New enhancements to radio broadcast, partyline intercom solutions enhance quality and streamline configuration

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, April 2, 2013 — Barix comes to the 2013 show with new enhancements to its professional two-way IP audio solutions for broadcast radio and intercom, improving quality in sound and communications. Barix also continues to simplify system setup for customers, eliminating traditional IP configuration processes to have customers streaming audio within minutes.

The company will show its Partyline Intercom solution at the 2013 NAB Show, highlighting open-channel communications across multiple parties without audio interference — especially ideal in fast-paced video production environments. New enhancements eliminate the need to configure IP addresses and servers, stripping away the complexity often associated with multipoint IP audio system setup.

Barix will demonstrate how camera operators and other production personnel can use the compact Annuncicom PS1 on the move, utilizing a push-to-talk button with selectable audio channels to facilitate communications amongst directors and production personnel.

Radio Broadcast Solutions
Barix enhances its Exstreamer 500 bi-directional audio device at the 2013 NAB Show to improve audio quality and streaming flexibility. The device now supports both constant and variable bitrate, with the former added to simplify streaming to Shoutcast and Icecast servers – pertinent for extending how broadcasters incorporate Barix IP audio solutions for live streaming and syndicated program distribution. A new chip improves quality of the analog-to-digital conversion path to enhance professional broadcast sound.

The Exstreamer 500 is a multiprotocol encoder and decoder with balanced audio and professional I/O options for signal relay and control. In broadcast, it is ideal for STL and remote contribution applications. Broadcasters can simplify configuration using the Exstreamer 500 with the Barix Reflector Service, creating a complete streaming audio solution that replicates a received stream to an unlimited number of destinations through the public internet. The Reflector Service is based on a simple server-client architecture that removes IP address, server and other configuration hassles.

The start of the year is always busy at Barix, with trade shows and 1001 new ideas to work on! This year we had the added work of rebranding the company – no small task as we have grown in the last years!

Keeping track of industry developments and getting feedback from customers can be difficult in such circumstances, and in the last year we have turned increasingly to social media as a source of information and a place to give and get feedback.

This blog is one example, and for years we’ve offered support to the Barix community through our forums. Just over a year ago we set up the “BarixAG”- youtube channel, which contains a mix of Solutions ideas and practical howtos. Specialist groups on LinkedIn are also a great way to keep abreast of issues, and to give and get advice from other industry professionals. Here are a few that we have found useful:

- Audio over IP for broadcast
- Broadcast Engineering and Technical Professionals
- Broadcast Professionals
- In-Store Music and Messaging Professionals
- On Hold Messaging Association – OHMA

… of course there are MANY more … but be careful! It is easy to let such things steal too much time as well!

Solution connects fixed and mobile devices, strips away “complexity of IP”

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, March 18, 2013 — IP audio and control specialist Barix heads to ISC West with a new IP paging solution that allows end users and integrators to set up multi-point systems within minutes.

The plug-and-play solution combines fixed and mobile paging to extend reach and capability, while removing configuration hassles typically associated with IP. This ensures that schools, hospitals, office buildings and other commercial and public facilities can be up and running quickly instead of configuring IP addresses, servers and ports for receiving devices.

Importantly, the dedicated Barix Paging firmware enables the paging master to automatically identify all zones and Barix IP hardware on the network, including other paging stations and receivers. Furthermore, a Barix iOS paging app enables iPhones and iPads as paging devices — cleanly integrating the mobile capability into the overall solution.

“The Barix IP Paging solution retains the flexibility of IP without the complexity of IP, simplifying connections and removing headaches for businesses and security professionals,” said Johannes G. Rietschel, CEO and Founder of Barix AG. “We’re essentially delivering a solution where customers can plug in cables, connect loudspeakers and talk.”

The Barix IP Paging solution includes all pre-configured hardware, including paging masters and receiving devices equipped with the IP Paging firmware. Complete solutions can scale to the end customer’s needs, with no limits to the number of paging zones. The company’s two-way VoIP devices can be used at receiving points to enable intercom capability over the same network, and integrated amplifier options are available to further reduce costs and infrastructure.

Barix will showcase various hardware options and mobile capability for its IP Paging solution at ISC West (Booth 16138), taking place April 10-12 at the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Barix are audio over IP; it’s what we do.
Over the years, we have worked closely with our customers to develop products that excel. Now we move to extend that synergy, simplifying life for our customers by delivering easy to use, targeted solutions for specific applications.
Join us as we take the first steps in the journey at our new website www.barix.com

Allen Temple Baptist delivers services to those unable to attend using Barix IP audio solutions

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, December 10, 2012 — Audio over IP pioneer Barix AG is helping Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, California stream its Sunday services to radio station KDIA-1640-AM with exceptional audio quality and low latency — and at a very low cost.

