Deaf Alerter plc is a multi million pound, profitable, stable and expanding company with thousands of customers across the UK and Ireland. Historically specialising in providing communication and alarm systems for Deaf and hard of hearing people, more recently our product portfolio has been expanded to provide emergency refuge communication systems for people with other disabilities as well as support personnel such as fire wardens.

Deaf Alerter is a product that was initially developed by Evets Communications Limited, a sister company in the ECL group formed in 1980, which continues to provide radio and data communications for the radio communication and broadcast industries. The company hence has a long history and significant experience in radio technology. The Deaf Alerter product is now exclusively available from Deaf Alerter plc and its authorised partners.

1988
Deaf Alerter was initially developed for a school for Deaf children. The initial product was effectively just a radio paging system, using vibrating pagers.

1991
The Deaf Alerter Radio Transmitter was significantly enhanced from a standard radio-paging transmitter to include features normally expected from a building fire alarm. Although at that time, no recognised formal standard existed in the UK for the design or installation of fire alarm systems for deaf people, we took BS 5839 (the British Standard relating to building fire alarms) and extracted all the features which we considered appropriate, for example:

• Battery backup for up to 72 hours
• Continuous message transmission until the fire alarm control panel is reset
• Fire protected interconnecting cables
• Monitoring of the internal health of the unit (for example mains power, battery backup, transmitted signal)
• Installed to provide complete building coverage
• Automatic operation
• Annual maintenance schedule with annual inspection

We consider that Deaf and hard of hearing people should enjoy the same quality of fire alarm as a hearing person.

1994
The Deaf Alerter Night Cradle™ was introduced to provide fire alarm warning for people sleeping in their bed. This was primarily developed for hotels and university halls of residence.

1995
The major step forward for the Deaf Alerter product was the concept of having a universal alerting device that would operate in any building equipped with a Deaf Alerter transmitter. This concept is covered by UK and other patents (see legal section). Thus a deaf person wearing an Alerter could be protected in any building. To inform deaf people that Deaf Alerter was installed in a building, the Deaf Alerter sign was introduced. This is displayed in the entrances of any building equipped with a Deaf Alerter transmitter.

1996
The system initially provided for fire alarm warning only, but was extended to provide personal and public address messaging. This allowed the system to be used for work-related messaging including the automatic identification of incoming minicom text phone calls. The Deaf Alerter system has been instrumental in helping many Deaf people gain employment.

1997
Deaf Alerter Message Manager software was released to allow messages to be generated on a PC and then transmitted over a Deaf Alerter system. Used for public address announcements and generating messages for individuals or groups of people.

2000

A new version of the Alerter was released with a modern styled case and utilising the latest software. Two new versions of the Night Cradle were released. One version for Sheltered Housing for elderly people incorporated a permanent Alerter. The second version incorporated a high-intensity strobe.

The Deaf Alerter product had become so successful that it was decided that its future growth would be best served by having a separate company focussed on the Deaf Alerter product with a dedicated staff. Thus Deaf Alerter plc was born. Evets Communications Limited continues to operate in its other business activities of radio and data communication. (www.evetscomms.com )

2001

The DA1000 transmitter was released, fully compatible with Alerters already carried by Deaf people. This new transmitter utilised the latest surface mount technology and incorporates enhanced system monitoring and fault detection. It also had communication features which can be used by Deaf people at work to enable them to perform their duties more efficiently.

Deaf Alerter plc granted ISO 9001:2000 status. This demonstrates our commitment to quality to all aspects of the design, installation and support of Deaf Alerter systems.

2002

Wireless Whistle developed for English Deaf football team, enabling team sport players to "hear" the whistle.

New message point product released.

BS5839-1 was updated to include a section on Deaf fire alarms. It included many of the features already incorporated in the Deaf Alerter system.

2003

Development commenced on the revolutionary DA2000 transmitter. Which was to become the main platform for Deaf Alerter installations for the next five years.

2004

The DA2000 transmitter was released to be fully compatible with the 2004 amendment to BS5839-1 and to provide enhanced interfacing capabilities to external systems.

2005
VHF Radio Link transceivers. These provide fully monitored radio communication between disparate fire alarm systems as well as allowing fire alarm systems to be radio linked to Deaf Alerter transmitters.

2006

Opened the Derby Operations Centre on Pride Park in Derby. This is a base for all engineering activities including online support to customers.

Ethernet module released for the DA2000 & DA1000. These enable the transmitters to receive message input via a local area network (LAN) and to distribute fault messages by email to a PC either locally on the LAN or remotely via the internet (including our manned support desk).

Network Message Manager. New version of the software created to make full use of the new Ethernet module. This allows multiple computers to communicate with a single or multiple Deaf Alerter transmitters.

2007

A New version of the Alerter is released. This is released to meet the RoHS manufacturing laws as well as offering some new functionality to our customers. It is available with red detailing on the national roaming version and blue on the site specific version.

Refuge Alerter. The RA1000 Refuge Alerter system is launched. This is a wireless emergency voice communication system. For further details please visit: www.refuge-alerter.com

Deaf Alerter plc awarded certification to the Contractor Health and Safety assessment scheme (CHAS). This accreditation shows that Deaf Alerter plc meets stringent Health and Safety compliance standards.