As far as anyone knows, that one male message, along with 6 others & 7 additional messages that have the same scripts as the previous 7 but are said in a different, almost panicked, manner, have been used on virtually every high-end/voice-capable Edwards/EST FACP from the IRC-3 onward (though the “panicked” versions were seemingly discontinued from use at some point), but that does not include the ANS, which has its own unique set of messages.
As for the Wheelock messages you found, it’s inconclusive as to whether the messages on the SAFEPATH SP40S have been consistent since it was introduced, but Wheelock has had a number of different ones recorded over the years (as you know).
You’re right, I have the latest messages they send out for the EST4 and they’re the exact same. 7 messages but recorded in two different male voices (14 total), and the file dates are actually 1996!
I got them from their website before it turned into the atrocity it is today. Wheelock used to have an excellent site with all the information you’d ever want on every device all easily found. Eaton bought them and changed the site multiple times to the almost un-useable thing it is today… but you can probably still find the messages on there if you dig hard enough.
Ah, yep, there you go: going by the “panicked” messages’ dates being 1996 & the “calm” messages’ dates being 1999, that might mean that the former were only used for 4 or so years before being replaced (though I have found some (obviously) post-1999 Youtube videos that feature said “panicked” messages, & as you have said the EST4’s sound library apparently still includes them for some reason), though considering how they likely won’t help occupants stay calm during an emergency it’s no real surprise that they were eventually replaced.
The ones I’ve found I…well, found, on Wayback Machine archives of Wheelock & Fire-Lite’s (yes, Fire-Lite’s: their voice panels apparently actually used Wheelock messages at one time before they decided to record their own) websites.
Yep: Eaton’s ownership of Wheelock as well as JCI’s ownership of Simplex in a nutshell: they both took excellent companies & reduced them to nothing out of sheer corporate greed.
Wheelock has pretty much went to s**t since the 2020s. Now they’re products aren’t manufactured in the United States anymore, with some parts manufactured in China, some in Romania.
Well, I’d say the problem started back in the mid-2010s when both them & Simplex were purchased by Eaton & JCI respectively, but it wouldn’t surprise me if things have indeed gotten to a new level of bad by now.
I figured these out via research. I also have a playlist on my channel (I need to update it’s name to include Harrington Signal’s HAVE and correct the Gamewell rebrand to use the model GV).
By the way, these old companies likely do not have the EVAX files anymore, or they never did in the first place since the Evax Production Facility is where most of these panels were assembled, so EVAX was the primary holder of the files.
In June 2025, I contacted Gamewell about the GV, but they sent me a non-EVAX female message.
It says: “May I have your attention please, a fire related emergency has been reported on the property. Please remain calm, and exit the building using the nearest exit. Do not use the elevators.”
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Eaton owned Wheelock longer than JCI ever owned Simplex. I would say Eaton following JCI is dumb though, it’s nothing I condone.
Well in any case both acquisitions have not gone well for the “children” for sure.
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Simplex got the worse of it though. I think a child company sourcing production internationally is good unless you consider trump’s tariffs then that’s the hump that breaks the camel’s back(Not really what breaks the camel’s back, the camel is a depiction of wheelock customers in America).
It’s not really that, it’s more like what their parent companies have done in general: Eaton has tried replacing the respected Wheelock name entirely with theirs instead (along with of course coming up with an insanely-stupid-looking asymmetrical lens design for the Eluxa-series), while according to reports JCI doesn’t give one crap about their customers or their employees when it comes to Simplex, including supposedly putting big systems in small buildings just so they can make more money from the customer via service calls (since of course their higher-end panels require a Simplex technician for service), even if the buildings don’t need such.
Tbh if anyone, Honeywell brands like Silent Knight have drastically went to horse manure anymore. There’s this one video of an IFP-1000 iirc it was spazzing out.
Yeah, they’ve gotten quite bad in recent years too, though they seemed to remain good longer than Wheelock & Simplex: wouldn’t surprise me if it all started right when Honeywell completely unnecessarily redid the logos of Gamewell-FCI & Silent Knight to emphasize their (Honeywell’s) name more, which might have also been when Honeywell got a new CEO who might be responsible for everything going to crap to begin with (though thankfully I believe they’ve since gotten rid of them & gotten a new CEO, who has hopefully been trying to make things better, though I don’t know if that’s actually the case or not).
Not only that but as I once read Silent Knight 6000-series panels were at one time being shipped with defective power supplies, which is of course both a big problem & a big risk in the field!
