On June 2, Diamond Systems were featured in The Belfast Telegraph – Business Telegraph as the SME in Focus. Celebrating 28 years in business, the whole Diamond Team are very pleased with how far the company has come since it all began in 1987. Financial Director, Angela, sat down with Margaret Canning from The Belfast Telegraph to share our history and take a closer look at where Diamond are headed in the near future.
On May 28th we held a half-day CPD training event alongside partners, Axis Communications. It consisted of three mini-sessions, giving attendees the opportunity to learn more about the Benefits of Network Video; Image Usability and Optimizing Bit Rate.
We are very grateful to Steve Kenny and Wayne Davis who travelled over from Axis in England to deliver the training and we are proud to offer this along with access to their enhanced product range as a local partner in Northern Ireland.
Over 15 people including a variety of local consultants, contractors and clients, attended the event which took place at the Diamond Systems offices in Belfast Harbour Estate.
Axis was the first company in the world to launch a network camera in 1996, which initiated the shift from analog to digital technology. Axis retain their position as a market leader in the industry today offering a wide range of network surveillance cameras, video encoders, various accessories and enhanced application software. As a Silver Solutions Partner for Axis in Northern Ireland, Diamond offer our clients access to the full range of products.
Throughout the year Diamond Systems offer a number of CPD training sessions, which can be delivered either at our premises or at your offices. If you are interested please get in touch via info@www.diamondsystems.co.uk or register your interest here.
Alarm bells are ringing and people are hurriedly shuffling out of the building, but you don’t hear it.
This is the experience of a standard fire alarm activation for approximately 1 in 6 people (10 million) throughout the UK who have some degree of hearing impairment or deafness. And with numbers expected to rise to 14.5 million people over the next 15 years, accessibility is a more important issue than ever before.
Every non-domestic property in the UK is required to have a fire detection and warning system installed and as per the Equality Act 2010, all UK employers are required to make provision for any/all disabled staff and customers, especially when it comes to the area of fire safety.
In recognition of Deaf Awareness Week 2015 (May 4-10) our team at Diamond Systems would like to share some of the ways we are working to increase accessibility throughout commercial and local authority properties in Northern Ireland, including educational facilities, healthcare premises, government buildings, hotels, and large scale residential complexes.
DeafCall – Alarm Paging SuiteThe DeafCall paging system is part of the AlarmCall Suite developed by CST (Call Systems Technologies). It is designed specifically for individuals who have hearing impairments to ensure that, once the fire alarm has been activated, they are notified immediately to allow them sufficient time to evacuate the building safely. The system consists of a pager that is given to each individual, which connects directly to the Fire Alarm Panel. Anytime the fire alarm is activated the system sends a text message to every DeafCall pager, which vibrates to ensure individuals are safely alerted.
Most common application: Workplaces/Office Buildings
The Acoustic Pillow Shaker is another product from the DeafCall range by CST, designed for the safe evacuation of those who are deaf/hearing impaired, from residential/sleeping accommodations. Designed as a safe and cost-effective solution, the DeafCall Acoustic is a wireless solution that communicates the sounding of a fire alarm through vibrations and strobe lighting. The bedside unit is entirely portable and incorporates a high intensity strobe as well as a vibrator pad, which is placed under the individual’s pillow. Should a fire alarm sound the system is triggered to alert the individual and enable them to evacuate the building safely.
Most common application: Any sleeping areas incl. dormitories, care homes, hotels etc.
At Diamond Systems we take sustainability very seriously. It’s one of our core values and we are continually looking for new ways to become more environmentally friendly in our everyday work practices.
In addition to our recent NVIR-O-CERT accreditation, we have recently joined up with Assisi Animal Sanctuary to donate all our shredded paper for use as animal bedding.
Assisi is Northern Ireland’s largest independent animal welfare charity providing shelter for up to 200 animals at their facility. They operate a “No Kill” policy and just last year they rescued over 2300 animals.
We are very happy to support them and just this week we donated 6 bags of shreddings to help keep our furry friends warm and cosy this spring.
Find our more about Sustainability at Diamond Systems.
Friday night was the Belfast Giants last home game of the season at the Odyssey Arena. It was also the first night of the season playoffs and Diamond Systems were lucky to be the game night sponsors.
