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Emergency Message Intelligibility — A Review of Design Strategies in Achieving What Is Required by Code and Standard
Track(s): Detection & Notification, Fire Protection Engineering

David Sylvester, Seneca College & Morrison Hershfield

Audio Sample:




Voice messages are generally accepted as being superior to conventional evacuation tones as a means of notifying building occupants of an emergency. Methods to determine speech intelligibility are now readily available. Designers are mindful of the fact that leveraging new technology, while mobile, and in the building's environment, is now easier than ever. With mass notification now coming into focus, the need for providing intelligible voice design is a priority for this industry. This session will detail intelligibility design, use of geospatial information systems for conducting intelligibility analytics, computer modeling to determine the common intelligibility scale, and speaker placement techniques such as edge-to-edge layouts.

David Sylvester is a Senior Life Safety Systems Specialist at Morrison Hershfield Limited in Toronto. He is an accredited Master Electrician/Electronic Technician with experience in electrical/fire alarm instruction/training. David is currently 1st Vice President of the Canadian Fire Alarm Association (CFAA), Chair of the CFAA Education Committee. In addition, he also provides instruction for Seneca College's Fire Protection Engineering Program and George Brown College's Electrical Program. He has recently been published and has written two electrical training text books and also has provide on-line fire alarm system code training.