{"id":650950,"date":"2026-06-06T16:00:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=650950"},"modified":"2026-06-06T16:00:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:00:59","slug":"new-technologies-including-one-from-discovery-insure-that-south-africans-can-use-to-protect-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/gadgets\/650950-new-technologies-including-one-from-discovery-insure-that-south-africans-can-use-to-protect-themselves.html","title":{"rendered":"New technologies, including one from Discovery Insure, that South Africans can use to protect themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Discovery Insure announced recently that it launched the Discovery 911 smoke detector, a product which it called a first-to-market fire detection and emergency response solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It joined other companies in South Africa in offering advanced fire detection products for businesses and households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies like Fidelity ADT, Fire Ops SA and Brigit Fire all offer the South African market digital fire detection capabilities, which include smoke detection and warning systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When it comes to fighting a fire, time is a critical factor,” said Precious Nduli, Chief Commercial Officer at Discovery Insure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yet the moments that matter most are often when people cannot act. They may be away, asleep, injured, overwhelmed, or simply unsure of who to call as panic sets in.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nduli explained that Discovery Insure’s new product automatically detected fires in the home and alerted the company’s 24\/7 emergency response centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The centre then coordinates a rapid-fire response to the affected address. The company said the new detectors are available nationwide, not just to Discovery Insure clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery said that the automated protection offered by the new detectors makes them a market-first solution where response services are alerted by the devices themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It worked independently of Wi-Fi and mobile networks using the Sigfox 0G network, allowing it to remain connected even during power and network outages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fire Protection Association of South Africa said that residential structures represent the country’s greatest fire risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The association recorded 4,997 fires at formal residences in 2024 alone, resulting in R5.1 billion in damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dwellings were also linked to 403 of the 481 total fire-related deaths in the country that year, with formal dwelling fires resulting in 132 fatalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Wet Engelbrecht, the CEO of Fire Ops SA, a privately owned fire brigade in Johannesburg, said his company responded to 3\u20134 structural fires in South Africa each day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Time is of the essence on three critical fronts: detecting the fire, notifying emergency services, and getting the response team to the scene.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For the average home and resident, the upfront process can take up to 12 minutes in the best-case scenario.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fire Ops SA is a member of Discovery Insure’s Fire Force, a network of emergency service providers and first responders that are alerted by the company’s new smoke detection devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automatic fire detection and emergency response in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Discovery 911 smoke detector.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Discovery 911 smoke detector joined other notable fire and smoke detection technologies offered by companies in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fidelity ADT offered businesses and consumers smart detection systems that link to the company’s own national monitoring control rooms for rapid dispatch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among its integrated fire solutions are fire detection devices, fire suppression systems, sprinkler systems, and even systems that detect and suppress leakage of hazardous gases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Fire Ops SA said it could dispatch emergency vehicles within 60 seconds of a fire being detected (90 seconds at night), a service it offers subscribers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This service is integrated into the Discovery device thanks to its partnership with the insurance provider. Fire Ops SA also provides members access to a first-response member app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its fire brigade is a specialist in Advanced Firefighting Technology (AFT), a pioneering portable, low-pressure water-mist system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The technology creates high-quality water mist at low pressure while ensuring maximum lancing distances for safe firefighting,” the brigade said on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The technology is adaptable to portable, mobile & fixed firefighting apparatus.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brigit Fire, a member of the Hudaco Group, is a South African firm that provides a “one-stop total fire protection” system, including fire detection, suppression and fire containment services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Brigit Fire system uses niche computer technology designed to precisely measure gaseous, water mist, and sprinkler systems, the company said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its range of products includes smart gas suppression systems, fire containment protection, sprinkler systems and mist systems that activate upon fire detection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One advanced system that the company provided was its addressable smoke detector, which it called “Apollo Protocol.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This system employed advanced electronics, along with a photoelectric smoke-sensing chamber, for early fire detection while helping prevent unwarranted alarms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More images of Discovery’s Fire Force<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discovery Insure announced recently that it launched the Discovery 911 smoke detector, a product which it called a first-to-market fire detection and emergency response solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341213,"featured_media":650952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[105617,105613,25197,61470,105616,105615,105614],"class_list":["post-650950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gadgets","tag-brigit-fire","tag-discovery-911","tag-discovery-insure","tag-fidelity-adt","tag-fireops-sa","tag-sigofox-0g","tag-smoke-detector"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650950"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650950"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":651505,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650950\/revisions\/651505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}