School Intercom Systems Are Complicated – Here&039s How to Uncomplicate It

School intercom systems are a vital part of providing a safe learning environment for students, but they can be incredibly complicated to implement. many school districts have rules about intercom setup that, for example, require a two-way intercom in every room.

Intercoms must also meet various local and national building codes, as well as standards set by the state specifically for schools.

So, how can you demystify school intercom systems and understand what you need?

has a school intercom

every school intercom system must provide, at a minimum, the following:

• an individual two-way circuit for each classroom.
• the ability to make urgent calls to each location.
• global and emergency announcements.
• automatic and urgent call pages.
• audio distribution zones (so, for example, announcements can be made only in science labs or only in administration offices).
• class change signs, with zone.
• the ability to monitor and search areas of a building by site security or first responders.
• temporary exclusion of rooms or areas for special events. (for example, so that a speaker in the gym is not interrupted by announcements or the class change signal).

This all sounds incredibly complicated, but it’s actually not that bad. however, most schools will need professional help.

So how do you go about making the decisions you need to put together a good system?

important options for system design

The first big decision is how many zones your school should be divided into. in some jurisdictions, the school district may set the number of zones. you also need to decide what should be in each zone.

Because announcements can be sent to individual zones, you should zone rooms and areas based on what needs to be heard there. for example, administration offices may not need to listen for class change signals. meanwhile, there is no point in calling the entire school to track down a student whose location is known, but cannot be narrowed down to a specific classroom. instead, you can search only for the zone they are most likely to be in.

another key decision is the location of the hall speakers. While it’s obvious that every classroom needs a speaker, some design work may be needed to establish the best placement for speakers in other areas. this should take into account both the acoustics and the way the school is connected.

Finally, many modern schools supplement the intercom system with CCTV, which can be used for morning announcements and to connect loudspeakers to multiple rooms.

These decisions need to be made roughly before you can hire an expert to work on your design. however, narrowing down these options requires experience.

how a professional designer can help

The easiest way to simplify your life is to think of those broad strokes, like “I want to be able to make an ad in the gym that won’t be heard anywhere else” and then take it to a professional.

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An experienced professional can look at your school building and properly assess its needs. they may already know what the district’s requirements are, or you can provide them with a copy.

all the intricacies of a functional school intercom system that ensures student safety and smooth operation should be familiar to professionals who have already carried out various installations.

Make sure the designer you choose has done similar work before, specifically in schools. they need to be able to handle setting up class change signals that are mapped correctly to the master clock and thus are accurate and consistent with each other (the last thing you need is students walking out of a class late, causing them to miss part of the subsequent class. ending late for the day has a negative impact on the morale of students and teachers).

If you’re looking for a school intercom system and feel overwhelmed by the decisions you need to make and the standards you need to follow, moffit technology can help. we have the experience to put together an intercom system that works for all of your staff and students.