Bi-directional audio path also supports intercom communications

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, December 6, 2011 — Barix AG unveils its Annuncicom PS1 Paging Station at the ISE show in Amsterdam early next year (January 31-February 2, RAI Center, Booth 2E70). The compact, elegant device gives commercial businesses, office buildings, educational institutions, medical facilities and others a simple, fully-integrated hardware solution for paging and intercom over IP.

The PS1 features two backlit push-to-talk buttons, volume control and a built-in speaker and microphone, giving security guards, receptionists and other operators a simple way to make announcements to an entire facility. The device’s IP addressability enables a simple connection to the network, allowing systems integrators and end users to take advantage of existing infrastructure, reducing costs and equipment requirements. Power over Ethernet (PoE) capability further simplifies installation, requiring only a single cable to the device.

The PS1 can also merge with background music systems — ideal for retailers, restaurants, hotels, clubs and other entertainment venues that wish to break into a stream with announcements. Bi-directional capability enables intercom for facility-wide, two-way communications — taking the PS1 beyond a basic paging device for ski areas, university campuses and other large areas that require talkback capability.

Barix introduced its first master paging station, the Annuncicom PS16, in 2009 to support complex, multi-zone paging and intercom applications. The PS1 addresses market needs for a simple and reliable, yet elegant and affordable solution.

“Many Barix customers have reported the need for a simple, compact one-to-two button desktop paging station for universal use,” said Johannes G. Rietschel, CEO and Founder of Barix. “Hospital and school receptionists, for example, can page doctors and teachers or make general announcements without a learning curve. Ease of use and reliability were of paramount importance in its design.”

The compact PS1 design accommodates wall-mount and desktop installations, with minimal real estate requirements. This makes the PS1 ideal for central offices and control rooms, as well as secondary rooms and remote points. A belt clip also enables mobility for those that need IP intercom on the move.

Existing Barix customers can easily integrate the PS1 with other Barix devices on a network, including Instreamer IP encoders, Exstreamer IP decoders and Annuncicom two-way IP devices — enabling a complete, customized Barix IP audio and control solution that meet the requirements of the facility.

We’re really excited to announce the first of many Apps to be coming your way, The Barix Reflector iPhone app is now available for download from the App Store!

The app enables Reflector customers to listen in to their station, check the status of all their registered devices, see stats for network performance and monitor the state of the encoder contact closures. Broadcast engineers on the go can stay informed!

Watch this blog for announcements of other Apps!

Milestone incorporates Barix IP Audio device support to bring “ears to the eyes”

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, November 10, 2011 — Barix AG, a pioneer in IP audio, control and monitoring, today announced that Milestone Systems, the global leader for open platform IP video management software, has integrated Barix Audio over IP device support with Milestone XProtect® IP video management software (VMS). The collaboration enables bidirectional, high-quality voice and audio for XProtect deployments.

Milestone XProtect IP video software now supports Barix one-way (public address/paging) and two-way (surveillance and intercom) audio, marrying the “shout” and ears to the eyes across security operations. Barix Exstreamer IP audio devices introduce live paging and other one-way audio events, allowing operators to announce warnings, trigger alarms and deliver other notifications to external sites. Barix Annuncicom IP devices enable surveillance, intercom and other two-way audio streams for direct communication with subjects in security and general situations.

The open-platform nature of Milestone and Barix solutions ensures that video and audio streams are live over the same technology, simplifying integration. Barix one-way and two-way audio devices work within new deployments and retrofits of existing XProtect systems.

“Trends in the video surveillance business, particularly with the growing acceptance of IP, emphasize significant interest in improving the audio element,” said Johannes G. Rietschel, CEO and Founder of Barix. “Milestone customers can now use Barix IP devices to enhance the audio surveillance and notification capabilities of their installations by strategically positioning audio and video components, and using existing IP infrastructure. This ensures that operators can page, monitor and distribute audio to communicate more efficiently, while using flexible positioning to capture far better audio quality compared to built-in camera microphones.”

Barix was first accepted into the Milestone Manufacturer Alliance Partner (MAP) program in 2009, when Milestone began supporting Barix Barionet IP control devices to integrate legacy hardware devices with Milestone XProtect software — effectively bridging the physical and software layers. Milestone customers can use the Barionet today to trigger camera movements and activate video recording based on motion, doorbells, lights and other security-related events.

“The integration of Barix Audio over IP devices represents the next evolutionary step between the relationship of the two companies, ensuring that Milestone customers can add yet another beneficial integrated functionality to our open-platform IP VMS portfolio,” said Martin Friis-Mikkelsen, Head of Strategic Alliances at Milestone Systems.

About Milestone (www.milestonesys.com)
Founded in 1998, Milestone Systems is the worldwide industry leader in open platform IP video management software, according to IMS Research. Milestone XProtect® products have been installed in thousands of customer installations, sold through authorized and certified partners in more than 100 countries. With support for the widest choice in network hardware and integration with other systems, XProtect provides best-in-class solutions to ‘video enable’ organizations – managing risks, protecting people and assets, optimizing processes, and reducing costs.

