Ollie Murray Hyfire’s Head of Sales for the UK, sat down with IFSJ Editor Iain Hoey to tell all about Taurus, TauREX and FIREX 2023
In recent years, wireless fire detection solutions have emerged as a game-changer in the fire safety industry. It offers several advantages over traditional wired systems, including easy installation, scalability, and flexibility. Hyfire, a leading provider of wireless fire detection solutions in the UK, has established itself as leading innovator and supplier of wireless fire alarm systems.
Having served as Hyfire’s Regional Sales Manager for the Southeast since 2021 and playing an integral play in the roll out of the company’s wireless detection flagship solutions Taurus and TauREX, Ollie Murray was promoted to Head of Sales for the UK. I sat down with Ollie to find out more about the Taurus and TauREX solutions, learn about what Hyfire has been up in recent years and what it’s got in store for FIREX 2023.
Who is Hyfire and what is its place in the fire market?
Hyfire was founded in 2007, supplying wireless fire alarm and detection systems into the UK market. We have seen dramatic changes in the market demands, what is required of the company, and the systems that we have supplied over that time. In 2017 we were acquired by Halma as a move to spearhead their development within the fire industry.
Hyfire launched the Taurus product range in 2021 and it has been an overwhelming success, far more than we had imagined. A large contribution to that success has been down to the team at Hyfire – having such a focused, dedicated team that want to add value at every level has allowed us to continue pushing our boundaries. Our place in the market is now at the forefront as a wireless specialist, both in what we do and how we do it. We are recognised not just for our products, but our people and how we deliver the solution to the market.
Can you tell me more about the Taurus product line?
Taurus is a culmination of everything Hyfire has learned since 2007. It is offering market leading performance, it is highly adaptable and completely flexible, and it is used widely by the Hyfire partner network – it has become the core of the Hyfire business.
When we launched it into the market in 2021, did we perceive it would be where it was where it is now viewed? Probably not. It was designed to be an agile system from day one. It was designed, purely, as a wireless fire detection and alarm system, but very quickly, it has become a solution to system integrators. People are able to use our Taurus system in different ways, offering many answers to questions posed ways from what is a very focused product range.
In the last two years, we have been relied upon to provide fire detection alarm coverage to some of the most prestigious sites in the country. Taurus has become something very different to what we expected it to be, and that learning curve is continuing. We have learned so much in the last two years with this more focused product.
Can you tell me about the TauREX software?
Taurus is the product line, TauREX is the software. They are two very different things, but TauREX complements Taurus. We understood that a having product is good, but a providing a complete solution is what we needed it to be.
TauREX is the digital side of the configuration software. It is the software powering Taurus that the engineer uses. The software was designed by engineers for use by engineers. The configuration tool was a huge innovation for Hyfire – we learned over that last decade what works, what does not, what people have come to expect, and what people would like to have.
TauREX is a complete step into what is now possible with wireless fire detection. We offer the engineers the ability to upload site drawings, plans, and maps or designs into the software. They can digitally map their own fire detection system over the top of their own real-world plans. This gives them huge visibility of what the system is doing on a real footprint of a building. For engineers that are attending site for the first time or are new to the site, It means they’re not just looking at names, letters and numbers: they’re looking at a real image of the building where the devices are with accurate information on exactly how they’re behaving.
TauREX also offers you the ability to run a PDF report of the system. It data captures everything that the engineers put into it from site name, site address, key contacts, date of creation, all the way down to manufactured date of product, any notes assigned by the engineer, firmware versions, and most importantly, signal levels – it is a wireless system, we have to record the signal levels.
Putting all of the information into one place for the engineer at one click of a button is a huge leap forward into what we are able to offer our partners. They are no longer having to manually write everything down. It also offers huge transparency from the manufacturer to the integrator to the end user. We can show who installed it, when it was installed, the date it was manufactured, and the signal levels at the time of recording it, all in one purpose-built report that shows you all the information in a clear-cut document. There’s no hiding from it, there is no falsifying it: it is a transparent document that allows everyone to be on the same page.
It works in many different ways for different people, but it has become really effective, and we find the more people use it, the more benefits they find in TauREX. It is an agile tool.
Are there any new additions or updates to the software?
TauREX has been out for two years now. When we launched it, based on first impressions and working with some key partners in launching it, we knew we were onto something good. Two years have gone very quickly, and we have learned that there is a lot more to be developed. There is always room for improvement. Working closely with the partners shows us that our work isn’t done: there is more that we can do to keep driving change and growth. We know that in the future there are additional improvements that we are going to have to make which will further improve the solution.
One new development is our QR code gun which enables users to scan devices into TauREX much quicker. Engineers will be able to use a wireless QR code scanner to scan in devices at speed, even faster than they currently are. We already offer our partners an edge when it comes to speed of programming, and now we are improving that again: it is going to be going to be even quicker. That development came from listening to feedback from our partners.
The other new development is that our users are going to be able to map and link devices quicker. Wireless is often referred to as a rapid solution and tests engineering capabilities. The slight improvements that we can make through listening to feedback are going to have the greater effect down the line to our partners.
What should people look out for from Hyfire at FIREX?
We have a couple of exciting things coming in months ahead – but people will have to come to FIREX to find out a little bit more about those, so come and see us and we will be able reveal a little bit more there. There is definitely more coming and we are not sitting still. We have got a demonstration of BS 8629 for people to come and see.
To people that have seen Taurus before, to our partners: come see the improvements that we have made to our products. To people that have not seen what Hyfire can do: you don’t know what you have been missing for two years, and we have even more to show than ever before, so make sure you stop by.
Finally, how will Hyfire remain agile in the years ahead?
One thing that I don’t think has changed, and dare I say we have probably gotten better at, is the delivery of the product and the service and the value that we add. Even though the business has upscaled, and the business has changed in a positive way, we have become more refined in what we are doing, and how we are doing it.
For us, to continue adding that value to the partners, learning how to adapt both with them and for them is really where I have really enjoyed the last couple of years of being at Hyfire. This new role for me is about how we shape the upcoming years continue to add that value and that next stage of what Hyfire can and will offer, learning from the success that we have had in the last two years.
The emphasis from Hyfire is that our wireless detection solutions are at the forefront of the industry. The reasons for that are the products, the partners, and the people. The products are market leading; the partners that we work with trust us to develop a product and around them and their needs, which has been crucial; and having the right people at Hyfire has allowed us to gain the trust of those partners.
We listen to the feedback as and when it is required, and this has allowed us to bring about changes to the market that are not only going to meet people’s expectations, but that are going to allow us to take that next step. For me, Hyfire’s greatest strength is the people and the partners: we could not have done any of it without them.