Bosch has installed an IP-based digital public address and voice alarm system at the Telford shopping centre in Shropshire, UK.

On 25 acres of commercial space, the IP-based Praesensa system from Bosch provides music, announcements and emergency alerts for retail stores, restaurants, hotels and a cinema.

The shopping mall operator was looking to upgrade the existing public address with a future-proof and IP-networked system for retail environments that heightened the centre’s sustainability and energy efficiency while keeping costs for the upgrade low.

Working with these requirements, Bosch partner North AVS refurbished all existing loudspeakers installed at the Telford centre across 16 zones via minor modifications on the end lines. As a result, system integrators merely needed to replace the obsolete control equipment – including a cumbersome call station with analogue buttons – and amplifiers.

Since the upgrade, security staff control the public address system via an intuitive touch screen interface. Managed via Omneo media networking technology, the software-based system combines live broadcasts and recordings from various media sources.

The library includes background music in MP3 format, commercials from a message database, plus end-of-day mall closing messages on automated schedules. Automation also kicks in during an emergency, for instance in case of a fire. Targeted to specific zones on the property, the public address system integrates with the fire alarm to play pre-recorded alerts and evacuation messages. Leaving full control to security, personnel can send live voice messages and manually trigger the evacuation protocol as needed at any time.

The second main project parameter consisted of energy efficiency. Praesensa achieves a low energy footprint via smart power partitioning across amplifier channels. The software adapts intelligently to loudspeaker loads and divides the available output power across all channels to a maximum of 600W.

This built-in function lowers overall power usage over the system’s lifetime, especially in the idle state where most systems spend most of their time. Requiring less battery standby, the system can run on only two batteries that need changing every four years according to British standards.

Also contributing to the system’s low energy footprint is the small form factor. While the legacy system occupied two rack spaces in the server room, the new system cuts the size in half. This is achieved by integrated standby amplifiers that reduce the cost – especially for cooling – and space of the rack housing. This also provides an effective redundancy measure.

Praesensa also delivers automated fault notification to the control desk within 100 seconds, thereby meeting EN54-16 standards for public address systems.

The system meets the latest data protection guidelines as a fully secure IP installation. All control equipment is connected via secure IP out of the box. Safeguards include encryption and authentication for protection against eavesdropping and hacking. With immediate cost savings in a future-proof, user-friendly, flexible and scalable package, the system is generating interest and positive user feedback from shopping mall operators.

“We were very pleased with the installation of the equipment by North which caused minimal disruption and they also managed to keep us operational while the shopping centre was open”, said Chris Titley, facilities manager at Savills. “We are extremely happy with the quality and operation of the new Bosch equipment and the team are finding the system easy to use. It’s of paramount importance to have a reliable system and this is definitely ticking all the boxes.”