Sending Alarms
Even though the ESPA 4.4.4 protocol was designed for simple text paging, one of the most common applications has been alarm system integration. In these cases, it is not enough to simply send a text message. The different alarm systems need more detailed information about the alarm, such as information about the source of the alarm, the type of alarm and whether the alarm is set or reset. The IPA protocol includes a specific Alarm datagram to handle these integrations. Here's a simple example:
<Alarm Id="101">
<Source>
<Section>5</Section>
</Source>
<Type Qualifier="New">FIRE</Type>
</Alarm>
The Id attribute has the same meaning as always - the client is requesting an acknowledgement to this message.
The Source tag specifies the source of the alarm. Source can contain various identification data, such as Section, Room, Address, Id and similar.
Type specifies the type of the alarm. The type Qualifier can be either New, Updated or Reset. Updated means that the alarm has been sent before, but contains new information this time. Reset means that the alarm has been reset.
The following example shows includes all optional tags:
<Alarm Id="102">
<Source>
<Section>5</Section>
<Room>50</Room>
<Floor>4</Floor>
<Building>1</Building>
<Id>45678</Id>
<Address>99</Address>
</Source>
<Type Qualifier="New" Severity="100">FIRE</Type>
<Location>
<Gps>
<Longitude>17.87930</Longitude>
<Latitude>59.41310</Latitude>
<Altitude>57</Altitude>
</Gps>
</Location>
<Display Background="#FF0000" Foreground="#FFFFFF" Priority="90">
<Text>
<Top>Building 1</Top>
<Left>Room 50</Left>
<Right>Fire Alarm</Right>
<Bottom>Fourth floor</Bottom>
</Text>
<Options>
<Option Name="DELAY">Delay alarm</Option>
</Options>
</Display>
</Alarm>