Positive vote on EN 50710 opens doors to provision of secure remote services

The successful vote is viewed as the icing on the cake of the Services Section’s efforts to guarantee more certainty for a future in which remote services play an increasingly important role.

Jon Könz, chair of Euralarm’s Services Section, explained: “It’s an excellent result and an advancement for the fire safety and security industries. We would like to thank those who helped in the CEN/CENELEC Joint Technical Committee 4/Working Group 1 and who contributed to the ‘Yes’ vote of 95% of the countries that could vote.”

With its acceptance as a European Norm, EN 50710 should be ready for publication at some point in early 2022, after which time its implementation in the respective countries will begin.

End users and service providers alike will benefit as a direct result of the requirements for the provision of secure remote services via a remote access infrastructure being specified. They will also be able to take advantage of the technological developments within fire safety systems and/or security systems as well as the remote access infrastructure.

Background on remote services

For many years now, it has been common practice to remotely monitor the alarm and fault status of installed fire safety and security systems. Technological developments and telecommunication paths now allow remote access to such systems with a wide variety of available functions up to and including full operation and programming as if an authorised person was actually at the site.

Remote services supplement the on-site visits of a competent person and enables new possibilities for customers (ie the end users). Euralarm’s Bernd Giegerich, convenor of Working Group 1, commented: “The overall service quality offered by the various types of professional services providers at the time of installation, maintenance or operation increases significantly. On the one hand, end users experience faster response times leading to higher system reliability and availability. On the other, service providers can deliver new services such as predictive maintenance, which also improves staff use.”