Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) in Amsterdam, Biamp Systems unveiled Vocia,
its newest Networked Media System. Vocia introduces several new concepts
to paging and voice evacuation systems, including combined distributed
processing and page routing, as well as networked audio and control.
This networked and modular approach eliminates the potential for a
single point of failure and allows for the design and construction of a
system that is easily expandable from a single paging station and
amplifier to multiple zones with several hundred inputs and outputs.
Vocia is available now to help facilities of all
sizes implement reliable, scalable and flexible paging and voice
evacuation systems.
Vocia is a comprehensive system that includes dozens of essential
features and functions including live, delayed and recorded
announcements, message store and forward, system-wide alarms and event
logging, as well as background music routing. The Vocia system takes
advantage of standard Ethernet networking technology and is
CobraNet®-enabled. It is also designed to comply with several voice
evacuation regulatory standards.
"Facilities managers insist on reliable paging and voice evacuation
systems," said Steve Metzger, president
of Biamp Systems. "Using our 30-plus years of experience making quality
audio products and systems for facilities around the world, we built
Vocia from the ground up to be highly dependable with no single point of
failure, and easy to install and operate. Simply put, it represents a
leap in systems of this type."
The Sydney (Australia) Olympic Park Authority installed a
pre-release implementation of Vocia at its Homebush Olympic Park site
and launched it in a live situation at a public event held in December 2009. At Homebush, Vocia handles
site-wide paging and covers all public areas of the park. Site managers
use the system for crowd control and egress announcements, as well as
for background music broadcast to the public areas.
"We were very impressed with the simplicity of the installation of
the Vocia system," said Chris Dodds,
managing director of The PA People, the company that led the project.
"The software interface was very intuitive and the system as a whole was
among the easiest we’ve ever worked with. Since the installation, the
Sydney Olympic Park Authority reports to us that the system is working
flawlessly, so we are pleased with the overall result."
Vocia can be implemented in healthcare facilities, university
campuses, transportation facilities such as airports, recreational
facilities and other venues that require highly reliable paging and
voice evacuation systems.
Biamp’s commitment to valuable training programs continues with
Vocia. Certification courses are available at Biamp’s Beaverton, Oregon headquarters, as well as in
Amsterdam, Bangkok
and Mumbai. To date, approximately 75
customers have completed Vocia certification.
