Swiss Railways SBB placing trust in IP-based announcement system from Barix

Swiss Railways (SBB) is currently renewing their entire announcement system and is placing their trust in the IP-based system from Barix AG. SBB is deploying the Barix Annuncicom 1000 for recorded and live announcements at around 120 stopping points and railway stations, enabling the SBB network structure to become considerably more cost-effective, more flexible and simpler. An IP network is available practically everywhere and there is no need to install complex and cost-intensive telecommunication systems.


Swiss Railways (SBB) is currently replacing its ISDN operational telecommunication network with a digital IP-based network for the central distribution of announcements. For this they are deploying the Annnuncicom 1000 from Barix AG at around 120 stopping points and small railway stations across Switzerland. Sphinx Connect GmbH and system integrator IMS-Info Management AG are to have responsibility for the technical implementation.

At the moment, SBB is combining traditional operational telecommunication systems (OTS) with the Barix IP-based solution. The OTSs send the live, spoken announcements, or those stored on central servers, to one of the 20 central control centres to which the railway stations are assigned on a regional basis. The Barix Annuncicom is connected to the OTS, encodes the audio and control signals and streams them to the Annuncicom at the appropriate station platform where the Barix device receives the audio signal, converts it into voice and relays it to the loudspeakers connected. There is at least one Annuncicom at every central control centre and at every railway station connected. If two Annuncicoms are installed at a stopping point, there can be two different announcements on two platforms at the same time. In the next step, the central digital voice output systems are to communicate directly with the Barix Annuncicoms at the stopping points, i.e. without detouring via the analogue OTS. The software upgrade necessary for this need not be performed on site thanks to the central software download function.

Announcements, monitoring and telecontrol in a train
The Barix device assumes the functions of sending announcements and powering on loudspeakers at railway platforms. The start of an announcement is always lost using many other solutions. This is because the switch and audio signals are sent together, but it takes one to two seconds for the amplifier to power up. The Barix component, on the other hand, stores the announcement until the amplifier is ready. In addition, the Barix component monitors the connected loudspeakers and actively sends an error message to the control centre should a device be defective.

Setting a course for the future
SBB has opted for the Barix solution to greatly simplify its network structure and, at the same time, to organise it in a more cost-effective and flexible manner. There is no need for the installation of complex and cost-intensive OTSs at the stopping points and railway stations because an IP network is available practically everywhere.  SBB is very happy with the running of the project and the reliability of the system. What is more, the flexibility of the IP-based system opens up virtually unlimited potential. Many other applications are conceivable, such as connections to business telephony and to SBB radio networks. Intercom communication from the stopping points and railway stations to the control centre is possible with the Barix technology using the same infrastructure, such as for query buttons on automatic (ticket) machines.

“Our technology simplifies communication and networking in all areas“, explains Johannes Rietschel, Managing Director of Barix AG. “This applies just as much to the installation as it does to management and on-going operation“. Adhering strictly to the Barix philosophy, the Barix Annuncicom 1000 is scalable, cost-effective and, thanks to the PC-free design without moving parts, extremely reliable. The flexible, programmable component is tailor-made for integration into applications in which audio is to be transferred over IP networks.  Thanks to the integrated SIP functionality, the device can be integrated seamlessly into standard VoIP-based applications.