Xtralis Receives Global Recognition from Frost & Sullivan

Xtralis™, the leader in air-sampling smoke detection (ASD), was chosen by Frost & Sullivan’s Building and Environmental Technologies research team as the recipient of the 2011 North American New Product Innovation Award in the fire and life safety market. The research specifically evaluated VESDA ECO, OSID by Xtralis and Industrial VESDA VLI.

Frost & Sullivan, a global growth partnership company, presents its’ awards to companies demonstrating best practices in a variety of regional and global markets. These awards recognize superior planning and execution of product launches, strategic alliances, distribution strategies, technological innovations, mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings. A host of other crucial marketing factors such as leadership, strategy, service, innovation, integration and development are also recognized. Founded 50 years ago, Frost & Sullivan is recognized as a global market analysis and solution leader with offices located worldwide.

Earlier in the year, Xtralis launched OSID, an advanced solution for smoke detection in large, open spaces. OSID overcomes the weaknesses of traditional detection solutions used in large, open spaces where standard sensitivity detection is required. OSID, which uses a combination of dual wavelengths, Complementary Metal Oxide Silicon (CMOS) imaging technology with advanced detection algorithms, and 3-D coverage, delivers installation simplicity, superior smoke detection performance, and unsurpassed immunity to false alarms. The OSID innovation can provide an advanced detection solution in open spaces and lower total ownership cost to end-users and installers by 50 percent to 75 percent. OSID installation time is a quarter of that required for traditional beam detectors.

VESDA ECO is the extension of the very early warning aspirating smoke detection system and was launched by Xtralis in 2010. It offers advanced gas detection capabilities, in addition to very early smoke detection. By introducing VESDA ECO, Xtralis pioneered the concept of offering both fire and gas detection on a single platform. VESDA ECO uses existing VESDA pipe networks to reliably detect toxic and combustible gases in addition to smoke. VESDA ECO has proved to deliver the following advantages over gas point detectors: tremendous improvement in detection performance through better area coverage and elimination of the guess work used in current point detector placement, up to 46 percent in capital cost savings, and up to 76 percent in operational cost savings.

Launching in June 2011, Industrial VESDA VLI is the first aspirating smoke detector specially designed for use in industrial and harsh environments. Fire detection becomes very challenging due to extreme environmental conditions in industries such as mining, power generation, warehousing, waste treatment, recycling plants and process industries. VESDA VLI incorporates a unique intelligent filter that prevents lint and fibrous particles from entering the system, thereby reducing maintenance costs and extending the life of the system. This patented filter, along with the ruggedized enclosure, gives the system protection against high levels of environmental contaminants, thereby ensuring the most reliable and fail-safe ASD performance in extreme and harsh environments.

“Unlike the early years in the fire detection industry when the choice of equipment was limited and somewhat basic in performance,” said Xtralis Vice President of Fire Products and Strategy Dr. Peter Meikle. “Today a myriad of smoke detection choices exist, but with the introduction of the latest award-winning products, including OSID by Xtralis, VESDA ECO, and Industrial VESDA VLI, Xtralis reinforces its strong position as the global innovator in fire and smoke detection technologies. We are continuing to surpass the expectations of values and this prestigious award reaffirms our commitment to delivering excellence in life safety solutions.”

The selection of the 2011 North American New Product Innovation Award resulted from in-depth interviews and market analysis conducted by Frost & Sullivan's Environmental and Building Technologies analyst team. The criteria for the award included leading technology, value-added features and benefits, and increased customer return on investment (ROI).