I saw this Reddit post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/firealarms/s/BiUTm7E769
It appears that Potter will be releasing some new panels with integrated voice evac for smaller applications. It also appears that they are working on updating the EVAX line.
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Wonder if they will add a Temporal 3 tone. NFPA requires a Temporal 3 tone on all voice evac panels.
Heh, if the nfpa requires a code 3, its gonna get code 3 haha
I don’t think this is a new requirement, so I’m not sure why they would suddenly add it now.
It honestly seems like it’s actually not a requirement at times if Simplex voice-capable systems are anything to by! (since they love using that slow whoop tone of theirs even for fire messages)
Temporal 3 has been a requirement since 1996, though as I noted it seems like voice systems have somehow been able to get away with not having to use it.
NFPA 72 (and many other codes and standards) have a section at the beginning permitting alternative designs to not be in strict compliance if it can be demonstrated to the AHJ that equivalent protection is provided. Slow whoop tones paired with voice messages are probably being approved under that section, since the voice message will make the purpose of the alarm obvious and the slow whoop can more effectively convey urgency.
Yeah, but it does technically violate temporal 3 being required due to said pattern being explicitly used for evacuation, which will nearly-always be the case with a fire.
NFPA never really agreed on a Uniform Fire alarm tone for Voice evac. Only Boston, New York and California have adopted such uniform tone requirements. New York Code requires Slow Whoop with no message for Voice Evac. Hypothetically if “Missouri Code” is adopted in the future, I’m interested on what it would be like, but it’s a far fetched idea, not a reality.
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They really ought to, & it ought to be temporal 3 since like I said it’s been designated as the pulse pattern to be used for any situation requiring evacuation, which nearly-always includes fire.
Well that’s because they can’t be risking a building’s stairwells being clogged up with everyone trying to evacuate all at once & so they instead have personnel standing by at every building’s fire command center who can make announcements about what’s going on & what to do over the system.
“Missouri Code”? What does it say?
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For now Missouri Code is non existent. The only functional code is IFC and NFPA.
Oh, alright. No clue why you brought it up if it doesn’t actually say anything then, heh (unless you count IFC & NFPA of course).
Do you have code references for those particular areas? Section 18.4.2.1 of the 2025 edition of NFPA 72 requires the evacuation signal to be the standard evacuation signal in accordance with ANSI/ASA S3.41, which is just temporal 3.
The reference for New York code is here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ndA2GArij2g Reference for California would be here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHFgPP7Ug8U&t=78s and A reference for Boston would be here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lg5Y4Gkbk8. The videos should be a self explanatory reference. California Code requires a 10s Temporal Whoop. While The exact chapter 9 where the requirement is listed is vague, the video itself confirms it.
These panels are likely going to use the publicly available Potter Fire Panel Programmer software, which the exact same tool used on panels like the AFC and IPA series.
There are three different Temporal 3 tones to select from:
- Temporal 3 - 1KHz
- Temporal 3 - 520Hz
- Temporal 3 - Whoop
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All I can say is the Temporal 3 at 1KHz is 100% going to cause noise complaints because it’s loud. 520Hz? Never heard it in action. The Temporal 3 Whoop I already know is going to be the same Temporal Whoop from the Evax panel.
Not really, the one in the software is actually quite low, and no, they are not going to re-use any of the old tones or messages, because they want a fresh start for 2026.
If you remember the old Evax 1kHz Sine wave tone from the older DMR boards (EEPROM), yeah, that was definitely loud.
You can hear it in Thesdx’s GE ANS video here:
520hz is the low frequency tone. It’s the same as a low frequency sounder.
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Yeah I know it’s the low frequency tone. Almost no Potter customer uses it though.
I leaked that Potter is using TTS for their messages. As you Know Gamewell-FCI Tried the same thing and they got 2 Depressing messages and a Message that completely gives away the fact it’s TTS.
This is already a known fact, Potter made a very recent YouTube video about how the programmer works, which also includes the new Google WaveNet TTS system.
There are HD pre-recorded messages that are not AI generated, which are also selectable in the software.
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