A little over seven years ago, the chatter in the Information
Technology (IT) community was all about the Y2K
“bug”. Well, we survived, for the most part, thanks
to the countless books, magazine articles, lectures about preparing and
checking systems for this potential hiccup in technology.
Now, thanks to The Energy Policy Act of 2005, Daylight Saving
Time has been extended and adjusted for at least the next two years and
has the potential of causing problems and inconvenience, and possible
legal exposure in many facets of our day to day lifestyle.
There’s no concern about repeating the worse case
scenarios of Y2K, but users who have date and time applications could
be affected unless they have prepared for March 11, 2007.
Prior to The Energy Policy Act of 2005, most of North America
observed Daylight Saving Time from 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of
April to 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of October. Due to the vertical
alignment of the time zones, Canada has also altered their time
adjustment, but Mexico’s rules will remain the same.
Beginning this year, most of the North America will begin
Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March (11th)
and revert to standard time on the first Sunday in November (4th). This
will give us an additional month of “daylight” time.
There’s another caveat! The new law was created as
an effort to reduce the cost of energy. The savings from extending
time, which was originally planned for two months, and amended to one
month, was about 1/2 of 1%. We can assume the savings from a
one-month extension would be roughly half of that, .25%. Others believe
that the savings could be between 1 and 3%. However, there are some in
the IT community that feel that the energy and money expended in
programmers will be more, while some officials feel that the extra
daylight time will cause Americans to stay on the streets an additional
hour, running errands, etc. and will washout the energy savings, but
give the economy a little “bump”. The Secretary of
Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress, and Congress
retains the right to resume the 2006 Daylight Saving Time schedule once
the Department of Energy study is complete, therefore possibly starting
another round of re-programming! A good analysis of the Act can be
found at: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Policy_Act_of_2005.
Daylight Saving Time is NOT observed in
Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and
Arizona. The Navajo Nation utilizes the Daylight Saving Time policy,
even in Arizona, due to its large size and location in three states. On
the other hand, the Hopi Nation, whose territory is surrounded by the
Navajo Nation, has chosen not to use DST.
A Little Bit of History
Implementation of Daylight Saving Time has been laden with
controversy
since Benjamin Franklin first created the idea. Even today, regions and
countries routinely change their approaches to Daylight Saving Time.
The United States implemented DST during both World War I and World War
II.
Each year since 1966 when the Uniform Time Act was introduced,
most of
the country has observed Daylight Saving Time. A 1986 amendment meant
that those States that recognize Daylight Saving Time move clocks
forward an hour at 2.00 am on the first Sunday of April to the last
Sunday in October.
Terrorists in Israel learned about the DST time rules the hard
way in
1999 when a bomb they had smuggled from the West Bank (in a different
time zone) exploded one hour early, killing them and not the busload of
passengers they had planned to kill.
Daylight Saving Time is usually hailed by Fire Departments to
get the message to consumers to change the smoke alarm batteries at
home. Although 90 percent of homes have smoke alarms, about one third
are estimated to have missing or flat batteries. Hopefully, the Fire
Departments and battery suppliers will be geared-up to handle the
change.
DST is unpopular among people working in the agriculture industry and
parents of school children who have to wait in the dark for their bus
for three extra weeks, because they must rise with the sun regardless
of what the clock says.
Security/Fire Alarm Systems
Security and Fire Alarm Systems are vital tools for both
businesses and residences and pose the highest risk of exposure to
users and Integrators. Their Control Panels have onboard memory that
logs openings, closings, trouble signals and alarms. All alarm control
panels have a Realtime Clock Chip that was most likely installed
without the new rules. During the three week period between the new and
traditional DST dates, these “timestamps” will most
likely be off by an hour. Also, they will be off again during the
additional one week at the end of the DST period (Oct. 29-Nov. 4). This
“timestamp” is sometimes used in legal matters
concerning whether or not a user really turned the alarm on for the
night. Also, Central Stations that process alarm signals are often
positioned to receive a “timer test” during a
certain window and will be calling the user if the window is not
fulfilled. In this new millennium, most Central Stations are automated
with custom systems that will most likely have incorporated the change.
If they aren’t automated, they will have personnel on site at
2:00 am on March 11.
In addition to the internal issues, if the keypad has a clock
display, it will obviously be incorrect during these periods. Many
modern alarm systems can be re-programmed remotely.
If you are an end user, call your alarm company to find out
what they are doing about this issue. They will have to either send a
technician out or they can reprogram the system remotely. Either way,
since this is a service call that is not the fault of the alarm
company, you will likely be charged for the service call.
If you are an Integrator, contact your respective manufacturer
as soon as possible. I have found that many technology developers have
not released their plans as of this writing.
Access Control Systems
Access Control Systems (ACS) can also be a problem for users.
ACS derive their time data from one of three sources: From the firmware
on a stand-alone system, from the Windows® based computer
connected to the ACS, or via a radio signal on a web-hosted system
connected to a local cell phone tower. Steve VanTill, CEO of Brivo,
Inc. stated, "This is nothing more than a simple data transfer which
occurs between Brivo's hosted applications and control panels, just
like any other data transfer that is part of daily
operations. Our ability to perform this type of maintenance
seamlessly on behalf of our dealers and their customers is another
example of the architectural strength of Brivo's web-hosted access
control system." If you have an ACS that is connected to a
Windows® computer, you must ensure that your clock is updated.
If you have a stand-alone system, contact your service provider for
information on updating the clock.
ACS is likely to be the major culprit in this time change
situation. If the clock does not change correctly, employees can find
themselves locked outside parking lots, buildings and elevators.
Conversely, these facilities will remain open an extra hour at the end
of the work day! Burglars who know of this “glitch”
can potentially walk through business parks trying doors until they
find one unlocked.
Make sure you check with your service provider to determine
the correct course of action.
If you utilize a storage facility to store your inventory and
your crew(s) goes there in the morning before starting their day,
contact the management and see how they are h