Allen Temple Baptist transmitted its services via telephone line to the radio station for more than 30 years, but was looking to become more cost-efficient while moving into the digital age. The church purchased a Barix Instreamer 100 for on-site encoding of live services, and an Exstreamer 100 for KDIA to receive and decode the audio.

Director and Minister of Communications Charlotte Y. Williams said that Barix came highly recommended, and has simplified the way the church delivers the signal to KDIA. She notes that the migration to Barix IP audio will save the church several thousand dollars annually.

“Our broadcast has never sounded so good, and we have never experienced such substantial cost savings as we have by transferring our broadcast via Barix,” said Williams. “We are able to set it and forget it, and the audio has a much cleaner, pristine sound. We highly recommend the Barix solution as a simple, low-cost, high-return method.”

Williams added that the church was highly impressed by the “excellent customer service” provided from point of purchase through installation, which helped the church get their stream up and running quickly.

Demonstration to emphasize significance of audio integration into IP video systems for life safety and security

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, September 4, 2012 — Barix AG, a pioneer in IP-based audio, in-tercom, control, and monitoring, will exhibit at ASIS International (September 10-13, Philadelphia Con-vention Center) for the first time – bringing its range of IP audio and control solutions to the profes-sional security end user.

Barix will exhibit within the Milestone Systems booth (#3126), underlining the increasing significance of audio in surveillance operations, and the importance of improving audio quality and flexibility of distribution for live paging and public address.

“Security professionals have realized that video is no longer enough,” said Johannes G. Rietschel, CEO and founder of Barix AG. “Human beings have ears and a mouth to go with the eyes, and there is a clear advantage when all three of these senses are used in surveillance and other security-related appli-cations. The ability to cleanly integrate high-quality audio and video over a common IP network delivers cost savings and greatly simplifies installation for the user.”

Many video-centric security industry vendors have already integrated Barix audio over IP into their solutions, including industry leaders such as Milestone Systems. Milestone integrates Barix Exstreamer one-way and Annuncicom two-way IP audio devices into Milestone XProtect IP video management software to support paging and public address (one-way); and audio surveillance and intercom (two-way). Milestone also supports Barix Barionet IP control devices within its XProtect software to bridge physical device and software layers, effectively triggering camera movements and activating video recording based on motion, lights, doorbells and other events.

Barix will show its latest IP audio and control devices on the Milestone booth, including the Annuncicom 60 introduced this June and being shown to security audiences for the first time. The Annuncicom 60 is a low-cost IP audio device that serves as a gateway between VoIP, IP paging and intercom systems, and traditional components including call boxes, loudspeakers and microphones. The device offers plenty of flexibility, with operators able to issue verbal warnings or instructions to people under surveillance; or to communicate with callers at an SOS help point, for example.

Barix will also demonstrate how its latest Exstreamer audio output devices with Power over Ethernet (PoE) and built-in amplification can help end users consolidate and minimize technology components at end points — simplifying infrastructure and reducing deployment costs while offering very high audio quality for voice clarity.

Marcel van der Meijs, vice president of sales and marketing for Barix, will offer a presentation on Barix integration to XProtect at 11am, Wednesday, September 12 at the Milestone booth. Attendees will learn how IP audio can help security personnel more effectively draw attention to criminals, monitor activity and communicate, reliably trigger video recordings and alarms, and even deliver background music over the same network — with priority interruptions for page messages, warnings and security announcements.

“There is no limit to the benefits that audio can bring to video-centric security systems,” said van der Meijs. “The ability to talk back to a location in a city surveillance project, for example, can easily prevent a crime from taking place. And the ability to trigger lights and video in dark areas based on audio events can offer security personnel a clear picture into what is happening. Meanwhile, gunshots, screams and other emergency situations captured by these devices can automatically trigger alarms for immediate attention from monitoring centers. These are all important benefits that can make a real difference.”

Audio over IP pioneer’s first new Instreamer encoding device since 2007 delivers big benefits to new and existing customers – at a much lower cost

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, June 11, 2012 — Barix comes to InfoComm 2012 (June 13-15, Las Vegas Convention Center, Booth C11722) with its first new Instreamer hardware device in five years — delivering big audio improvements at a lower cost in a greener, more energy-efficient package. The device retains its familiar compact, bulletproof design and feature set for long-time customers while bringing reliable, high-quality IP audio encoding to a new generation of users across many markets and verticals.

The previous-generation Barix Instreamer 100 is an industry standard for IP Audio deployments, used today in thousands of installations worldwide for radio broadcast links, confidence monitoring, audio surveillance and real-time audio encoding among other applications. The new Instreamer enhances audio performance through a new digital signage processor that delivers remarkable signal-to-noise ratio improvements.

This is also the first Instreamer release to support constant bit-rate monitoring, which improves MP3 streaming quality and buffering times on Windows Media and other server-based media players. The combined improvements diversify how the new Instreamer can be used, such as real-time IP encoding for video walls and digital signage systems.

