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Integration and innovation in public address and conferencing market

Johan Jubbega, senior vice president sales, Bosch Security Systems division, Robert Bosch outlines what is happening in the PA and conferencing sectors.

Johan Jubbega, senior vice president sales, Bosch Security Systems division, Robert Bosch outlines what is happening in the PA and conferencing sectors. The public address market had a global volume of about 1.4 billion euros in 2012, 406 million of which came from the EMEA region. Here we saw large differences between the countries because the market is closely linked to the construction industry. By 2020 the public address sector will have grown globally by around 38% compared to 2012 with an annual growth of 4.7% globally and 3.2% in the EMEA market.
 If we now turn to the conference market, we see a similar development. The global volume was 231 million euros last year, with EMEA contributing 104 million euros. Looking towards 2020, we predict a global growth of 43% compared to 2012 with an annual growth of 5.2% globally and 3.3% in the EMEA market. 
 Our plan is to continue to grow in both areas and we’re already well on track. Bosch Security Systems achieved a turnover of roughly 1.5 billion euros in 2012 – that’s about 4% more than the previous year and above the market development.
 Our founder, Robert Bosch famously said: “Anyone who stops getting better, has stopped being good.” An important factor for getting better is integration – bringing single components together to form a holistic solution. This applies to the combined power of our three brands on the communications market: Bosch, Dynacord and Electro-Voice. Our future-proof connectivity via the OMNEO platform and the increasing cooperation between these brands will further enhance our leading position in the professional communication market. The OMNEO architecture provides both audio transport and system control over standard IP networks offering a powerful, integrated multi-vendor solution. OMNEO’s program transport component, Dante, is the result of a partnership between Bosch and Audinate of Australia and ensures the high quality required. Dante has already been widely adopted. It is also the right choice for the future as it will be fully compliant with the emerging AVB (Audio Video Bridging) standard.
 The system control component – OCA, for Open Control Architecture, has been developed by Bosch Security Systems in cooperation with the OCA Alliance. OMNEO was first introduced at Prolight and Sound in 2012. Using the new RCM-28 module OMNEO has been integrated in the Electro-Voice Tour Grade and Dynacord PowerH Series of power amplifiers. We have now made the first step towards enabling our customers to enjoy fully standardized media networks, where not only Bosch equipment, but also products from various other manufacturers interoperate smoothly. 
 If we take a look at public address technology, we see a trend towards IP and interconnection. This means new developments for the voice alarm market will be IP driven. We will be providing our customers with solutions using IP for both project upgrades and new projects. Alongside this, we see a growing need for foreground sound, a market segment that we’re actively addressing with an expanding portfolio. The integration of announcement, foreground music and live performance or speech with a need for user-friendliness and more DSP power, was a clear call for innovative solutions to enhance growth in this segment as well. PLENA matrix (top) is tailored to a wide range of applications, including live music, background music, high-demand speech environments and zone announcement. It delivers fully-featured digital audio control, with maximum flexibility and reliability. Now even small-scale clients like gyms, small hotels, restaurants, bars, business centres, retail stores and schools, can experience professional audio in an extremely cost effective and easy-to-install platform. PLENA matrix’ strengths are ease of operation and cutting-edge performance.@page_break@In conference solutions, we see a clear trend towards media integration and connectivity of audio and video, the linking of separate locations and the need to access content both on the internet and within meetings. To maintain and expand our leading position, Bosch launched a complete OMNEO-based multimedia conference system at Prolight + Sound. The integration of audio, video, meeting content and internet access are key drivers for this development. DCN multimedia (top) is designed to integrate audio, video, documents and internet access in one single device. DCN multimedia is thus set to change the game in conferencing by enabling attendees to focus on content rather than technology and turns them into active participants rather than listeners. It uses multimedia conference devices with high-resolution touch-screens for retrieving and viewing multimedia content like documents and presentations, and to access the Internet for additional information. Thus making it easier for delegates to convey their message, get their story across, to explain and convince. DCN multimedia is the first IP-based conference system built on the OMNEO media networking architecture. Operating on fully standardized routable Ethernet networks, DCN multimedia guarantees flexibility, cost-effective installation and maintenance. It is based on an open platform, making it extremely scalable so that it can grow as needs evolve. The multimedia conference devices can be easily expanded by adding software functionality without the need to change hardware. Third-party or custom-made apps can be added to enhance the meeting experience even further. With DCN multimedia, Bosch is continuing its tradition of ground-breaking conferencing solutions. We were the first to introduce a fully digital conference system, which set the industry standard more than 20 years ago – and like all our products, it is backed by the world-renowned Bosch customer support and service commitment. www.boschsecurity.com