I’ve read about a visual version of the voice evacuation, monitors that gives an alphanumerical or pictorial messages. I’ve never seen one however.
Yeah–they do exist. Simplex has programmable LED displays (like the kind they have in gas stations on the lottery machine) that connect to a 4100U and display messages, such as “Do not use east stairwell” or “FIRE–EVACUATE”… etc. Some hotels also have their own “emergency broadcast system” that displays a message on the TV screen in all the hotel rooms if there’s an alarm sounding. I’ve also heard of internal TV Announcement Systems (like the “Wal-Mart TV Network” or a monitor at a school that displays a slideshow) that have the same function as the hotel system I mentioned.
What’s nice about using displays for fire alarm notification is you can announce on the audible system what people need to do, and then display it on the monitors for either deaf people or those who missed the audile announcement (as long as they actually see the monitor)