London-based exhibition centre ExCel has selected Ateis audio and control technology for its voice alarm and public address systems.

London's ExCel centre has selected Ateis audio technology

The equipment, fitted by Unisystems, make up part of the building’s refurbishment project, which will see the centre nearly double in size with more halls and rooms by May.

The original halls have been fitted with Ateis' core voice address system and a linked audio processor (LAP). The LAPs are linked over a fibre network using digital signal processing (DSP) and can be built up from modular units into full systems, handling inputs from microphones in the halls and outputs for each zone.

Each LAP has four secure channels set aside for transmitting emergency message and live announcements from the fireman's microphone, which create the VA network. The LAPs are connected to a voice evacuation unit over a RS232 link. These units deal with the control and fault data necessary to ensure the network is monitoring all activity and functions.

Ateis technology will also be fitted in the new-build areas of the centre in the next three months.

Neil Voce, sales director of Ateis UK, said the key part of the next stage in the project would be bringing the two systems together. "There will be a period of amalgamating the two individual networks into one big, venue-wide network," he said.