Instreamer v3.17

http://www.barix.com/downloads/Instreamer_Standard_Firmware/1981/
– Mic audio input allows the FW to run on HW with Microphone input (e.g. Annuncicom)
– Use of DNS name in Streaming destination table (previously only numeric IP address)
– Support for Cisco Call Manager for Music on Hold applications

Streaming Client v2.24

http://www.barix.com/downloads/Streaming_Client_Firmware/1381/
– Triggered playback via metadata for Advert insertion controlled by the Broadcaster
– ASCII discovery for integration with ICgraph PC application
– Line-in support for the new Exstreamer 205, for local playback

SIP Client v1.12

http://www.barix.com/downloads/SIP_Client_Application/2331/
– Multicast socket for priority audio notification messaging, used for emergency and evacuation systems.

STL v2.12

http://www.barix.com/downloads/Studio_Transmitter_Link_STL_Application/2321/
– Mic audio input support for Annuncicom family devices
– SPDIF support for Instreamer HW
– Contact Input and Relay Output extension for Annuncicm1000

The Exstreamer 205, announced at the recent IBC trade show, is now in stock and available for order. Innovations on the device include a line level stereo input and a microSD card slot, making the Exstreamer 205 perfect for its Retail and Hospitality target markets.

Music from a hotel guest’s iPod or phone can be played, or the user can select a radio stream to listen to. In addition, the Exstreamer 205 listens on a priority channel which means that it can be built into a facility’s emergency communication infrastructure, keeping guests informed in case of any incident.

More information can be found at:  http://www.barix.com/Exstreamer_200_205/451/

The introduction of a SIP gateway is the most effective way to merge audio over IP distribution with an already established SIP-based phone system. This is most useful when you are directing background music, paging and public address to loud-speaker systems as opposed to simply routing phone calls.

IT Telephony Article

Barix IP Audio products produced high interest at the Mediatech trade fair in South Africa !
Our Distributor, Technology Innovated Distribution (TID) showcased a live Audio over IP link and the full range of products covering IP Audio, VoIP, SIP and IO device servers – all Barix products were on display.
Here is an impression of the show:

Mediatech Booth in South Africa 2011

Barix Display

All,

the Barix Exstreamer P5 now starts shipping. This very affordable IP Audio device is actually .. an IP Speaker. And at the same time, it is not .. the loudspeaker is missing.

IP Speaker from Barix

So … why ? What is the reason behind this ?

As we all know, architects want to have the choice of design, form and color if it comes to selecting a speaker. Installers need to pick a speaker with the right environmental specs. And the price, or a specific manufacturer, may be a decision criteria too for the selection of the speaker.

Other manufacturers offer “IP Speakers”. Such an IP Speaker limits the choices for the installer drastically, as the speaker design part is fixed, and eventually already installed speakers, which would be perfectly useable, need to be pulled out and replaced.

The Barix Exstreamer P5 solves this dilemma. It is EVERYTHING an IP Speaker needs to be, with the exception of .. the speaker ! You can use almost any commercially available loudspeaker, being it round, square, outdoor, indoor, brown, white, shiny, expensive or cheap … as long as it has 8 Ohm impedance (the vast majority is of that type) and it can accept min. 5W RMS driving power.

The installation is incredibly simpe – two loudspeaker wires are connected to the Exstreamer P5 (screw terminal block included), and the device is hooked up to the network a Cat5 cable (PoE providing switch, or use an in-line power supply). NO need to wire power and network separately to the device. Also, if space is a constraint, you can separate the speaker from the Exstreamer P5.
A lot of flexibility – and the good news is that the combo “Exstreamer P5 plus reasonsable ceiling speaker” costs less than the typical combined IP Speaker device !

This IP Speaker solution from Barix supports all the standard stuff others do – SIP, priority multicast stream etc, and in addition, our devices can also play MP3 or even AACplus streams, resulting in CD quality background music, if wanted.
And – last not least – the Barix Exstreamer P5 also has a local interface port for an affordable volume/source control. So you can even select a background music channel, set the volume – and of course, even if you turn down the volume and listen to background music, a priority page comes through at a predefined level.

Check this out now .. the Exstreamer P5 is the better IP Speaker ! Coming from a trusted brand in the IP Audio and VoIP space since 10 years .. Barix ! The same technology used in the Exstreamer P5 also runs evacuation systems in nuclear power plants and oil refineries, it is rock bottom stable, so there is no need to power cycle your ceiling mounted IP speakers or find that reboot button ever …

“The IP Speaker without the speaker”(TM), now from Barix.

It’s this time of the year again … our long term content partner DMD2 has launched christmasradio.fm, an internet only radio station, streaming great music with a Christmas touch. Listen to it with your favorite Barix IP Audio player, the Exstreamer, or just use your browser.
Wishing you a peaceful and good pre-christmas time.

Johannes

Here is the URL for direct listening with the Exstreamer: http://www.christmasradio.fm/christmasradio.fm.m3u

All,

if you get to our website, you may notice that there is an invitation/button for live chat. We are currently experimenting with this, in an effort to improve our response to customers. We know that our offering is broad and generic, about anything in the Audio over IP and a lot in Ethernet IO space can be done using our products.  So .. it might be difficult to find the right information.

Bear with us if there are some hick-ups as we test the system. We are typically learning quickly 🙂

Johannes