Webinar: Audio Evacuation for High-Rise and Industrial Applications — Register Now

We are hosting another webinar, and this one addresses a topic that comes up regularly in our conversations with specifying engineers and facility managers: how does audio evacuation actually work in high-rise and industrial applications, and what does the Advanced AX fire alarm system bring to those environments specifically?

Mike Madden will be hosting, as he has for previous Harding webinars, and the session will be focused, practical, and followed by a live Q&A. If you have a high-rise or industrial project in the pipeline, or if you are simply trying to get a clearer picture of what modern audio evacuation looks like in demanding environments, this is worth an hour of your time.

Why Audio Evacuation Matters in These Environments

Fire evacuation in a high-rise or large industrial building is a fundamentally different problem from evacuation in a smaller commercial or institutional setting. The building’s size and vertical complexity mean that a single alarm tone, however loud, does not give occupants the information they need to evacuate safely and efficiently. Which floors are affected? Which exits are available? What should occupants on the upper floors do while occupants on the affected floors evacuate first? These are questions that an audio evacuation system answers in real time, in clear spoken language, coordinated with the building’s fire alarm response.

In industrial settings, the challenges shift. Ambient noise levels are often high enough that standard alarm tones are insufficient on their own. The occupant population may be spread across large floor areas, multiple buildings, or outdoor spaces where conventional notification devices cannot reach. And the nature of the hazards, whether fire, chemical release, or structural emergency, may require different evacuation messages for different zones rather than a single building-wide alert.

Both environments benefit enormously from a fire alarm platform that integrates voice evacuation natively rather than treating it as an add-on to a standard alarm system. The Advanced AX fire alarm system was designed with this in mind, and its voice evacuation capability is built into the panel architecture rather than added through third-party integration.

In a high-rise or industrial environment, a fire alarm system that can deliver clear, zone-specific voice instructions is not a premium feature. It is a code requirement and a genuine operational advantage.

What the Advanced AX Brings to These Applications

The Advanced AX panels with integrated audio capability combine fire detection and emergency voice evacuation in a single listed system. For the specifying engineer, this means one submittal package, one certification basis, and one set of integration requirements rather than a patchwork of separately listed components. For the contractor, it means a more straightforward installation without the coordination complexity of wiring a separate voice evacuation controller alongside the fire alarm panel. For the facility, it means a single point of accountability for the system’s performance over its life.

The AX platform also supports network communication across multiple panels, which is essential for large buildings or multi-building campuses where evacuation needs to be coordinated across the full site rather than building by building. With the ability to network up to 200 panels, the system can scale from a single building to an entire industrial campus without architectural changes to the core platform.

These are the kinds of features that are easy to describe in a product sheet but harder to appreciate without seeing them in context. The webinar is an opportunity to hear from someone who has worked extensively with the Advanced AX in exactly these applications and can explain not just what the features are but why they matter in practice.

About the Presenter

Mike Madden has presented for Harding Technologies on previous webinars covering Advanced AX applications, and the feedback from those sessions has been consistently positive. He brings a working knowledge of the system that goes well beyond the specification sheet, and his Q&A sessions are known for addressing the specific, practical questions that engineers and contractors actually need answered rather than the ones that are easy to prepare for. If you attended a previous Harding webinar, you already know what to expect.

Register Now

The session is open to specifying engineers, electrical contractors, facility managers, fire protection consultants, and anyone working on or evaluating high-rise or industrial fire alarm projects. Registration is free and the session is designed to be brief and focused, with the Q&A giving you the opportunity to ask about your specific application.

Spaces are limited. Register early to secure your place and to submit any advance questions you would like Mike to address during the session.