Barix Audio over IP Devices Provide STL Delivery and Internet Radio Streaming for Talking Information Center Radio reading service saves upward of $25,000 per year switching to Barix for VoIP distribution
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, September 16, 2008 — Barix AG, a pioneer in IP-based audio, intercom, control, and monitoring, today announced that Talking Information Center, a non-profit radio reading service that provides the visually-impaired and print-handicapped with access to the printed word, is using Barix Audio over IP equipment for reliable STL transport and live audio streaming over the internet. Based in Marshfield, Massachusetts, the Talking Information Center serves 23,000 elderly and disabled readers state-wide, broadcasting newspapers, magazines, books and special consumer information over the air through a network of FM subcarriers and low-power FM stations. The terrestrial signal also reaches into Connecticut and southern New Hampshire, and the service can be accessed worldwide at www.ticnetwork.com. The Talking Information Center installed Barix Audio over IP technology as a reliable, cost-effective replacement for DDS digital telephone lines that cost upward of $32,000 per year to distribute programming to six affiliate sites across the state. The radio reading service now uses a Barix Instreamer-100 IP audio encoder at the Marshfield site to encode and stream programming to all six sites, where Barix Exstreamer-100 audio decoders receive and decode the audio for local transmission. The solution transports clear voice reliably at pristine quality while saving the Talking Information Center approximately $25,000 per year to provide the service. “The Talking Information Center operates on a modest technical budget as a non-profit service that is primarily state funded and provides special receivers free of charge,” said Ron Bersani, Executive Director for Talking Information Center. “The expense of the DDS lines went up $9,000 in six years, and there was no end in sight. We started investigating Voice over IP as a new distribution platform, and found that Barix had a solid foundation in radio broadcast and could support our needs. It was pertinent that the audio quality was good and the technology was reliable, as our listeners depend on this service far more than the average person depends on a traditional radio station. And as a non-profit organization, the cost savings is enormous.” The Talking Information Center also operates multiple online streams, including the main network programming that originates in Marshfield. The radio reading service also added an Instreamer at each affiliate location to stream both the main service and local programming online. “The success we had with Barix for STL influenced us to change the way we put our streams online,” said Bersani. “We replaced out streaming computers at each location with Instreamers, which encode and stream the radio services directly into the internet for our non-regional listeners. We have been very impressed with the quality of the online streams.” 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.