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WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SILENT KNIGHT CENSUS SYSTEM?
Silent Knight was on the verge of being sold when it developed its Census product line.
This was to replace the Regency product line which was inadequate in its inability to have a software interface
or flash memory upgrades. Census had all the bells and whistles of its day but was soon doomed to fail.
Silent Knight sold first to Interlogix and then again when Interlogix was sold to GE. When this happened,
GE had many other similar products and did not need the Census line. The Census line was then spun off
to Honeywell who renamed the product the N-750. Again Honeywell had many other similar products of its own
and in our opinion, no R&D went forward to support the line and eventually it burned out its usefulness.
In March of 2009, the Census line was officially discontinued.
For those in need of a retrofit of a Census system, there are many suitable replacements with one exception.
If you have a system which used a "Smart Sensor" (4111/4116), a small device that contains a zone number within it,
no manufacturer today makes a compatible system. Silent Knight used simple telephone wire to communicate with,
something else no other system we know of does so. Census systems with these Smart Sensors can not be easily retrofitted,
and once they have reached their end of life will need most of its field devices and wiring replaced.
We are proud of our long association with the Silent Knight Census product
and continue to support it with service, some new and most refurbished
parts and technical support for existing clients.
It is important to know that Silent Knight itself is still in business and is a strong player
in the Intercom and Fire Alarm fields.
Copyright © 2003-2010
Fitch Surveillance.
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