Our Managing Director, Steve Snoddon, did the celebratory puck drop to signal the start of the game while, Angela Bennett (Financial Director), and Phil Stevenson (our new Sales Manager) presented the Man of the Match awards.
It was great to see the crowds showing so much support as they cheered for the Giants who took on the Cardiff Devils and their support paid off with a 1-0 win for the Belfast Giants.
Diamond Systems got in on the action too by handing out thunder sticks to the crowd on the way into the arena. We even held a contest for the best #teamdiamondthunder selfie on Twitter.
After the game we joined a few of our guests on a special behind-the-scenes tour and had the opportunity to meet some of the players.
It was a great night for all involved and we’re very glad that we could be a part of it!
Until next season – Let’s Go Giants!!
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Last Thursday and Friday, February 19th & 20th, we had the pleasure of attending and exhibiting at the 20th Annual Fire Safety Conference. It was held at the Killyhevlin Hotel and Health Club in Enniskillen and was attended by delegates from a range of backgrounds including Fire and Rescue Services, Building Control, Entertainment Licensing, Universities, Consultants and International Service Providers interested in Fire Safety Research and Best Practice.
We were joined by Derrick Hall from our partners at SIEMENS UK who gave a presentation to the group on the impact of false alarms in Northern Ireland. Last year alone there were 10,474 false alarms attended, 7,699 of which were “due to apparatus”. As you can imagine the cost of this to local businesses and the government alike is very high but we have a solution – SIEMENS Cerberus Pro.
Over the course of the 2 days we gave a series of demos at our fully interactive display of the Cerberus Pro fire detection system. It is one of our leading fire detection products and offers a BACnet connection along with True Open Protocol, to provide seamless integration with other systems e.g. BMS, security, lighting control with the added benefit of no false alarms.
We are very grateful to everyone who stopped by and hopefully we might have given you a little food for thought. Look forward to seeing you again next year!
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After a very successful re-launch of our Apprenticeships Programme last year we have decided to continue it again in 2015. We recently attended the Year 12 Careers Convention as part of the West Belfast Business Education Partnership to begin our search for this years young apprentices. The programme runs in partnership with Belfast Metropolitan College combining both in-classroom and on-the-job training and we were lucky enough to be joined on the day by some representatives from the college as well. We were overwhelmed by the number of students interested and hope this continues throughout our search.
Apprenticeship postings at Diamond will be advertised on our careers page from May 2015.
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We are excited to announce that Diamond Systems are now the only the specialist fire and security company in Northern Ireland to receive NVIR-O-CERT accreditation.
After an intensive audit the Construction Employers Federation presented the award in recognition of our commitment to continual improvement of practices and procedures to protect the environment, including the implementation of a new environmental management system.
This follows on from our recent completion of the BITES programme (Business Improvement Through Environmental Solutions), run by Belfast City Council in Dec 2014. Together both these programs are designed to help businesses reduce waste and energy while boosting profits and helping the environment.
The aims of the NVIR-O-CERT programme include:
This programme has helped focus our attention on the environmental aspects associated with our business activities and given us the knowledge of how to control them more effectively. Diamond Systems have always strived to be at the forefront of our industry in terms of accreditations and sustainability and we look forward to seeing the prolonged benefits moving forward as we continue to provide top quality service.
Today marks the 1st ever World Pancreatic Cancer Day and to show our support the entire Diamond Systems team went purple. We even got Norman, our CCTV test mannequin to join in!
Pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of any cancer; a little known fact and something that has barely changed in more than 40 years. It is also the fifth biggest cancer killer in the UK and seventh in the world. World Pancreatic Cancer Day will help to bring about a much needed change in awareness levels about the disease and a focus on the need for urgent change.*
Thanks to all staff involved for their donations, together we raised over £250 for this very worthy cause. If you would like to find out any more about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Society or how you can help, please visit their website at the link below.
* Source: Pancreatic Cancer Action (www.pancreaticcanceraction.org)
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For the second year running, Diamond Systems have partnered up with the Belfast Giants! Heading into the 2014/2015 season we’ll be supporting them as they work their way towards the playoffs. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming contests and events on our Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn.
