System operators use the screens to select zones, play messages to zones, or to monitor zones. Live announcements can also be made, when needed. Operators are outfitted with headset interface boxes, devised and built by Creative Audio, that allow them to communicate via phone lines, utilize two-way radio, or make announcements to and monitor the PA system.
Engineering Interface
While the control room operators use the interface described above, the system supervisors manage event schedules and system setup via a special Creative Audio GUI.
This GUI allows for the immediate assignment or time based scheduling of messages, local input assignments and background music; preview of a days scheduled events; control of paging and background music levels; a review of system alerts and alarms; and the allocation of physical areas to paging zones. It also has a password protected section featuring a full-system diagnostic log and other CobraNet diagnostic tools.
Creative Audio’s software design philosophy revolves around the creation and use of core system processes, however in order to meet clients exact requirements a custom GUI is created where required. For example in this project there are no physical paging stations (these being replaced by the HBOC operator interface), so there was no requirement for a paging station configuration page in the GUI.
Looking Ahead
“The biggest risk in this particular project was the extremely short time frame available to complete the work. This gets even more crucial when you look at the number of specialized devices that needed to be fabricated by Creative Audio and then successfully implemented,” Dodds says. “Software development and interface is also not an easy task. So when you look at it, there were four contracts that had to be fulfilled concurrently, each with thousands of variables and custom development to be successfully completed.”
No small charge indeed, yet the system was fully in place and being tested a full eight days before the Olympic Games began. All bugs were eliminated three days prior. About 80 percent of the amplifiers and loudspeakers of the original system remain deployed and in operation, expected to continue into the foreseeable future.
“We see many future applications of what’s been achieved here, particularly for large-scale distributed systems with lots of zones and lots of sources, with potential conflicts needing intelligent system management. Airports and other mass transit facilities, theme parks, Vegas-type attractions – all will benefit from technology of this sort,” Dodds concludes. “We’ll continue our refinement process on each project, and Peak Audio/CobraNet shares the same commitment. It bodes an exciting future.”