IP paging, analog PA, overhead speakers and two-way intercom for offices, warehouses, schools and commercial buildings. Designed around your ceiling height and noise level, not a fixed speaker count.
A paging system broadcasts one-way audio to speakers across an area or zone, which is what you use for announcements, shift changes and emergency messages. An intercom provides two-way conversation between specific points, such as reception and a front door, or dispatch and a loading dock. Most commercial sites end up installing both.
The distinction matters because it changes the equipment entirely. Paging needs amplifier capacity, speaker coverage and zone control. Intercom needs a station at each end, a way to answer it, and usually a door release. Quoting one when you needed the other is the most common mistake we correct on existing systems.
The other thing worth settling early is how staff will actually use it. If announcements come from one reception desk, a single paging microphone is fine. If supervisors need to page from anywhere on the floor, the system needs to work from the phones people already carry, which points toward IP paging rather than a fixed console.
A practical test. If the requirement is "we need to tell everyone something", that is paging. If it is "somebody at the door needs to reach somebody inside", that is intercom. If both are true, they should be specified together so the cabling gets pulled once.
| Paging | Intercom | |
|---|---|---|
| Direction | One-way broadcast | Two-way conversation |
| Reaches | A zone or the whole site | A specific station |
| Typical use | Announcements, shift changes, emergencies | Door entry, dock, secure areas |
| Initiated from | Desk phone, softphone or microphone | A call button at the station |
| Answered by | Nobody, it is a broadcast | Whoever the station rings |
| Common add-on | Scheduled bells and tones | Door release and video |
IP paging runs audio over your existing Cat6 or Cat6A network to PoE-powered speakers and integrates directly with VoIP phone systems. Analog PA drives speakers from a central amplifier over dedicated 70V wire and works independently of the network. IP suits offices and multi-floor buildings. Analog suits warehouses and plants.
Audio travels over existing Cat6 or Cat6A using SIP. Each speaker is a PoE network device with its own address, so zones are defined in software rather than by how the wire was run. Adding a zone later is a configuration change, not a rewire.
A central amplifier drives speakers over dedicated two-conductor wire. Each speaker has a transformer tap setting how much power it draws. Simple, robust, and independent of the network, which matters where Wi-Fi and switching are unreliable.
Common on sites with an office wing and a warehouse. IP speakers and phone integration through the offices, analog horns on the production floor, bridged so one page reaches both. You get network flexibility where it helps and amplifier simplicity where it matters.
| Consideration | IP paging | Analog 70V |
|---|---|---|
| Cabling | Cat6 or Cat6A network drop | Dedicated speaker wire |
| Power | PoE from the switch | Central amplifier |
| Zones | Defined in software | Set by amplifier and wiring |
| Phone system | Native SIP integration | Paging interface required |
| If the network is down | Paging is down | Still works |
| Adding a speaker | Any spare network port | Depends on amplifier headroom |
| Best suited to | Offices, schools, multi-floor | Warehouses, plants, exterior |
Ceiling speakers suit offices, retail and clinics at normal ceiling heights. Horn speakers are required in warehouses, plants and outdoors where ambient noise runs 80 to 90 dB. Surface-mount covers stairwells and concrete ceilings. Pendant speakers hang from high ceilings where neither ceiling nor wall mounting works.
Choosing the wrong type is the single most common reason a paging system fails to do its job. A ceiling speaker installed in a warehouse will be physically present and completely inaudible. A horn speaker in an open-plan office will be painful.
Speaker count comes from ceiling height and ambient noise, not floor area alone. Output drops roughly 6 dB every time the distance doubles, and announcements need to land about 10 dB above the background noise to be understood. That is why the same square footage needs a different system in an office than in a warehouse.
