WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SILENT KNIGHT REGENCY SYSTEM?

Silent Knight sold the Regency product line (4720, 4724) to ITI Technologies Inc. in May of 1997. ITI was then acquired by Interlogix who continued to support the sale and distribution of parts to Authorized Regency Dealers until 2002 when it sold off all remaining inventory and closed all technical support channels prior to its sale to GE. It was only a short time before GE / Interlogix abandoned the complete Regency line for greener pastures. Very few manufacturers have stepped up to make replacement parts (the slimline 4205 keypad is an exception) with nearly all new replacement parts remaining unavailable to this day.

In our opinion the Regency line was twenty years ahead of its time when it was designed twenty years ago, and so today it remains effective and still commands respect from both dealers and end-users alike. The reason in our opinion it never survived was its limited ability to change its firmware (no flash capability) and thus adapt to what the market needed - like end-user software - which became its most serious drawback. When Silent Knight introduced the next generation platform, the Census, it was only a matter of time before Regency was abandoned.

For those in need of a retrofit of a Regency 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. Regency 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 Regency 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.

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