www.psneurope.com
June 2013 l 51
installationreport
London to Gatwick, the UK’s second- busiest airport. Later the centralised architecture of these analogue systems was enhanced by the addition of AoIP capability, as the analogue audio-to-IP gateway VIPET – along with the VIPA software package – was developed for TransPennine Rail, a key UK project. Then, two new faces arrived at the company and brought with them a fresh injection of technical horizon- busting and entrepreneurial flair. Firstly, Dan Wittenberg took up the post of product manager and began to plan how VAR, V400 and the VIPA stack might evolve in step with new generations of DSP. Secondly, Neil Voce arrived from Ateïs UK as head of sales with a mandate to lead that technology into the markets it deserves. “The majority of our international work has been through Europe-based system integrators, not directly with companies in the host country of a project,” Voce explains. “The new generation of our technology suggests a wider range of business-to-business partners, very much dictated by its flexibility, its cost-effectiveness and its potential reach into new markets.”
ASL installed over 8,000 field devices across 16 communication and security systems at St Pancras International rail station in London
cards per router. Its flexibility represents a solution for both transport, on the one hand, and decentralised systems for leisure applications in the wider sense – made possible by its use of IP networking and Dante. A crucial interface to
Lab.gruppen’s PLM range of amplification, for instance, paves the way towards stadium sound reinforcement and the fusion of VA and PA that all of this technology promises. But that’s only half the job. The new dimensions to the technology demand new business channels. Voce’s challenge is to unearth distributors that recognise the full potential of the technology, evolving as it is towards more and more plug ’n’ play solutions. “We’d like to be as breakout-friendly as possible,” he says, “supported by online training. We can’t scale a business around heavy rack- building here. Middle East or Indian customers, for example, won’t want to pay for that. The idea is that they take delivery of the boxes and we make sure they understand all the standards and can do the build locally. We need to generate expertise in ASL products that lies outside of East Sussex.” Although Europe is becoming sophisticated – and unified – enough to
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The new flagship is Vipedia, an
IP-enabled audio distribution concept for which Mark 2 – Vipedia-12 – is being rolled out this year. As a single box that supports IP networking, with upgraded DSP and “more contemporary and competitive” features, the real breakthrough is that it supports Dante. The addition of this particular audio transport protocol has already broadened Vipedia’s appeal: Mark 1 took the company’s portfolio beyond transport and into sport and entertainment with glass ceiling- breaking installations at both the Ibrox soccer stadium in Glasgow and the iconic Lord’s cricket ground in London – crossing new boundaries indeed. The new version is based on 12-input, 12-output units expandable to 48 x 48, with room for two expansion
accommodate specialist, cross-border operators that supercede the traditional model of exclusive national distributor, an older restriction may yet influence Voce’s decisions. “There are still local versions of the voice alarm standard that could drive the need for local distribution,” he points out. “There’s a European norm, but every country has slight variations: for example, in Germany you’re not allowed to cover more than 1,500sqm through one loudspeaker cable; in France the fire microphones all have to be kept under the same lock and key that the actual fire service uses… we’re still some way from a homogenous, regulated VA infrastructure across Europe. But as we move into hi-Q sound reinforcement, our options will broaden.”n
www.asl-control.co.uk
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