Paging System Over Audio Speakers

[cjdiener16]

Hello,

We have a customer that used to have the ability to "page" over the speakers of the building. They have since had a renovation to the building and the infrastructure has moved and/or been removed. No one quite knows how this was working before the renovation. I was wondering if someone could shine some light on this for me.

The general idea was that any user could pick up the phone and dial #611. This was (is) a Route Pattern that went to an FXS/FXO port on a 2800 VG (this is one of the pieces that has been removed, but the HWIC cards have been put into a 2900 and are usable). 

My loss is after this, what happens to the call stream once it leaves the FXS/FXO port? Is the phone line spliced and injected into the speaker lines? I know no one can tell me what we used to have, but can someone tell me what I can do to get this back up and working? I am 99% sure we didn't have a 3rd Party Paging system or else I would have heard about it.

[TONY SMITH]

The only way that I'm aware of this working is via an interface device that connects to the phone line (FXS/FXO port) and to the PA amplifier.  You can't drive speakers direct from FXS/FXO, it needs something that will answer the call.

I've seen a diagram using an E&M interface to simulate a microphone and PTT, I've not seen that in the flesh but again it would need an amplifier to drive the speakers.

What do you find if you follow the cabling back from the speakers?

[cjdiener16]

Thanks Tony, that makes sense that something needs to answer the call. Unfortunately, the amplifier that we have is only an audio amplifier with the speakers punched into the line out. 

I thought about buying a Valcom V2000A and piping the audio stream into that. I just don't know how i would go about it since the audio needs to be sent into wiring that is not phone cabling. I'm a little out of my league when it comes to A/V setups.

All of the speakers run into a single pair that run into the Line Out on the amp.

[Vaijanath Sonvane]

Hi,

In the past we have used Valcom Paging Adapters with following two different options:

1. Valcom Paging Adapter V-2001A with analog connections from Router FXO/FXS ports and connecting to Amplifier using Line Input.

2. Valcom Paging Adapter with SIP Trunk from CUCM and connecting to Amplifier using Line Input.

Before buying any Paging Adapter, I would recommend to reach out to Valcom Support team as they will suggest you the compatible Paging Adapter/Accessories required for your Amplifier Model. Keep Amplifier model number handy when you reach out to them.