Fire safety is at the forefront of all our minds these days, so ensuring that block alarm systems are working efficiently is one of our top priorities. But block managers don't always know when systems have developed a fault and we often rely on maintenance teams and clued-up residents to alert us to problems.

Faulty systems often lead to complaints from flat owners, who are fed up with alarms blaring for lengthy periods or window vents opening, letting rain water in and damaging the common areas when there's no sign of fire or smoke. This is a nuisance for us too call-outs for non-existent emergencies waste everyone's time and ultimately cost residents money. But help is now at hand from a clever little app that works on smart phones, tablets and even old-fashioned desktops. Auto-notification systems are now on the market that alert the user to any problems with fire alarm systems via real time signalling from un-manned sites.

One product in particular can be retro-fitted into an existing control panel. It can send signals to a cloud-based App via a 4G SIM and even to an old fashioned desk top. Once installed and connected, users are linked in real time and have the peace of mind of knowing their systems are fully operational. A fault signal can either be sent to an individual property manager or RTMCo director or to a group of users who are linked to the device/property. Ringley is now looking into this technology so that we can stay one step ahead of those false alarms, system faults and keep complaints from you, our customers, to a minimum.