Subclause 6.8 – ALARM SIGNAL inactivation states

ü The committee spent extensive time in discussion of the names of the ALARM SIGNAL inactivation states.

ü In the past, equipment has used a variety of names to describe these inactivation states:

• Silence

• Silence/Reset

• Pre-Silence

• Mute

• Suspend

• Disable

• Inhibit

• Prevent

• Pause

• Off

ü The situation is problematic because different MANUFACTURERS have used these names to mean different things. “Silence” has been used to mean both a temporary or limited duration (timed) and a permanent (indefinite) state. In addition, some MANUFACTURERS have used these terms and states to apply only to those ALARM CONDITIONS which are generating ALARM SIGNALS, while others have used them to apply to every possible ALARM CONDITION in the ALARM SYSTEM. Also, some MANUFACTURERS used the term “alarms” to mean only the auditory ALARM SIGNALS, while others used it to mean both auditory and visual ALARM SIGNALS. The result has been confusion among OPERATORS about what the various names really mean.

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ü Previous standards used terms such as “Suspend”, “Disable”, and “Inhibit”. These terms had two problems: first, they were not intuitively obvious as to their meaning. Second, they sometimes applied to the auditory ALARM SIGNALS only, and sometimes to both the auditory and visual ALARM SIGNALS. As a result, the confusion continued.

ü Additional difficulties were encountered in trying to translate these terms into multiple languages.

ü Early drafts of this collateral standard described multiple ALARM SIGNAL inactivation states, with tables with multiple columns to indicate the effect of each state on ALARM SIGNAL generation and non-generation, present and future ALARM CONDITIONS, recurrent or persisting ALARM CONDITIONS, auditory ALARM SIGNALS, and both near- and far-visible ALARM SIGNALS. There was no consensus on the correct content of the cells of the table and, even if there had been a consensus, OPERATORS would never have remembered the distinction among the multiple various states.

ü The committee therefore decided to use a small set of names with the same obvious meanings in various languages.

ü The names selected were:

• AUDIO OFF

• AUDIO PAUSED

• ALARM OFF

• ALARM PAUSED

ü The use of the distinctive terms “Audio” and “Alarm” should make clear to OPERATORS that “Audio” refers only to the auditory ALARM SIGNAL, while “Alarm” refers to both the auditory and visual ALARM SIGNALS. Similarly, the use of the terms “Off” and “Paused” should be intuitively obvious. Intuitively, one would anticipate that something that is “Off” remains off until it is turned back on again. Something that is “Paused” is expected to start again at a later time. By using a simple two-by-two matrix of “Audio/Alarm” and “Off/Paused,” all the ALARM SIGNAL inactivation states can be reasonably described.

ü Great simplification also occurred with the decision that these states might apply to a single ALARM CONDITION, a group of ALARM CONDITIONS or the entire ALARM SYSTEM. Thus all the legacy names for the ALARM SIGNAL inactivation states used in legacy ME EQUIPMENT, and in various standards, can be understood in terms of these new names.

ü MANUFACTURERS are strongly encouraged to use the provided names for the ALARM SIGNAL inactivation states in their equipment and its instructions for use when they have inactivation states as defined in this collateral standard. In this way, OPERATORS will learn to understand the consistent names for consistent functions across all ALARM SYSTEMS.

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