Perhaps most notable for end users and systems integrators is the cost, which slashes the Instreamer 100 price by 15 percent. New energy-efficient advances that optimize power consumption and power supply — the new Instreamer uses a ‘mini-USB’ switch-mode power supply — also deliver ongoing value through reduced operational costs.

Barix CEO and Founder Johannes G. Rietschel notes that the low cost, ultimate reliability and ease of use separates the new Instreamer from anything else in the marketplace.

“The Instreamer remains a very versatile, network-enabled generic IP audio encoder that supports open standards and multiple formats, while minimizing latency and bandwidth usage,” said Rietschel. “No one does this as efficiently as Barix; the Instreamer is easy to use with minimal boot times, delivering reliable startup within seconds. The new Instreamer now supports MP3 encoding at constant bit-rate, which works more effectively with web-based media servers. With its much improved audio performance, the device stands apart from solutions that are ten times more expensive, fan-cooled and take forever to start up.”

The new Instreamer is ideal for a wide variety of applications, including:
Low-latency video wall encoding (digital signage, control room monitoring)
Classroom and lecture recording in universities and corporate applications
Scientific and technical audio
Audio injection into IP phone and paging systems for on-hold and background music
Live encoding for internet radio and broadcast signal confidence monitoring

The Instreamer also offers network alarms via SNMP traps to generate notifications for audio loss, ensuring that quality issues are immediately pinpointed and easily addressed.

It’s NAB this week and, as ever, we have a strong team there spreading the word! If you’re at NAB, why not swing on by booth C1139 to find out what we’re up to?

You’ll be able to see the new Annuncicom PS1, which is ideal for use as a Broadcast production intercom, small footprint paging station and so much more…

If you’re not there, you can find out more here: http://www.barix.com/Annuncicom_PS1/1781/

Swedish company exclusively uses Barix to enhance the shopping experience through the power of music

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, March 5, 2012 — Barix is exclusively providing IP audio decoding solutions to Music in Brands for the delivery of unique music programming to retail stories and other public areas. The company uses Barix for both direct audio streaming and store-and-forward solutions in businesses around Sweden, providing flexible, low-cost playout solutions for in-store campaigns.

Based in Stockholm, Music in Brands creates musical identities for brands through audio, designing specialty programs that match the business and its customers. The company produces a custom radio station for each business, building unique playlists that update regularly to keep programming fresh and store environments lively.

“Music is a very important piece of the shopper experience, and we want to play music that matches the environment without repeating the same songs over and over,” said Anders Svensson, president of Music in Brands. “There is a lot of psychology involved because customers can shop elsewhere if they don’t like the music. We operate similarly to a radio station to improve the atmosphere. This results in increased loyalty, more committed personnel and increased buying behavior.”

Svensson points to several customers currently using Music in Brands audio branding with Barix in-store technology, including Swedish automobile manufacturer Volvo; telecom companies Telenor and 3; retail businesses JC and Polarn O. Pyret; and the Scandic Hotels chain. Barix Exstreamer IP audio decoders reliably receive and play out high-quality audio at multiple locations for these businesses, while minimizing expenses through low device cost and simple installation. Svensson and his team configure the devices and ship them to the store locations, where employees typically install the devices themselves.

Locations with plenty of network bandwidth receive continuous, high-quality AACplus audio streams, while those with stricter bandwidth limitations — like JC and Polarn O. Pyret — use Barix’s store-and-forward capability to download the streams to the devices for MP3 audio playout.

For Scandic Hotels, Music in Brands produces five music channels streamed simultaneously to the hotel. Staff can choose jazz music in the bar or easy-listening in the lounge using the Barix channel selector function. Svensson has found the Barix Exstreamer 200, featuring a built-in amplifier (2x25W), especially helpful in smaller stores such as those operated by Telenor and 3.

“We have mostly used Exstreamer 100s to this point, but the Exstreamer 200 is a very cost-effective and space-saving solution for small shops,” said Svensson. “We can provide an entire solution with an Exstreamer 200 and a few speakers, with Barix providing the IP receiver and amplifier in one device.”

Svensson also noted the importance of Barix’s open-source software, which allowed him to freely build a custom monitoring program to access information from every device in the network. “Barix takes care of all the in-store playout needs while allowing us to see everything that is happening across the network,” said Svensson. “They were clearly the best choice for cost, flexibility, audio quality and reliability.”

Bi-directional audio path also supports intercom communications

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, February 29, 2012 — Barix AG unveils its Annuncicom PS1 Paging Station to the security industry at the ISC West show (March 28-30, Sands Convention Center, Las Vegas, Booth 8134).  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.

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.  This feature is especially helpful for security-related applications.

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.  “Users can page 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.

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.  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.