Valcom Services large application specialist for loudspeaker paging

Valcom Services, LLC

5614 Hollins Road
Roanoke, VA 24019

Tel: 540-427-2400
Fax: 540-362-9800

Manufacturing Government Health Care Rocket Launch Facility Military

A large Midwest manufacturing facility needed ways to increase productivity in order fulfillment. The work flow was being interrupted when employees ran out of product. They needed a way to be re-supplied quickly, which required better communication between order fulfillment and stockroom employees . Valcom Services designed a system that allowed order fulfillment to signal when stock ran low. Signaling provided a digital readout that identified the employee's location and opened an immediate handsfree communications channel allowing verbal instruction as to what product was needed. The system could be reprogrammed instantly from a PC when necessary.

The system provided 288 communication paths between employees and operators. Special speakers hung from chains—adjustable to height—were installed over the conveyor belts. The system also provided background music, with programming chosen daily by the employees.

After September 11, government agencies in the nation’s capital realized that they were unprepared to notify and inform employees immediately in the event of a serious emergency. Several agencies solved this problem with an overhead paging system.

One agency occupies several facilities in Washington and Maryland, each with hundreds of employees. The agency equipped each facility with a notification system that would alert and direct employees within minutes of an event. Valcom speakers and horns were installed to cover all common areas. A VCS Communication System, provided by Valcom Services, controlled the system in each building. The systems were interconnected, so that an announcement could be broadcast to each facility independently or all facilities simultaneously. The systems were also provided with redundant access for added reliability.

Because the systems are used only in an emergency, the agency opted for wiring supervision, an option that equips the VCS to monitor all wiring to speakers and horns. In the event of a wire break or short, an audible and visual alarm notifies security personnel that a fault has occurred. The fault is then corrected and the system reset.

In big city hospitals, things change with incredible speed. Keeping up with the changes can be overwhelming, and a hospital values any tool that makes it easier.

At a large hospital in Houston, the paging system can be updated with a few mouse clicks on a PC. Zones, group zones, priorities, alert tones, music programs and several other functions can be changed in an instant by trained hospital personnel. Programming can also be done remotely.

The hospital’s VCS Communication System controls more than 2000 speakers on dozens of zones. It can also control desktop administrative stations and digital visual message displays. All wire runs are electronically monitored, so there is never a danger that an emergency message will not be heard. A wire break or short triggers an alarm on a digital display that identifies the area of trouble.

The modular, microprocessor-controlled VCS provides both one way and talkback paging in up to 360 zones. Multiple announcements (live or pre-recorded) can be broadcast to different zones simultaneously, without interrupting signal tones or music broadcasts in other zones.

When it comes to paging, military bases are full of challenges. They are spread over many buildings, and need lots of zones. They need coverage to many large outdoor areas. They need the ability to broadcast paging, signal tones, and prerecorded announcements. They must be able to send different messages to different zones simultaneously, without interrupting broadcasts in other zones. They are highly secure, and must be fail safe in an emergency.

Valcom Services met all these challenges, and others, at an Air Force Base in the western US. It is so secure that we cannot mention what state it is in, much less its name.

A Valcom paging system installed in 1985 was extended to more than 50 buildings, using fiber optic cable that had recently been installed between the buildings. Horns on the base perimeter were tied into the system also. The final configuration included hundreds of speakers and horns, and more than 200 zones.

The Valcom VCS Communication System was installed as the system central control. The modular, microprocessor-controlled VCS can be expanded to 360 zones, and is programmable (on site or remotely) with a PC. It has a serial output for system activity reporting, so that system traffic information can be used to make updates and changes instantly.

A rocket launch facility at Cape Canaveral is a challenging environment for a public address system. Three locations, separated by miles of snake and alligator-infested landscape, must be served. Several access sources with different levels of priority must be accommodated. Outdoor areas more than a quarter mile away from horn loudspeakers must be covered. Few places on earth are subject to the environmental extremes of a rocket blasting off into space.

The public address system for one such facility provides paging, signaling and audio distribution using state-of-the-art digital technology. Valcom Voice over IP (VoIP) provides the communication links between the Operations Center, the Vertical Integration Facility (where the rocket is assembled and loaded), and the Launch Pad. The VCS Communication System is the central control.

The microprocessor-controlled, PC-programmable VCS, with remote programming and diagnostics capabilities, provides multiple talk paths. Employing state-of-the-art digital technology, it connects to both centrally amplified (70-volt) and distributed amplified (24-volt) components, with expansion capabilities for 360 zones, 7 inputs, and eight talkpaths.

For more information about these installations and others performed by Valcom Services, contact John Spencer.