Loudspeakers that you can't hear?!? Telent knows how to communicate clearly

100 London Underground Stations, 25,000 loudspeakers, 6,000 CCTV cameras, constant commuter traffic, sound testing restrictions, midnight work hours and a five-person team to design the installation. For communication support services experts Telent, completing a communications upgrade is always a challenge.

With the help of a KTP programme, Telent is aiming to revolutionise the communications testing process of public address systems on the underground through the creation of the first standardised acoustic reference model for underground environments.

KTP Associate Louis Gomez, is leading pioneering new research into data gathering techniques which will cut down lengthy testing time on-site and transform the way things are done in the acoustics industry worldwide. "What people are doing at the moment is not based on science or experiments. It's just a rule of thumb and we want to go beyond that and create a model that is going to accurately predict the sound field in underground stations," Louis explained.

"One of the things that is coming out of this is a new quiet way to test. At the moment there is a real problem in that although the community want a nice clear address system, they don't want to be disturbed in the middle of the night with the testing noises," explained Paul Dobbins, Managing Engineer at Telent.

Telent's first KTP is producing such impressive results that they have since taken on a second project with Associate Mohamed Alsaloom who has been tasked with developing, testing and implementing new design rules to optimise the use of CCTV cameras. The requirement to deliver surveillance systems that utilise the latest technology and techniques but are robust and fit for purpose is fundamental to Telent. The KTP with LSBU will enable Telent to obtain the strategic skills needed to develop a new product validation capabiliy.

“These projects initially focus on the London Underground network, but the business potential for Telent is huge with the regeneration of many of the world’s railway networks taking place over the next decade,” reports Marketing and Strategy Academic Mikko Arevuo. Technical input on the two projects is being provided by Acoustics specialist, Dr Stephen Dance and by Visualisation expert Professor Ebad Banissi.