# Intercom over IP?



## StradivariusBone (May 26, 2020)

So in the spirit of Covidmas, our church is going full steam ahead on a livestreaming solution. This involves creating a broadcast room that can be fed from two separate venues. We've gotten the audio figured out, both sites have M32's and we're getting an X32 Production board for the broadcast room. Video will either be over NDI or SDI (SDI for the closest room) and now we're trying to figure out coms. The easiest thing would be to utilize the existing network we've got. There's fiber backbones between the building and the current plan is to just VLAN a production network. 

I would like to use Dante and I noticed that a company called Studio Technologies has a line of products that do Dante, but are in the form-factor of your standard beltpack intercom. They also have a lot of other more powerful gear should we want to scale this up. The other option I found was Clear-Com's IP based solutions, but they are waaaaay out of our budget. The Studio Tech gear is probably just over the top of what we'd like to spend, but I'm coming up short if there's another easier solution here. I did discover the Audinate AVIO dongles (which are ridiculously cool), but you'd still need to supply the headphones, amps, etc. to drive the audio. Seems like it'd be more expensive as opposed to the Studio Tech which has everything you'd need in a single box.

We're just looking for a party line between the venues and the broadcast room with maybe expansion possibilities to camera ops in the future. Currently our setup will only have one camera op as the rest are going to be PTZ cameras.


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## Rob (May 26, 2020)

These guys are competitors of mine on the DMX-side, but check out https://www.greengodigital.com/. Very cool coms.


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## DrewE (May 26, 2020)

Mumble gets mentioned quite a bit for this sort of thing. I'd think cell phones (connected via Wi-Fi) and compatible headsets would be workable hardware for the clients (i.e. everyone talking), and lots of possibilities exist for the servers--something like the Raspberry Pi is one option, though any old laptop or desktop would also work equally as well. I don't have any personal experience with mumble, but I know that there are some here who've used it fairly extensively for production intercom duty.


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## TimMc (May 26, 2020)

There are several intercoms that rely on TCP/IP networking and can successfully have participants from anywhere with an acceptable network connection speed.

My friends at https://practicalshowtechcom.squarespace.com/ have had several webinars in the last couple of months about networked icoms. Click on the Show Archive link...


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## AudioGreg (May 27, 2020)

Another Dante option comes from Glensound.co.uk They have several rack mount and desktop variants as well as belt packs.

an advantage of keeping coms Dante based is being able to share sound board resources. this is especially useful if you have an IFB system. but program sound to cameras, or an SA from a belt pack is so easy to do when its all part of the same network.

We have several systems that incorporate several technologies all into one system. Our cores are RTS Zeus, a 24 or 32 port matrix. We've converted 16 of these ports into Dante to use StudioTech belt packs and announcer boxes, and have 2 channels of Discord, 2 telephone interfaces, and a local walkie talkie system on board as well.


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## macsound (May 28, 2020)

Since we're on this topic, I'm working on a supper club concept that wants com to work in multiples ways, but ultimately with the ability to have an All Call that crosses all types.
1. Regular com for production team
2. Lightweight phone type com for hosts and security - could be a 2 way radio or something small that could fit on dress pants belt and not be big and ugly
3. Phone - could be IP phone extensions or separate com phone that is networkable

Really my hangup is #2. What can I give a security guy that would want a little earpiece and a talk button that could connect to a multi channel or IP based com system?
#3 could be just a regular com pack with a phone handset and big call light.


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## Morte615 (May 29, 2020)

I haven't done any pricing but I know the amusement parks here in Florida are using a lot of Riedel products. And the Bolero specifically is being used. It rides over a AES67 network and is how they spread comms over the large area of the parks.
I'm betting it's on the pricey side though.







RIEDEL » BOLERO Wireless Intercom





www.riedel.net





*misquoted Dante instead of AES67*


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## MNicolai (May 29, 2020)

Morte615 said:


> I haven't done any pricing but I know the amusement parks here in Florida are using a lot of Riedel products. And the Bolero specifically is being used. It rides over a AES67 network and is how they spread comms over the large area of the parks.
> I'm betting it's on the pricey side though.
> 
> 
> ...



I haven't looked at it recently but I seem to recall the last time I looked at Riedel -- pricing-wise, you kind of have to hope you were born deformed with a few extra arms and legs you're willing to say goodbye to. Their systems are $$$, designed to be broadcast-grade mission critical with all the bells and whistles.


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## TimMc (May 29, 2020)

For those unfamiliar with Riedel and what they bring to the table, there are several webinars. Next week there is a "Lunch with Pete" that takes what is promised as a "deep dive" into the logic and GPIO of Riedel products.







Riedel Logic and GPIO, Deep Dive – PST #064 — Practical Show Tech

For PST #064 Lunch with Pete, we will do a Riedel Logic and GPIO, deep dive. Register here!



practicalshowtechcom.squarespace.com





In the Practical Show Tech archive, a Dinner with Pete discussion the Riedel Artist system:







Dinner with Pete: Riedel Artist – PST #047 — Practical Show Tech

For PST #047, the main course was Riedel Artist. Pete cooked up a fifteen step quickstart program from the start to the completely programmed with some advanced programming, logic, saving default settings, markers, panel settings, and much more! Streamed on Friday, May 1, 2020, at 4:00 PM



practicalshowtechcom.squarespace.com





Specific to the OP of this thread, there are several CrewCom webinars at PST - here's the one on wireless implementations:







CrewCom wireless intercom by Pliant Technologies – PST #028 — Practical Show Tech

On PST #028, we sat down with Gary Rosen, Tom Turkington, Peter Amos, Mark Rehfuss, Art Gonzales from Pliant Technologies , and talked about their CrewCom wireless intercom. Streamed on Thursday, April 16, 2020, at 4:00 PM



practicalshowtechcom.squarespace.com


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## jtweigandt (May 29, 2020)

I'm still using the Raspberry pi Mumble server. .. variety of "clients" include some old HP thin clients, Some rasp pi zero's.. The can be wifi or cat5e wired. But the secret sauce is...
Logitech 820 e usb DECT wireless headsets.... they work with the pi, with the thin clients, with a pc.. they give you 300 foot or more working distance from
the base, and crystal clear audio. Can cut in phones to the system via an app as well. Have to look at the dates, but we've been on Mumble a good 4 or 5 years
and the Rasp Pi all in one router,server for 2 years plus now. 5 musicals a year.. at least until now...


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## Ken Summerall Jr (Jun 3, 2020)

macsound said:


> Since we're on this topic, I'm working on a supper club concept that wants com to work in multiples ways, but ultimately with the ability to have an All Call that crosses all types.
> 1. Regular com for production team
> 2. Lightweight phone type com for hosts and security - could be a 2 way radio or something small that could fit on dress pants belt and not be big and ugly
> 3. Phone - could be IP phone extensions or separate com phone that is networkable
> ...


I would suggest that you look at Unity Intercom. There system is based on using cell phones as the "belt pack" You can subscribe to their cloud service or host your own with a Mac computer. They have external Bluetooth buttons, headsets, etc to customize your system. You can have several different channels, one for hosts, security, kitchen staff, etc as well as one that will cross all boundaries. It has become a very robust system and doesn't cost as much as other wireless intercoms. If you've ever wondered how the production team communicates on LivePD, the answer is Unity.

K


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