VoIP Leaks from NAB

Not all the news at the National Association of Broadcasters' (NAB) annual Vegas meeting was about video. Clear-Com Communications systems quietly rolled out a VoIP-based intercom system for broadcasters. The multi-channel and multi-user Concert intercom software provides users with a reliable and cost-effective way to easily communicate.

Concert can operate either in a LAN environment or via the Internet between local and remote users. Creating audio conferences is as simple as drag-and-drop and includes (as you would expect) a presence awareness feature to indicate participants' availability. Support is built in for wideband and ultrawide band codecs for quality audio as well as 128-bit AES encryption for ensuring privacy.   The system is said to scale to "many hundreds" of users.

Before writing this off as a way-too-vertical application, Clear-Com also sells solutions to the military and government sectors, as well as to commercial firms requiring intercom solutions for healthcare and industrial environments. Skype and other VoIP/IM solutions are "free" and available, but Clear-Com may find a number of customers that want both responsiveness and tighter security for real-time voice communications.

For more:
- Read the Broadcast Buyer write-up of the Clear-Com VoIP intercom system

Related articles:
Electrocom's VoIP Intercom for K-12 Schools Report
Freescale's embedded VoIP chip can be used to replace analog intercom solutions