With the move from analog to IP intercoms, the benefits of intercoms have grown significantly through the ability to integrate them into overall video surveillance and access control solutions. Increased safety and security, enhanced functionality and analytics in both public and private environments make network intercoms a natural and straightforward extension to video surveillance. But with intercoms being the most directly used and public-facing devices in safety and security, it’s essential that they are designed to combine usability with robustness, protecting them against everything that nature and humans might throw at them.
The perception of an intercom based on analog technology can be limited; little more in many cases than an “enhanced doorbell”. With network intercoms, this capability is transformed. A modern intercom device based on open standards – such as AXIS I8016-LVE Network Video Intercom - can become an integrated part of video surveillance, access control and public safety solutions and a platform for an almost unlimited number of applications and analytics.
With such flexibility, intercom devices are finding their way into an ever-growing number of locations. Whereas once they might have been restricted to being mounted by entry doors to commercial and residential property, intercoms are increasingly being used as help points and emergency phones in public spaces. With this growth in use and environment, comes the need for more robustness.
Designed for constant use, and more
Intercoms have always been heavily-used devices. Designed for frequently used doors and access points, call buttons are potentially pressed hundreds of times per day. They’re also very often situated on external walls and mounting points, and are therefore exposed to all weather conditions. In addition, as intercoms increasingly find their way into more public environments, not only does the traditional need for robust design remain, the unfortunate need to withstand attack and vandalism becomes essential.
There are two key elements to the ability of a device to withstand whatever conditions it may face: ensuring that water and dust cannot enter the device, and resisting impact. Clearly intercoms present challenges in both these areas, as the device includes a call-button, camera, and mesh covering speakers and microphone, in addition to the intercom mounting itself – whether embedded in a wall or externally-mounted – all of which must adhere to standard industry ratings.
For water and dust, the IP69 rating ensures that the device is completely resistant to both dust and water, even under high pressure and high temperature. AXIS I8016-LVE together with its wall-mount benefits from protection at every angle.
In terms of impact, IK ratings define the ability of a device to withstand a direct impact. The highest rating is IK10, which means that the device is protected against 20 joules of impact (the equivalent to the impact of a 5kg mass dropped from 400mm above the impacted surface). Again, AXIS I8016-LVE benefits from this highest-level rating.
The video below demonstrates the level of robustness built into AXIS I8016-LVE:
Connected intercoms for today and tomorrow
It’s essential for any organization to future-proof technology investments, meeting their requirements today while supporting enhancements in the future. Network intercoms are a perfect example.
While an application today may aim to replicate the functionality of a previous analog solution, it opens up numerous potential future use cases in video surveillance, access control and analytics. But ‘future-proof’ investments in intercoms apply equally to the hardware itself, and devices designed for ultimate robustness will last long enough to reap the full benefits of IP technology.
