Barix Audio over IP Unites with BellCommander System to Enable Audio Scheduling for Calvary Baptist School and Church
English
Deutsch
Francais
Espanol
Portuguese
Italian
K-12
school distributes audio events to seven zones; Barix Annuncicom 1000
multi-zone device will soon stream background music across campus
ZURICH,
SWITZERLAND, June 14, 2010
— Barix AG, a pioneer in IP-based audio, intercom, control, and
monitoring, announces that Cavalry Baptist School and Church, located
in the Houston metropolitan area, is using Barix Audio over IP
equipment as a core part of its multi-zone voice and audio scheduling
system for K-12 classrooms. The campus is also installing a Barix
Annuncicom 1000 two-way IP audio device to stream music and
announcements to eight outdoor zones during school days and
worship-oriented events.
Cavalry
Baptist School has approximately 225 students spread across seven
buildings, some of which mix elementary, junior high and/or high
school classrooms. The school was seeking an audio and notification
system capable of distributing scheduled events, including bells and
announcements, to seven distinct zones. The zones are segregated by
grade levels instead of buildings, which required an intelligent
system that could clearly recognize the specified PA points within
each zone.
After
evaluating several hard-wired systems, the campus selected an
IP-based system based on the BellCommander audio scheduling system
from AcroVista Software. Events are entered into the system and
automatically distributed to seven zones on schedule, where Barix
Exstreamer 100 IP devices receive and decode the signals for playback
over the PA system.
"We
quickly realized that since our campus was so spread out that it was
easier to design and install a system we could set up over TCP/IP,”
said Jerry Boyd, IT Manager and a classroom instructor at Cavalry
Baptist School and Church. “The timing was good as we had just
built an infrastructure for our computer networks and could use the
backbone of our existing Cat5/Cat6 network. The Barix and
BellCommander system was something we could easily afford. We saved
a minimum of $11,000 compared to the least expensive hard-wired
system, and the audio quality from Barix is great.”
The
BellCommander audio scheduling system remains on a static schedule
most days, starting with the “five-minute” bell just before
classes begin and the morning prayers and announcements. The system
provides flexibility to change prayers and announcements and change
the bell schedules for early dismissals and special events. The
school recently added the BellCommander Paging Station software,
which allows the principal or secretary to make a live announcement
and stream it direct to the Barix devices.
"This
system has been a huge leap for us,” said Boyd. “We had no way
of communicating across campus before. It has enhanced our ability
to deliver the right messages to the right students. We can also
better evaluate fire drills and have a more viable emergency action
plan in place.”
Boyd
is looking forward to finalizing the Annuncicom 1000 installation,
which he expects to go live over the summer. The device will
interoperate with the current system, distributing background music
to PA points in public areas including the cafeteria and on the
boardwalks that connect the various school buildings. The church
will also take advantage of the Annuncicom 1000 to stream background
music to outdoor zones where church members gather for luncheons,
barbeques and special events.
The
Annuncicom 1000 is a premium, professional grade device that combines
intercom, paging and IP-based audio conversion for PA system playback
into a half-width 19-inch, rack mountable box. It offers eight
supervised contact closure inputs for audio control, eight relay
outputs for audio routing or control, and a redundant power supply
input suitable for both 24 and 48 volt based systems.
All
Barix products are inexpensive, low-power devices that are scalable
to the growth of the operation; offer reliability through a PC-FREE
design with no moving parts; and serve as a flexible platform for
integration into virtually any operation requiring audio transport
and delivery. Barix also offers its programmable BCL standard open
to all customers to easily tailor applications for specific needs.
Local control, audio relay, and low-latency streaming are a few
examples of custom programs using Barix’s BCL software environment.