You can connect your office phone system to an overhead loudspeakers paging system to make announcements or play background music. An extra interface device is needed in order to create the connection. Your choice of the interface depends on your need for either single or multiple announcement zones
Bogen Communications UTI 1 allows for one zone paging, that is you can only page all the connected loudspeakers at once (speakers need to be chain-linked). It does have a connection to speakers that will relay only the paging from the telephone and another one that will mix in music from the music source, giving you a choice between the two.
(The setup shown here is analog.)
The Bogen Communications UTI 310 is configurable for 3-12 different zones, that is you can page different sets of loudspeakers separately (speakers are connected directly to the UTI). It can also support two different music sources.
Components
- Telephone unit: You will use one of the phone-line jacks to connect to the interface.
- UTI: Universal Telephone Paging Interface is a device that creates the bridge between a phone and speakers. It also allows for other audio sources to be incorporated into the paging setup.
- Amplifier (optional): Allows you to control the volume level and balance of the audio. The need for an amplifier really depends on the type of speakers you use. self-amplified speakers do not require one.
- Music source (optional): The paging system can be used to play background music in an office environment. The source of the music can be any device with an RCA-type audio output. It connects to the UTI as seen here. A stereo connection is provided on the device. A mono connection can be plugged into either side.
- Speakers: The Bogen UTI models support self-amplified speakers. An amplifier can be used with non-amplified speakers, but this will only be economic enough in a single zone setup where only one amplifier is needed. As shown in the illustrations you can chain-connect additional speakers in a larger office environment in each zone.
For large warehouse environments, horn-type speakers are recommended.
For smaller office environments, ceiling-mounted speakers will usually suffice.
