Solution enables IP voice paging over analog speakers via digital phone systems
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, March 25, 2013
— Conversion from analog to digital phone systems brings many benefits, from enabling voice communication on a common network to programming data applications. The transition also has its share of challenges, such as leveraging analog devices within digital voice environments. This includes enabling IP-based voice paging over existing analog speakers.
IP audio and control specialist
now collaborates with
, an enterprise-level communications software and services company, to eliminate this challenge in schools, hospitals, warehouses and other facilities transitioning to digital phone systems.
The solution extends the power of Enghouse Interactive Applications for
(formerly Datapulse Progression), which enables IP voice paging in leading digital phone systems, to analog speakers using low-cost
to receive and decode live voice. This adds functionality without forcing end users to discard speaker systems — thereby reducing costs and simplifying installations. The solution is also viable for decoding pre-recorded emergency notifications and data-centric audio applications, like bell schedules in K-12 schools.
“We’re essentially turning an analog speaker into an IP speaker with Barix,” said Dane Smith, technical services engineer, Enghouse Interactive. “It’s ideal in situations where it’s difficult or unsuitable to add phones, such as in school and hospital hallways. Instead, our customers can use existing systems by removing ceiling tiles and placing a Barix decoder between the Ethernet cable and the speaker.”
Enghouse Interactive Applications for Avaya CS 1000 were developed to enable organizations to leverage their investment in IP by delivering practical, converged business applications to Avaya IP telephones. Applications include voice paging, pre-recorded announcements, broadcast alerts and RSS feeds on IP phones for the Avaya CS1000 PBX system. The software is added to existing IP phone systems instead of requiring end users to purchase a separate paging system. Enghouse Interactive Applications for Avaya CS 1000 customers can subsequently pick up any receiver and page to single points or multiple zones; or initiate pre-recorded announcements from the IP phone or the Applications for Avaya CS 1000 web-based administration page. This enables remote activation of audio warnings in emergency situations.
Enghouse Interactive brings Barix into projects that extend IP voice paging and pre-recorded announcement capability to analog speakers. Barix Exstreamer IP decoders are shipped direct to the end user; Enghouse Interactive simply registers each device’s corresponding IP address to the network. All Barix devices are configured to receive multiple multicast streams, ensuring reliable delivery and minimal network traffic congestion.
Smith notes that the Barix interface is simple to learn and easy to use. “We investigated several IP speaker solutions, and chose the Barix Exstreamer for its simplicity and reliability,” he said. “One of the first questions asked when talking to new customers is whether they intend to send voice or pre-recorded audio announcements to IP speakers. The Exstreamers are easy to set up and once installed, listen for multicast streams on a specific port and reliably play out any messages that are sent out across those multicast addresses.”
Smith adds that more than one multicast address can be assigned to the same speaker for maximum impact. “The customer can have IT support, sales and finance as different zones, yet pages to any of the three will still go to the same speaker using Barix, which makes it so easy to deploy,” he said.
To learn more about Enghouse Interactive Applications for Avaya CS 1000, please visit
http://www.enghouseinteractive.com/products/avaya-cs1000-applications.php
. To learn more about Barix Exstreamers, please visit
.
About Enghouse Interactive (http://www.enghouseinteractive.com)
Enghouse Interactive delivers technology and expertise to maximize the value of every customer interaction. The company develops the most comprehensive portfolio of interaction management solutions. Core technologies include contact center, attendant console, IVR and call recording solutions that support any telephony environment, on premise or in the cloud. Enghouse Interactive has thousands of customers worldwide, supported by a global network of partners and more than 700 dedicated staff across the company’s international operations. Enghouse Interactive is a subsidiary of Enghouse Systems Limited, a software and services company traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol “ESL.” Founded in 1984, Enghouse Systems is a consistently profitable company, which has grown both organically and through the acquisition of well-regarded specialists including Arc, CosmoCom, Datapulse, Syntellect, Telrex, Trio and Zeacom. Learn more at
http://www.enghouseinteractive.com
.
Barix: The Voice of Simplicity (www.barix.com)
Barix AG, headquartered in Zurich Switzerland, specializes in the research and development of state-of-the-art IP based communication and control technology. The company is a long-term and reliable supplier of IP audio and control devices, with more than 150,000 devices shipped in its first decade of business. Barix products are stand-alone and able to remotely connect worldwide over standard networks/Internet, offering new and improved solutions to the commercial audio distribution, communication and automation industries. Barix products provide solutions in Audio over IP (audio distribution and monitoring, communication, security) and automation (remote controlling, monitoring and maintenance).
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Barix AG, Seefeldstrasse 303, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland
Phone: +41 43 43322 11, Fax: +41 44 2742849
Barix Technology Inc, St. Paul, MN – (866) 815-0866
