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The purpose of an alarm is notification. If an alarm sounds in an unmanned control room with nobody to hear it, then no alarming function is being performed. In this era of mobile work environments and multiple task assignments, it is important for alarms to track the intended recipient. Reference was made earlier to an alarm interfacing

with the IT network and ultimately being communicated via cell phone. The application of network communications capabilities in a converged environment expands this capability to include pagers, wireless laptops, PDAs and other multimedia enhanced personal devices. We now have the ability to communicate and share vital information with individuals or groups of individuals across the globe. And those same individuals can find a computer terminal or Wi-Fi hot spot to get additional information about an alarm that they have received.

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Until now, we have had databases that were purpose-built for building management systems or industrial control systems. It was not easy to merge this information into databases that reside elsewhere in an organization. However, if data is stored in a standard Oracle or Microsoft SQL database structure, it can easily be exchanged throughout the enterprise. For example, we may use our energy consumption database to estimate next month’s energy bill, merge this

information from our financial database into enterprise databases so that other departments can more accurately forecast their budgets, and print a report that identifies the resultant enterprise expenditures.

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When all building systems are truly interconnected and can speak the same language, it is possible for computers and devices to serve multiple purposes. For example, a television camera can be used for more than just security. That same camera also can monitor a device that indicates whether a sump is high or low. A small box in the corner of the sump will have a raised flag if a problem in the unit needs attention. Monitoring this via the security camera eliminates the need for visual inspection, thus increasing employee productivity. Occupancy sensors that turn lights on could be synchronized with the security system. The same could be true for air quality, by pumping the right

amount of fresh air into a building at the right time. We could also determine whether a particular area within a facility is using too much energy based on the occupancy.