The NRFD’s two new Bogen communications systems have dramatically improved the fire department’s ability to prioritize, route, and respond to both emergency and routine calls. Connected through a high-bandwidth T1 phone line, the two stations can now seamlessly and selectively page both locally and station-to-station. Bogen speaker technology provides the department with dynamic, accurate, undistorted sound so that previously inaudible, confusing pages can now be clearly and immediately understood, improving emergency response time.
“Bogen products have really helped us,” observed Chief Fabish, noting that improved emergency response time means improved public safety. “Bogen’s regional sales manager has done a good job helping us get the right products for this installation,” added Schrembeck. “I’m convinced that no other single audio product would do what a Power Vector Amplifier would do.”
Station 1
Located in downtown North Royalton and operating as the main fire station, Station 1 was built decades ago and used a communications system based on a phone switch located in city hall. To provide the system with more power, flexibility, and versatility, DBS Communications installed a V100 Power Vector Amplifier in the station and used the advanced input modules to assign the highest priority to 911 dispatch calls, second priority to remote calls, and lowest priority to local calls. Local page access was handled by lines from the telephone switch routed through a Bogen Telephone Access Module (TAMB) which enabled the phone system audio to be distributed across the paging system. The TAMB was connected through a Bogen Transformer Balanced Input Module (TBL1S) installed in the Power Vector Amplifier with an additional input enabling pages to be received from Station 2. A third input through a Mono Auxiliary Input Module (MAX1R) into the V100 received signals from 911 dispatch as well as squad cars and fire trucks.
To create audible, intelligible pages throughout the higher noise areas of Station 1, DBS installed 3 Bogen NEAR® A-Series Loudspeakers (A2T) which provide superior clarity. “We installed the A2T speakers because the increase in noise when the doors are open required speakers to produce pages higher than 80 decibels,” commented Schremback. In addition to the A2T speakers, DBS also installed three Bogen Ceiling Speakers (S86T725PG8W) to provide appropriate paging levels in quieter office areas.
Station 2
Despite being a new building designed to provide enhanced services to the residential neighborhood it serves, Station 2 was originally equipped with a very basic communications system featuring four horn speakers in the truck bays and maintenance areas, three ceiling speakers, two wall phones, and some amplifiers. Operating in a relatively small, enclosed area, the horn speakers generated quite a bit of reverb, making it virtually impossible to understand pages. Following Bogen’s advice, DBS replaced the original horn speakers with 3 Bogen A2T speakers. Mounted eight feet from the floor and 40 feet apart, the A2T speakers were pointed horizontally across the truck bays to maximize the listening space and minimize distortion, virtually eliminating the reverb problem. Three existing Bogen Ceiling Speakers (S86T725PG8W) were augmented with 3 additional ones to ensure that pages reached every corner of quieter common areas such as offices, hallways, and the lunchroom.
As in Station 1, a V100 Power Vector Amplifier was used to drive the speakers and handle the various input sources. One line through the switch trunk port into a TAMB was used for local pages. A line from the TAMB through the V100 enabled voice pages from Station 1. A third input through a Mono Auxiliary Input Module (MAX1R) into the V100 handled the 911 dispatches and 2-way radio communications from the city’s police, fire, and emergency services personnel so that station personnel could receive real-time information from an emergency site. A TBL1S connected the TAMB to the V100 and the entire system was connected to City Hall and Station 1 through a T1 line.
