November is Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience month. We are proud to highlight our partnership with Granite to ensure a stable, monitored, and compliant connection for Iowans who rely on working elevators, fire alarms, and security systems.
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Every building relies on a few critical services that must work, without fail, during an emergency. We’re referring to your elevator communication, your fire alarm panels, and your security systems, which must always be connected.
The unseen challenge for many buildings today is the legacy technology connecting these systems. Many still use traditional, copper phone lines (often called POTS or 1FB). These older connections are becoming unreliable and unstable. They face service disruptions, rising costs, and their networks are being retired, leaving essential building functions vulnerable to failure.
The Modern Standard: EPIK's Approach to Reliability
ICN and Granite are partnering to offer the EPIK solution, a proven replacement for traditional phone lines. EPIK is designed to keep critical infrastructure running, emphasizing both reliable connectivity and regulatory compliance.
It delivers a stable, modern connection using either an existing Ethernet cable or a dedicated cellular link, so you get great flexibility and reliability. Think of it this way: this change is not just a technology upgrade. It is a solid guarantee of operational continuity and total peace of mind for your business.
A Connection Built to Last
Organizations needs a connection ready for anything, and EPIK delivers that confidence. EPIK is specifically designed for high reliability, making it truly built to last. Here are the reliable benefits integrated into the system:
- Always On: The system automatically uses one connection (Ethernet or cellular) as primary. If that connection is ever lost, it features automatic failover to the alternate link, which includes dual SIM cards for the cellular option. This prevents service interruptions.
- Power Resilience: Power outages are a major threat to communication. EPIK includes a battery backup that provides up to 24 hours of power continuity for your critical voice and alarm circuits.
- Full Compatibility: The solution is designed to work with all existing analog devices—meaning your current elevator emergency phones, fire alarm panels, and security systems are instantly compatible
Focus on Compliance and Monitoring
Essential locations, like hospitals and schools, have to meet the strictest safety and privacy rules. Your critical life safety systems must be reliable 100% of the time. The EPIK solution will ensure your organization has total confidence, check out the key compliance and security features:
- PCI & HIPAA Compliant: for medical, pharmacy and insurance environments.
- Code Compliant: EPIK helps meet key fire and safety codes. It’s recognized by major fire marshals as a secure, Managed Facilities-based Voice Network.
- 24/7 Monitoring: The system includes constant, remote monitoring. If a critical connection is interrupted, staff receives an instant notification (text, email, or call), ensuring immediate awareness and response.
Real-World Assurance
The reliability of this solution is proven: seven government buildings on the Des Moines Capitol Complex are using the EPIK solution with more being planned to keep their critical building connections operational for essential state services.
A need for this reliability occurred when a state building experienced an outage that disconnected its fire and elevator panels. Waiting for the legacy system to be fixed was not an option. By quickly deploying the EPIK cellular solution, connectivity was restored before the weekend, preventing staff from having to manually cover the down systems and ensuring the building remained safe.