Biamp today published a new case study highlighting the long-term success of Biamp Vocia™ paging and voice evacuation technology at Cardijn College, a multi-campus Catholic secondary college in Adelaide, South Australia. The deployment, which has delivered uninterrupted service for more than a decade, demonstrates how purpose-built networked paging infrastructure can meet the demanding communication needs of a large educational institution and scale seamlessly as the institution grows.
With more than 2,250 students and staff spread across three campuses, and a fourth currently in development, Cardijn College requires a paging and bell system capable of delivering clear, reliable communication every day. From scheduled bells that keep classes running on time to targeted announcements and emergency voice evacuation, the system must perform without fail across both indoor and outdoor environments.
“I don’t touch the Vocia system. It pretty much runs itself,” says Tony Sayce, Information and Communications Technology Director at Cardijn College. “I don’t have to babysit the devices or anything like that. The same devices I put in 10 or 12 years ago are still running now.”
The Vocia solution manages two core functions at Cardijn College: automated scheduled bells that move students between classes, and flexible zoned paging for daily announcements and emergency situations. The system supports multiple audience configurations — staff only, students indoors, students outdoors, or any combination — giving front office staff precise control over who receives each message. Live announcements are delivered via Biamp DS-10 paging stations installed in administration areas. The college deliberately maintains live rather than pre-recorded announcements, as experience has shown that students respond more reliably to familiar voices, particularly during emergency drills.
The Vocia voice communication platform is IP-based, with a central core processor at each campus delivering audio over the network to endpoint devices. One major building on the Marian campus utilizes Biamp Voltera™ amplifiers paired with Desono™ in-ceiling loudspeakers. Redundancy is built into the architecture, with separate cores per campus ensuring local operation even during internet outages. The system has also proven its resilience during extended power failures, rebooting and resuming full operation without intervention after outages lasting six to eight hours.
For future campus expansions at the Larkin and Aldinga sites, Cardijn College plans to replicate the same proven Vocia configuration.
Sayce notes the platform’s straightforward scalability as a key factor: “It’s very easy to expand. Once you get your head around how it works, it’s a very straightforward product.”
The full Cardijn College case study is available at biamp.com. To learn more, a video overview of the deployment can also be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z27WhZYxTY.
