DELEC presents VoIP for ORATIS Intercom System

Leipzig, November 2004: At this year’s Tonmeistertagung in Leipzig, DELEC, the German manufacturer of digital intercom systems, has introduced the prototype of a voice-over-IP (VoIP) subscriber unit for their ORATIS digital intercom system.

Unlike conventional subscriber units, the VoIP unit connects to the ORATIS system via a computer network. Addressing within this network is achieved using the Internet Protocol (IP). This approach even allows for integrating subscriber units over the Internet as the Internet is based on IP addressing, too. This means that the VoIP subscriber unit can be positioned in almost any place in the world and still provides the same functionality as a traditionally connected unit!

In combination with the PC subscriber unit introduced last summer, even a journalist’s notebook computer outside the broadcasting center can serve as a subscriber unit: The computer just needs to be equipped with a headset, the ORATIS PC Talk software, and the VoIP module. The connection to the ORATIS system located in the broadcasting center or an O.B. van is then established using a standard internet link, so the computer can actually be used as a remote subscriber unit.

Moreover, the new VoIP functionality provides extra flexibility inside the broadcasting center, too: For example, the editors’ computers can be interconnected to an internal LAN which then connects to the intercom system – again with minimum complexity and least financial expenses. In particular, extensive re-cabling becomes obsolete because the existing IT network is utilized. Obviously, the computers can even be networked within a wireless LAN, i.e. without using any hardware cabling. It is especially this functionality that makes the new option interesting not only for large broadcasting applications but also for theaters requiring a flexibly usable intercom system.

The VoIP module operates on the basis of the G.722 standard. It uses data reduction and a data rate of 64 Kbps in order to transfer audio signals as well as control and signaling data over the same network line. However, thanks to the high quality of modern audio-data reduction algorithms, this will result in hardly any deterioration of audio quality or speech intelligibility.

Another way of linking external subscriber units to a broadcaster-center network is the traditional use of ISDN audio codecs. The ISDN-code support was introduced last year and has meanwhile become a standard feature of many ORATIS installations, e.g. at the new broadcasting center of the Bayerischer Rundfunk radio service.