Housing Tech Live webinar with FireAngel

FireAngel’s Chief Product Officer, Nick Rutter, and Head of Certification, Ian Ballinger, joined host George Grant for a Housing Tech Live Q&A event.

The webinar, held on 11th August, saw the conversation cover topics ranging from fire safety and compliance to healthy homes and advice for housing associations on implementing the Internet of Things (IoT) into their strategy.

“Fire safety at the moment is in a very complex environment,” Ian Ballinger said during the webinar. “During the last few years we’ve had a combination of new legislation coming into play and in parallel to that we’ve had great advances in technology. In the last five years we’ve had more development in both of these fronts than in the last 20 years.

“Having been in this industry for 25 years, I look at key landmarks throughout my career from starting on basic battery alarms, moving to mains alarms with battery back-up and more recently interlinking alarms with RF technology. I can see the move into the digital arena as one of the most significant factors the industry has seen for a considerable amount of time.”

When offering advice to housing associations who are looking to adopt smart technology into their strategy, Nick Rutter discussed how IoT as a technology has changed the way we work as communities and work as a society. “You’ve got to put residents at the forefront of your thinking,” Nick said. “If you include residents from the start and consider how they are going to use and interact with the technology, it makes sure your residents are part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Engage with your residents and resident groups – you want them to see it as a positive.

“Technology like the IoT is only going to ensure standards are being met while holding housing providers to account. If the technology is there, why shouldn’t you be willing to do that?” 

Attendees of the event also had the opportunity to pose questions live to Nick Rutter and Ian Ballinger, to share their advice and experiences on navigating a digital fire safety landscape in housing.

A full recording of the Q&A session is now available to watch on Housing Technology’s On Demand platform.