Baldwin Boxall Market Sectors – Retail premises and outlets

Shopping is a very popular leisure activity in modern day living – it is also something we do out of necessity. There are many types of retail premises – such as local stores, outlet centres, superstores and shopping centres/malls – each one requiring a different solution (or multiple solutions) with regard to appropriate communication system types. At peak times, or seasonal events, huge numbers of people can be present in a store, or retail area, at any one time. Large numbers of the public equal increased noise levels, whereas a shopping centre early in the morning can be eerily quiet; any mass communication system needs the ability to fluctuate in volume levels accordingly. Building managers and safety offices will know that safety must be considered for any gathering of the public – whatever the numbers. A large supermarket will often need to broadcast general information to customers – such as closing times – but can also benefit from announcing the special offers that are available. This type of announcement, whilst beneficial, is not as important as the need to communicate urgently, and clearly, during an emergency event like a fire. A voice alarm system will – reliably – provide all of this and more. The many types of retail outlet will clearly have very different communication system requirements. For instance, a small local store might benefit from a basic public address method via the telephone system – our telephone interface products have been used many times for this type of solution. However, a shopping centre with its multiple retail outlets will require much more planning with regard to the type of communication methods/systems that are required. These will, in part, be decided by the following of BS9999 (Code of practice for fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings). For reliable public address, and the ability to communicate to all during an emergency, a networked voice alarm system is normally required. Often this will include a site wide voice alarm system (the ‘landlord’ system), with localised systems within the stores (‘tenant’ systems). The landlord system is linked to each of the tenant systems – with the landlord system having priority status. This means that the landlord (or building management) is able to override a tenant broadcast – important during a site-wide evacuation or other emergency situation. Baldwin Boxall’s retail audio management systems are individually designed and configured from the VIGIL range of products. The systems fully comply to all relevant current and possible future standards – including BS5839-8, EN6809, EN54 pt 4 & 16, BS5839-9 and BS8300 (for the disabled toilet alarm). A VIGIL voice alarm (VA) system, with its pre-recorded voice messages and reliable build quality, enables controlled evacuation of any type of retail outlet – from a single store to an entire shopping centre. We have a number of solutions for a voice alarm system in a retail environment, with the option for either centralised or de-centralised control. By including one of our Emergency Voice Communication (EVC) systems (Omnicare or CARE2), further flexibility is provided, ensuring that even the most vulnerable can be safely evacuated. The VIGIL system provides many non-emergency sound solutions, including; public address announcements (lost children, staff location, etc), timed spot announcements (advertisements, closing time), background music (to enhance the ambience of the shopping environment). All these facilities can be broadcast to pre-set or manually selected areas. Ambient noise sensing will ensure that all broadcasts are clearly audible, but not ‘over loud’, during the quieter times as well as the busiest. A major aspect of the system is the sophisticated, yet user-friendly, zoning, routeing and full audio path monitoring facilities and dedicated battery back-up as required in life safety systems. The feature-rich VIGIL2 EVAS DSP-controlled routeing matrix forms the heart of the system. Many buildings require the provision of disabled refuge area, fire telephone and disabled toilet alarm systems. For this we have two options available – Omnicare and CARE2 – providing the complete solution, with the ability to connect different types of outstation on a single system.

For more information on Baldwin Boxall Market Sectors – Retail premises and outlets talk to Baldwin Boxall Communications Limited