VX ENTERPRISE BROADCAST VOIP PHONE SYSTEM IN DEPTH
VoIP for Broadcast. From Telos, Naturally.
VX is the world’s first VoIP (Voice over IP) talkshow system, and VX Enterprise is the next evolution of this legendary system, now with built-in support for AES67 in a 1RU chassis. This whole-plant broadcast phone system is incredibly powerful, very flexible, and highly scalable.
VoIP has already taken the business world by storm, increasing the flexibility of office phone systems and PBXs while simultaneously lowering maintenance and equipment costs. In fact, most Fortune 500 companies have replaced their older PBX systems with VoIP for just these reasons. There’s no reason broadcasters shouldn’t take advantage of this cost-saving technology as well. In addition to cost savings from digital phone service provisioning, VX Enterprise significantly eases the cost of installation, maintenance, and cabling by using standard Ethernet as its data backbone.
As a result, VX Enterprise is naturally scalable, capable of serving even the largest of facilities. There are major operational benefits as well. VX Enterprise combines the flexibility and economy of modern SIP networking with powerful digital signal and audio processing—making it easier than ever for talent to take control of their phone system. You can move and share lines between studios at the touch of a button. VX Enterprise is truly the future of broadcast phones.
Why VoIP for Broadcast?
VoIP is a natural for broadcasters. Using VoIP, you can interconnect the phone system CPU with audio interfaces, phone sets, console controllers, and PCs running screening software using efficient, low-cost Ethernet. You can finally share phone lines among multiple studios and route caller audio anywhere in your facility, easily and instantly. Got a hot talk show that suddenly needs more lines in a certain studio? Just a few keystrokes at a computer and you’re ready—no delays and no cables to pull. VX Enterprise can even connect with your business office’s VoIP PBX to facilitate easy call transfers.
Of course, it’s got to sound good. And it does, thanks to more than two decades of DSP hybrid technology developed by Telos. Every incoming line has its own 5th-generation digital hybrid, our most advanced ever, packed full of technology engineered to extract the cleanest, clearest caller audio from any phone line—even noisy cellular calls. Multiple lines can be conferenced with superior clarity and fidelity. Smart AGC ensures consistent caller audio levels. New Acoustic Echo Cancellation from FhG removes feedback and echo in open-speaker studio situations. And if you choose to use SIP Trunking telco services, calls from mobile handsets with SIP clients, HD capable telephone sets, and PC apps will benefit from VX Enterprise’s native support of the G.722 codec, instantly improving caller speech quality.
Since VX Enterprise uses Ethernet as its network backbone, it naturally plugs right into Axia IP-Audio networks, connecting multiple channels of audio and control using a single Ethernet cable. If you don’t have an IP-Audio network yet, that’s OK; Telos Alliance xNodes provide AES audio and GPIO connections that work with your existing studio equipment.
VX Enterprise Components
VX Enterprise
VX Enterprise 1RU rack-mount device is the heart of the system. It provides all the call control and audio processing needed for the system, and supports up to 120 active calls on-air simultaneously. Its two Gigabit Ethernet ports provide a cost-effective interface to both telephone lines and studio audio via proven Livewire AoIP. VX Enterprise is Web-based, so remote control and configuration are a snap — engineers can work with it from any place they can get online.
Call-processing is sophisticated and flexible. Lines may be readily shared among studios; the Web interface allows easy assignment of lines to “shows,” which can then be selected by users on the studio controllers. Each studio can provide its own Program-on-Hold audio to callers.
Audio processing features also have taken a leap forward. The processing power of VX Enterprise allows multiple calls to be conferenced and aired simultaneously, with excellent quality. The hybrids are equipped with a rich processing toolbox to make caller audio sound its best, no matter what kind of line or phone the caller uses. Caller audio benefits from Smart AGC coupled with famous Telos three-band adaptive Digital Dynamic EQ and a three-band adaptive spectral processor. Send audio gets its own sweetening with an AGC/limiter and FhG’s Acoustic Echo Cancellation technology that literally eliminates open-mic feedback. Call ducking and host override are part of the VX Enterprise toolkit as well, and talent can manage and customize their telephone settings and workflow using VX Enterprise Show Profiles to store and recall commonly used show configurations.
You’ll notice that there are no audio I/O or phone jacks on VX Enterprise. All connections to the Engine are via the two Ethernet jacks that connect to your system’s Ethernet switch to support a wide variety of peripherals: telephone lines, Livewire studio audio, VSet phones, console-integrated controllers, etc. If you have a VoIP-based PBX or SIP endpoint telco service, VX Enterprise uses standard SIP (Session Initiation Protocol).
The Coolest Broadcast Phone Controllers Ever
With decades of experience designing broadcast phone systems, it’s no wonder broadcasters agree that Telos makes the industry’s most powerful, most flexible system controllers. All VSet phones can be powered by PoE from a Telos-approved switch, a PoE port on an Axia console engine, or by using a power injector.
VSet12
The VSet12 phone controller is an IP-based phone set with two large, high-contrast color LCD panels that provide line status and caller information. VSet phones can work like a traditional Telos controller, with calls being selected, held, and dropped in the way to which operators have grown accustomed. But because the VX Enterprise system is so powerful, much more functionality is unlocked: You can now spread multiple calls over a number of faders, using one for each call so that operators can control each line’s level individually. You can hard-assign individual lines to fixed faders, such as for VIP calls.
