8 Tips for Choosing the Right Airport Audio PA System

To ensure seamless operation, as well as great passenger guidance and the occasional proper emergency announcements, airports have to rely on effective communication systems. Great airport management and you can learn a bit more on how to improve it if you read this, is crucial, which is why ensuring great communication is a must.

How do you, though, ensure great communication? Well, as you may have guessed, you need the right public address system for making those announcements and providing proper guidance. These systems are crucial for public communication, for operational announcements, as well as for emergency notifications. Furthermore, they can offer multilingual support, and they can seamlessly integrate with background music sources.

The above, of course, goes only if you choose the perfect system for you. In other words, if you rush into things and make buying decisions based on hunches instead of facts, chances are that you will regret the purchase. Since this is not what you want to happen, you should take as much time as you need to explore the different options, take the right things into account along the way, and ultimately choose the perfect airport audio PA system.

If you haven’t needed to think about these products for a while, let alone purchase them, you may be confused about how to do a great job. Regardless of whether your current system needs an upgrade, or you haven’t had one in the past at all, you will need to put a lot of effort into making the perfect decision. And, since you are most likely unsure of how to do that, below I will share the tips that will help you, and lead you towards buying great devices for your airport needs.

Read a bit more on those systems here as well: https://www.airport-technology.com/features/feature113467/?cf-view 

  • Assess the Size and the Layout of the Airport

You can’t decide on the specifications you need if you don’t take the size and the layout of the airport into account and properly assess it. Larger airports will, of course, need systems with broader coverage. So, pretty much the first thing to do is assess the size and the layout of the space, aiming at defining its requirements and then checking if the PA systems you’re considering can meet those requirements.

  • Take Zoning Into Account

Zoning cannot be ignored. Check-in areas, gates, security zones, baggage claim zones… Those are just some of the areas that an airport may have and be divided into. A PA solution with zoning features will help you direct your announcement to specific areas when necessary, instead of having every announcement cover every single area, which could confuse the passengers, as well as the staff. This type of targeted communication will also reduce unnecessary noise in those areas that are not relevant to the specific announcement you want to make.

  • Clarity Is a Must

When making any kind of announcement, you want them to be completely clear. Intelligibility is, naturally, crucial in airport environments. You don’t want the passengers wandering around, not knowing what is expected of them, and you don’t want the staff to be in the same situation. Plus, you also don’t want any of your critical announcements to go unheard due to a lack of clarity. Thus, choose a PA solution that will achieve clarity even in noisy and crowded spaces.

  • Consider Emergency Notification Features

At one point or another, you will have to send out certain emergency notifications. Thus, when aiming at choosing a great airport audio public address system for announcements, you should also take time to consider the emergency notification features. Check if the system can be integrated with your current emergency alert systems, whether there is the option to pre-record emergency messages, as well as the option to override other audio sources during those critical situations. Those features are certainly important, so make sure that the solution you’re choosing will have them.

  • Multilingual Support Matters

Managing an airport also means dealing with people from all over the world. Thus, multilingual support is essential. So, what you have to do is ensure that the PA system you are choosing offers easy and seamless integration with multilingual capabilities. Once again, this can include the option to add pre-recorded messages, as well as the automatic translation option.

  • Check Integration Options

I’ve mentioned a few times that you will want to be able to integrate the PA solution with some other systems used in airport management. This includes digital signage, flight information displays, CCTV cameras, and other tech solutions you may be using to improve operations. This is why you always have to check the integration options before buying a PA system, to ensure that it is compatible and that it can work well with the other solutions important for the proper functioning of the airport.

  • Review Maintenance Requirements

Whatever system you choose, it will need to be adequately maintained to function perfectly and for a long time to come. It would be best for you to opt for those solutions that are user-friendly when it comes to both installation and maintenance. Check for maintenance services as well, and for the availability of reliable customer support, because you may need it at one point or another. Maintenance requirements are also crucial factors to check when choosing any PA systems (go here to get more tips on that), including those for airports.

  • Research the Suppliers

To be sure that you are getting high-quality products and that you will enjoy using them for a long time, without frequently hitting one snag after another, you’ll need to buy the products from the right suppliers. Meaning, therefore, that you will need to research various ones in great detail before deciding. Remember to check their experience level, and don’t forget to read some reviews of their products as well. All of that, coupled with the process of comparing the costs, will help you ultimately select the perfect PA system for the airport.

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