Anyone quoting "one speaker per 400 square feet" is guessing. That figure is only true at one ceiling height and one noise level. We measure the ambient level on site, including whether it changes between a day shift and a night shift, and design against what the building actually does.
| Environment | Ambient noise | Target output | Speaker type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private office, clinic | 40–50 dB | 60–65 dB | Ceiling, 8–10 ft |
| Open plan office | 50–60 dB | 70–75 dB | Ceiling, 9–12 ft |
| Retail floor | 55–65 dB | 75–80 dB | Ceiling or pendant |
| Light assembly | 65–75 dB | 85–90 dB | Pendant or horn |
| Warehouse aisles | 75–85 dB | 90–95 dB | Horn, high mount |
| Plant floor, machining | 85–95 dB | 100–105 dB | High-SPL horn |
| Exterior yard, dock | 60–80 dB | 90–95 dB | Weatherproof horn |
Planning ranges for scoping a system, not a substitute for a reading taken on site.
Hard surfaces in a warehouse reflect sound, and reflections smear speech. Pushing more volume through fewer horns usually makes intelligibility worse, not better. More speakers at moderate output, positioned along the aisles rather than across them, is what produces announcements people can actually follow.
Where speech clarity is a life-safety requirement, systems are assessed against intelligibility measures such as STI rather than sound pressure alone.
On a 70V system every speaker has a transformer tap setting how much amplifier power it draws, usually between 1W and 30W. Tapping a whole building uniformly is what produces the classic complaint: the office is deafening and the dock cannot hear a thing.
Taps get set by area. Offices low, warehouse high, exterior highest. The amplifier is sized above the total connected load so an all-call emergency page has reserve power rather than clipping.
A business intercom gives two-way communication between a station and whoever answers it. A visitor presses the button at the door, reception's desk phone rings, they speak, verify, and release the lock without leaving the desk. On IP systems the same call can ring a mobile or softphone anywhere.
Brands we install. Algo, 2N, Aiphone and Comelit for intercom. Algo, Valcom, CyberData and AtlasIED for IP paging. Bogen, TOA, Bosch and Atlas Sound for analog. We are not a single-brand dealer, so the recommendation follows the building rather than a supply agreement.
SIP-capable IP paging integrates directly with Microsoft Teams Phone, Cisco and most hosted PBX platforms. Staff dial a paging extension from their existing desk phone, Teams client or mobile to reach a zone or the whole building. No separate console, no new hardware on desks, nothing to train.
This is usually the feature that decides IP over analog. A warehouse supervisor with a mobile can page the dock from wherever they are standing. A receptionist announces a visitor by pressing a speed dial. A manager working from home can still reach the floor.
Automated announcements are the other half of it. Scheduling software can trigger shift changes and break times, access control can announce a delivery at the gate, and a warehouse management system can push alerts to a zone without anyone picking up a handset.
Already have an analog system? An older 70V system can usually be connected to a modern VoIP platform through a paging interface, which is considerably cheaper than replacing working amplifiers and speakers. We assess what is installed before recommending anything gets torn out.
Network dependency, stated plainly. IP paging relies on your switching and PoE. If the network is down, paging is down. Where paging carries safety-critical announcements, that is an argument for analog on the production floor, or for UPS-backed switches feeding the speakers.
High-SPL horns along aisles, zone paging by department, dock intercom, weatherproof horns for the yard.
Horns positioned clear of machinery noise, zone separation between production and offices, emergency all-call.
Ceiling speakers with zone paging by floor or department, Teams and VoIP integration, visitor announcement from reception.
Lobby and suite entry intercom, tenant directory panels, common-area paging, door release from each suite.
Classroom speakers, all-call and zone paging, bell scheduling, emergency lockdown announcement.
Low-output ceiling speakers in clinical areas, zone separation from waiting rooms, discreet staff paging.
Background music combined with paging, zone control by area, staff intercom between front and back of house.
Gate intercom, exterior horns, dispatch communication across yard and trailer staging.
Intercom at controlled-access doors where entry needs authorisation rather than a card alone.
Tell us about the space. We measure ambient noise and ceiling height on site, then send an itemised proposal with the speaker layout and zone plan, not just a price.
Have a floor plan to send? Submit the form and reply to the confirmation email with it attached, or email info@velocitycabling.com.
Reviewed October 2026 · Velocity Cabling, Toronto and the GTA.
