Carbon Monoxide (CO) and gas alarms into the connected network.
“Sensor Global’s unique platform offers a system that assures compliance 24/7 with a simplified and automated workflow, that replaces current and inefficient systems that require manual inspections and are a source of anxiety for retirement home operators,” Mr Cox said.
“We’re starting with smoke alarms and water leak detectors, but have other IoT devices in development because we know just how important it is to retirement home operators to increase safety for their residents while also improving efficiency and reducing running costs.”
“We’re extremely proud of this technology and we know it can save lives.”
