Welcome back to HowToAV.tv; today we're talking Public Address and getting tips from our System
Design Engineer Andy Short on integrating a standard telephone system into your PA system...
Thanks for joining us, Andy. The vast majority of PA systems today use
dedicated microphones such as a desktop paging or zone microphone like this for making voice
paging announcements. They are very reliable and will give you years of service if maintained
and looked after properly. So Andy, perhaps you could explain to us why
we might consider making paging announcements from a telephone system rather than a dedicated microphone?
Well, Lauren, there are a number of benefits
and applications for using your telephone system instead of microphones on your PA system...
Any location that has a telephone has the ability to make a paging announcement. This
eliminates the need for additional microphones and possibly an expensive cable installation.
This also simplifies any additions or alterations to staff positions or room reconfiguration.
It is possible to make announcements from places that were previously difficult or impossible
to install a microphone such as building-to-building, site-to-site or even remotely from another
town or country. Telephone interface devices have the ability
to either make the paging announcement "live" or in "store and forward" mode. The "store
and forward" mode can help eliminate audio feedback and gives the person making the announcement
the ability to preview the paging call before deciding to send or re-record the message
before broadcast. Most microphones only have the ability to make a "live" announcement.
There are a number of techniques and technologies for connecting a telephone system into your
paging system. Which way you do it will depend on the telephone system you have and the facilities
you need. The most cost effective way is to utilise
the "paging port" output on your telephone switch if available. This output is normally
an audio line level signal that can be wired into an audio input on the PA amplifier via
a low cost barrier interface unit a little bit like this one.
The barrier interface provides electrical isolation of the two systems so an electrical
fault on one system won't cause any damage to the other.
The user would simply pick up the telephone handset, dial a facility code on the system
- normally a *(STAR) command. A paging announcement can then be made "live". The PA call is ended by hanging up.
The next method of interfacing your telephone system to a PA system would be to use a telephone paging extension interface.
This is a device that you plug into a telephone extension and then connect to a public address
system. The user simply dials the extension number designated for the paging interface,
waits for the call to be picked up by the device and then makes the announcement.
A benefit of using this type of system over a paging port output is that paging announcements
can either go out "live" or can be sent in a "store and forward" mode. It is also possible
to route the call to different paging zones by using the keypad on the telephone to tell
the system which zones should be paged.
And finally, another option to consider is when using a digital or IP based telephone system and an IP paging system...
An IP based public address system (also known as 'Audio-over-IP') has the ability to connect
directly to a digital telephone system using no more than an ethernet cable.
The IP PA system software will directly "talk" to the IP telephone system meaning no additional
interface boxes or cabling is required. The user simply dials the extension number
assigned to the PA system and the paging call is made. With this type of system it is possible
to create more PA zoning options than you can with a telephone paging extension interface.
There are a wide range of professional products and options available on the market to enable
telephone paging and PA system integration. If you would like more information and assistance
with your system design, the HowToAV team would love to hear from you. Leave you questions
in the Comments section below, or call the team directly on the number shown on the screen now.
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Thanks for watching.