VSet6
VSet6 is a 6-line phone controller for VX Enterprise. Like the VSet12, it has a bright, attractive LCD color display with Status Symbols that feed talent instant information about line and caller status, and controls that enable talent to step through queued calls, busy incoming lines, lock calls on-air, start an external recording device, et cetera. Next Call functionality speeds workflow for producers, screeners, and talent. With all the control functions of the VSet12, it’s great for smaller or secondary studios.
On-Console Control
Live calls or pre-recorded, interviews or audience participation, one thing’s certain: Phone segments are an integral part of today’s fast-paced radio. But up to now, the phone system was separate from the on-air console; audio was shared, but little else. Wouldn’t it be great if talent could take control of phones without ever having to divert their attention from the board?
They can: the Axia Console Controller provides the ideal way to integrate broadcast phones into the on-air console—the control center of every studio. VX systems connect directly to Axia consoles using Livewire+™ AES67 IP-Audio to eliminate the cost and complexity of old-style inputs, outputs, and mix-minuses. And now, VX Systems have the added flexibility of AES67 support. Multiple phone lines—each with a dedicated hybrid—can automatically map to individual console faders for complete control of caller audio. Multiple phone lines—each with a dedicated hybrid—can automatically map to individual console faders for complete control of caller audio. And users enjoy seamless console integration, with phone controls right on the board so that talent can dial, answer, screen, and drop calls without ever diverting their attention from the console. Information about line and caller status can be displayed right on the console as well.
There are plenty of other advantages to melding phones with consoles. Like ease of installation: IP-Audio consoles with built-in phone controllers don’t need any additional wires or connections. Their control signaling, caller audio, and backfeeds ride on the network connection that’s already there. Bringing caller audio into the IP-Audio domain makes it routable like any other audio source. With the Virtual Mixers built into Axia consoles, you could even choose to dynamically conference multiple lines and control their gain with a single fader.
Telos Alliance xNode Audio Interfaces
Telos Alliance xNodes let you connect VX Enterprise to any non-networked radio console or other broadcast equipment, using standard AES/EBU interfaces. A GPIO Logic xNode provides control logic where needed. To cover all your bases, the Telos Alliance Mixed Signal xNode provides one mic/line analog input (switchable); two analog line inputs (dedicated); three analog line outputs; one AES3 input, one AES3 output, and two GPIO ports, each with five opto-isolated ins and outs.
The Telos Alliance AES/EBU audio xNode 4 AES/EBU inputs and 4 AES/EBU outputs. Left and right input signals may be split and routed independently as mono signals. Stunning performance specs include 48 kHz sampling rate, 126dB of dynamic range, and <0.0003% THD.
Each Telos Alliance GPIO logic xNode interface provides six general-purpose logic ports each with five opto-isolated inputs and five outputs. A logic port can be associated with any audio input or output and routes control data transparently along with the audio.
VSet Call Controller
Want a VX Enterprise system, but don’t have an Axia mixing console? No problem—Telos provides VSet Console Controller electronics packages, which may be fitted to your console using panels supplied by your OEM console provider or preferred third-party fabricator. Like the VSet12 phoneset, the VSet Console Controller provides visual line-status indicators and fast-take keys for selection and control of up to 12 callers, along with standard controls such as Take, Drop, Hold and Busy keys, and the Telos-exclusive “Next Call” key to speed workflow for producers, screeners, and talent. There’s also a built-in keypad for on-console dialing of outgoing numbers.
VSet Desktop Controller
The Telos VSet Desktop Controller with visual line-status indicators provides selection and control of up to 12 callers. Includes standard controls to allow fast, error-free talent operation, including Take, Drop, Hold, and Busy keys. Telos exclusive “Next Call” key speeds workflow for producers, and talent; built-in keypad allows on-hybrid dialing of outgoing numbers. VSet Desktop Controller works in producer mode only. Make and answer calls using VSet6, VSet12, or on hybrid with VSet Desktop Controller.
Broadcast Bionics XScreen Lite Call-Screening Software Included
XScreen Lite software comes with every VX Enterprise purchase and provides Unlimited Lite users, dial, hold, hang up, screened hold and next, conference control, dump mode, lock call, VSet control, telephone number, location, name, point & disposition, chat, clock, and call log (6 hours only) functionality. Please download your XScreen software from www.xscreen2.com.
Broadcast Bionics PhoneBOX VX
Broadcast Bionics offers PhoneBOX VX, a tailored-for-VX version of their original PhoneBOX software. PhoneBOX VX gives VX users an amazing amount of information and a high level of control over the VX system. There’s prize management, call editing, and recording, sophisticated visual talkback, including a drag-and-drop database your show’s calls, plus a rich phonebook and visual warnings, tied to Caller ID, for persistent or nuisance callers. Find out more from www.phoneboxvx.com.
NeoSoft
NeoSoft offers NeoScreener, a call management solution that interfaces Telos NX12, NX6, IQ6, VX, HX6, 2x12 and 2101 systems, allowing for line control and database lookup using caller ID. The solution can interface to NeoWinners which is NeoGroupe's contest management software. It is designed for radio and television stations that need to manage their flow of incoming phone calls.
NeoScreener also handles external inputs, like SMS, Website, iPhone. Database driven, it enhances the phone-call workflow. With NeoScreener, call screeners can easily welcome calls and present them to the Talent on a specific display. Visit www.neogroupe.com to learn more.
Arctic Palm CS Call Management
The CS Call Management package provides producers and talent with the tools to capture and control callers while staying in touch with each other in a single Caller Control window. Designed for the VX VOIP systems, both local and remote users are in constant communication.
For more information, visit www.arcticpalm.com/CSScreener.htm.