SIP-SNAP

The SIP-SNAP system is a flexible, incremental solution. You can easily add or remove stations, with each one operating independently of the others. Even when connected in loops, the stations remain logically independent, allowing communication across different loops. Each station is assigned a unique SIP address (e.g., sip.miller@sip.sipregistrar.com, where ‘miller’ refers to the different stations).

The simplest setup involves using a 4-wire loop, connecting the loops to the building’s switch and a 24-volt backup power supply. Once the stations are installed and connected, you power them up. For network configuration, you can choose between DHCP or fixed IP addresses. The benefit of DHCP is that it eliminates the need to manually assign an IP address to each station. However, fixed IP addresses allow you to ping stations to check their network presence. If DHCP is used, the technician can let the unit show the iP-address on the display, if he wants to perform a PING or download the configuration.

Next, you’ll need to find a SIP registrar and register a SIP account for each station. Many companies offer SIP registration services. A common issue with today’s firewalls is that they make it nearly impossible to directly access devices inside a building. The solution is to use a tunnel opened by a device from within the building. The SIP registrar assigns a port number to each device based on its SIP account. This allows multiple stations to hold simultaneous conversations, as each station has its own port number. However, this process is completely transparent to the user—the only important thing is that each station can connect to any remote device, and any remote device can connect to any station, even through firewalls.

The final step is to download a configuration file to each station, which contains the SIP account details for the remote monitoring station and any other area stations it needs to connect to. A firefighter accessing any area station can call all other stations to ensure that no one is still waiting for assistance.

You can test the configuration on a PC using a Linux-based model of the area station, ensuring that the SIP registration, usernames, passwords, and central monitoring station address are all correct before deployment.

Once the configuration is downloaded to each station, perform a final system test, and your setup is complete!