Commercial Weather Alert System

Toyobo Kureha America Co., Ltd. is in Cincinnati, OH, and specializes in producing and supplying high-quality filtration media. After severe storms in the Cincinnati area, Mark Welch called Visiplex looking for a Public-Address paging system with automated weather alert capabilities to cover the entire 100,000 square footage of the manufacturing and warehouse area. He needed the system to include being heard over the machinery noise, automated activation of pre-programmed voice alerts when tornado warnings are issued, and expanding the system when needed.

Visiplex’s solution consisted of a VS4810 wireless paging base station, interfaced with VS3042 National Weather Service monitoring radio, for the main office, and three sets of VNS2214-8 wireless, High-Power PA Horn speakers to provide full indoor/outdoor audio coverage.

The proposed system was easy to install and operate. When the VS3042 monitoring radio detects a weather alert, it activates the VS4810 paging encoder to send an activation signal to all wireless horn speakers to play a pre-recorded Severe Weather Alert message throughout the facility. During everyday activities, the system provides instant voice messaging capabilities.

The proposed system is fully wireless, eliminating costly wiring between different building areas and needing only an AC outlet for each controller. The total cost of the system was approximately $3,200.