Tech Focus: Intercoms, Part 2 - Growth in REMI Production Spurs Product Growth

Tech Focus: Intercoms, Part 2 - Growth in REMI Production Spurs Product Growth Flexibility, multifunctionality mark offerings in a highly competitive market By Dan Daley, Audio Editor

Wednesday, March 29, 2023 - 7:00 am

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By pro-audio standards, intercoms make up a small but essential market sector - and, in the age of supercharged REMI production, an increasingly competitive one. Here's a look at the latest offerings from the market leaders.

Clear-Com The Eclipse HX digital matrix, LQ Series of IP interfaces, Agent-IC mobile app, and Station-IC virtual desktop client have been critical in enabling seamless communications for remote production during the transition to remote and hybrid production workflows. Additionally, Clear-Com's Dynam-EC software for Eclipse systems has allowed users to switch between different role assignments and configurations, saving time and avoiding mistakes.

Clear-Com LQ IP interfaces

Agent-IC and Station-IC enable virtual intercom clients on mobile devices or desktops and have been used extensively to provide easy-to-implement communication between facility-based staff and onsite production teams for field reporting, live event production, remote coordination, and other critical tasks. Remote production personnel who have downloaded the app onto desktop, smartphone, or tablet can connect to a host Eclipse HX digital matrix or LQ IP interface over 3G, 4G, LTE, and Wi-Fi networks. App and desktop users have a fully functional virtual intercom panel that can monitor the intercom system and receive IFB feeds. LQ can extend the capabilities and intercom channels of an Eclipse HX system to one or more remote locations if an LQ device is positioned at the destination location and interfaced with Clear-Com wired beltpacks, SIP clients, or any Agent-IC mobile-app user or Station-IC desktop user.

A single local or remote LQ device can host 16 Agent-IC and/or Station-IC users, and a link group can host a total of 48 Agent-IC and/or Station-IC users, with LQ acting as the server. With a host Eclipse HX matrix, many more Agent-IC users can access the production intercom remotely; the number of users able to access the main intercom can vary, depending on the quantity of IP ports on the E-IPA cards. LQ devices can link different industry-standard 2-wire intercom and 4-wire audio systems, irrespective of brand and platform. They also work with SIP telephony systems, allowing Clear-Com's portfolio of intercom systems to seamlessly connect with VoIP phones. www.clearcom.com/

Pliant Technologies The CrewCom wireless intercom system features full-duplex wireless radio packs, excellent range, and multiple RF access points that connect via copper (100 m) or fiber (10 km). CrewCom wireless products are available in 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz models (where this band is legal), and any combination of the frequency bands may be used on the same CrewCom system.

Pliant Technologies CrewCom CB2 wireless intercom system

CrewCom CB2 is also available in 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz, offering the same CrewCom wireless technology while also providing ease of use and high-level performance at an affordable price point for a full-featured intercom system.

Both CrewCom and CB2 offer a new High Density mode, a selectable mode of operation that greatly increases user densities. For CrewCom, the new software-selectable mode supports 32 Radio Packs (RPs) on a single Radio Transceiver (RT) while dynamically allowing any four of the RPs to communicate in full-duplex across four conferences. This allows the system to scale up to hundreds of users.

For CB2, the High Density mode supports up to 16 RPs on a single BaseStation. In addition, users of both systems will have the flexibility to simultaneously deploy Normal-mode-enabled RPs and RTs (synced BaseStations for CB2) along with High Density-mode-enabled devices, providing adaptability for most any application. Pliant also recently introduced the CCU-08 CrewCom Control Unit, which enables use of up to eight 4-wire ports while retaining all the features of the current CCU-22 and CCU-44 products. The new CCU-08 supports up to 82 RPs, 18 in Normal mode and 64 in High Density mode, per Control Unit regardless of RF bands.

Pliant's MicroCom XR digital wireless intercom system provides portable, full-duplex, multi-user intercom. The robust two-channel intercom system is available in 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz and allows up to 10 full-duplex users and unlimited listeners, providing flexibility for a range of applications. The range of accessories for the MicroCom line include 4-wire interface and antenna and headset options. plianttechnologies.com/

Riedel Artist digital matrix audio and intercom ecosystem handles AES3, AES67 (including SMPTE ST 2110-30/31), Dante, VoIP, and analog audio formats. A fiber-based backbone provides a decentralized infrastructure for live audio and intercoms with matrix sizes up to 1024 1024 ports in just 2RU. Multiple frames can be interconnected via dual optical fiber rings to form a single large, full-summing, non-blocking distributed matrix that looks like one system to the user. The Director configuration software is easy to use and boasts the industry's fastest upload times.

Riedel Bolero beltpack

Bolero is a full-roaming, DECT-based wireless intercom system in the license-free 1.9 GHz range and also within the 2.4 GHz range and in hybrid deployments. It can be fully integrated into the Artist digital matrix intercom or used as a standalone, and its features can be applied as a wireless beltpack, a wireless keypanel, or a two-way radio. Several new technologies power Bolero's capabilities, including an advanced DECT receiver (ADR) for multipath-tolerance improvement and near-field communication (NFC) for easy, Touch&Go beltpack registration and RF frequency m

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