Latymer Upper's facilities/projects manager Thomas Fisher reports that the move to install Iris follows introduction of a fibre optic local area network around the school last year, allowing a variety of equipment including PCs, boilers and telephones to share the same communications system. Iris now extends this, by enabling the separate existing alarm panels at 14 buildings on the Hammersmith site to be connected too. "This is proving a lot cheaper than the Redcare system we had before, because it avoids the need to pay a total of £56 a day for setting/un-setting charges," says Mr Fisher.

"Iris also allows us to change alarm codes and arm/disarm the alarm system in different buildings remotely, as well as take operational readings and make adjustments out-of-hours. So besides the substantial cost reductions we are making it is a far more flexible system - effectively we control the network now, giving us much better local control" he continues.

The primary communications route between the alarm panel in each school building and ADT's alarm receiving centre uses Chiron's Iris 840 dialler to convert the analogue signal to IP. Back-up paths for dual signalling are available via both GSM and GPRS routes, in addition to low cost regular polling of the school's alarm panels. "Iris is proving to be a good system - it does exactly what it says on the tin," Mr Fisher adds.

Latymer Upper itself is an independent co-educational school for 7-18 year old pupils and part of The Latymer Foundation, which includes The Latymer Prep School. Altogether, some 1200 pupils pass through the school gates every day and facilities include an arts centre, theatre, art display atrium, coffee shop and music rooms. Edward Latymer, who wanted to provide educational facilities to 'poore boyes of Hammersmith', first established Latymer Upper back in 1624 and it moved to its present King St location in 1895.

Ian Tredinnick, Chiron Security Communications' MD, notes that the Iris alarm transmission and monitoring system is proving popular with end users, installers and ARCs alike: "Iris is supported by over 70 monitoring centres across Europe and is applicable to all systems, from high security to residential. Many alarm panel manufacturers are now offering Iris technology embedded within their panels and the system is independently certified to EN50131 and 50136 - approved to Grade 4 ATS-6. The Iris diallers are also easy to install - no specialist IP knowledge is required - and fit a wide range of both new and existing 'legacy' alarm panels."