The Medical Center for Diabetes, Obesity and Specialties (CEMDOE), located in the Dominican Republic, trusted Musitempo, one of our integrating members, to obtain a solution to their need for mass communication in their operation.

This AV solution had two phases: in the first one the implementation of a Mass Notification system and Public Address was generated, while in the second one an Audiovisual Support System was installed.

Avi Latin America magazine conducted an interview with Fernando Hernández Voigt, project director and CTO at Musitempo, who explained the details of the installation.

"Both the mass notification system and Public Address, as well as the audiovisual support system were installed in different stages because the need immediately was to start up the center, because the part of the audiovisual support was limited only to an area with use similar to a 'convention' space. This space, during the construction process, was completed after the rest of the building."

And he indicated that, since the construction of the building was not finished, it was a process that happened on par with the building works. "We began to evaluate this opportunity in 2019. However, the project only began after the arrival of the pandemic. In 2020 we were approved and delivered the first system in 2021."

For this project, direct communication with the client was of vital importance, who gave directions in the step by step. "The same client, apart from the fact that he made his constructive baking in two phases, also made the contract." That is why two independent projects were carried out, although they are composed of the same system.

Since the building was a totally new construction Musitempo was able to design the entire system from scratch and choose each actor.

Similarly, the project manager commented that they were contacted because they are certified by the Joint Commission International (JCI), in addition to having previous projects with JCI certification, something that that end client specifically sought.

Moreover, the project division has several international certifications, such as JBL, Harman, BSS, AMX, Shure, Atlona and RTI, among others.

Technical characteristics of the integration
The mass notification system was chosen from the Q-SYS brand (for the mass notification system) and RTI (for the control part of the audiovisual support) for the convenience of scalability.

Fernando referred to the advantages involved in choosing Q-SYS: "Having a product that can be programmed in an open architecture format for me makes it fascinating, because it does not limit you to premeditated functions, allowing any type of scalability and integration."

This benefit has already borne fruit, the first part of the project was inaugurated on April 7, 2021 and scalability has already been used to integrate the audiovisual support system solution. It will even be in use in the near future, because an expansion to the medical center building is being considered.

Added value of the project
Fernando commented that they managed to convince the CEMDOE directives not to see the notification system as a simple crisis management support or a "lost and found", but to use it as a support to their daily operation, especially from the commercial point of view.

"Long before the Covid topic started, we had already convinced them to use the pre-recorded audio playback features to promote their services and activities in the various areas, such as the waiting room, cafeteria and others. That they had that informative possibility constantly, but not inopportunely. That is, something pleasant that was mixed with the musical threads corresponding to the various areas, respecting the sensitive spaces that must remain in total silence".

That was so useful that, when the pandemic restrictions emerged, personalized messages were integrated into the medical center for prevention purposes, distance maintenance and frequent grooming. According to Fernando, "he made them unique, in a certain aspect, because there are few health centers that have a solution like this," at least in his country.

In addition, he confirmed that the choice of Q-SYS as an audio processing and control option had been ideal because "at all times of customer needs, which occur after acquiring the equipment, it was extremely easy to add value to their solution."

Now, regarding the audiovisual support system, the control part is RTI, but in general it is made up of multiple brands, such as RTI, Atlona, EIKI in video projection, Da-Lite in screens, FURMAN in voltage conditioning, Middle Atlantic in cabinets, where the latter two are part of the mass notification as well.

Finally, the other distinctive mark of this integration is that the audiovisual support is a project with processing redundancy that relies on QSYS as the only Core, using a single amplifier per floor and an additional IDF in the cafeteria and the convention area, to provide exclusive service to that portion of the system.