With 300,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space, 41 meeting rooms and a 24,544-square-foot ballroom, the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center is one of Boston’s largest and most flexible meeting spaces.
In the summer of 2010, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority completed a phased upgrade of the Center’s facility-wide sound system. The goal was to improve speech intelligibility in emergency paging – crucial because the sound system is used in part as a supplement to the fire alarm system and must comply with NFPA-72 speech intelligibility codes.
Consulting firm Communications Design Associates (CDA) of Canton, MA selected ADTECH Systems to implement Phase Two of this project. This phase entailed:
Installation and commissioning of a state-of-the-art audio control system based on BSS London processing and Crown amplification. The system allows paging from anywhere in the building to any combination of exhibit and meeting spaces. This “front end” of the system also processes audio signals for dozens of meeting rooms and common area zones.
Because this network sound system is a critical part of the fire/evacuation system, signal redundancy was mandated between the three equipment rooms. Should a problem occur within the system, redundant sections will automatically take over and ensure that crucial information is heard. All processing equipment is on a BSS Blu-Link network as well as a fiber-optic ring. ADTECH programmed the system so that all amplifiers and even the Surgex power strips are network-controlled and monitored.
ADTECH Systems created a set of installation drawings, then worked closely with union electrical contractor Sullivan & McLaughlin Companies –as well as convention planners at the Hynes– to complete the installation, programming and commissioning of the system.
The work took place during a busy convention season with no disruptions to exhibits or meetings and no lost revenue for the Center.
