Biamp Vocia has handled bells, live announcements and emergency messages at Cardijn College in Adelaide for more than ten years, with each of its three campuses running its own Vocia core, according to a Biamp case study published on 21 October 2026. For a Dublin school, college or training centre spread over more than one building or site, the useful lesson is how the college grows: it plans to copy the same Biamp Vocia configuration to each new campus rather than starting again.
Product image: Biamp.
- Biamp published the Cardijn College case study on 21 October 2026.
- The college has more than 2,250 students and staff on three campuses in Adelaide, with a fourth campus in development.
- Its planned Larkin and Aldinga sites are expected to use the same Vocia set up as the existing campuses.
- Paging is zoned so a message can go to staff only, students indoors, students outdoors or any combination.
- Biamp Vocia DS-10 desk stations in the administration areas are used for live announcements.
The Cardijn College story in brief
Biamp's case study on Cardijn College describes a multi campus Catholic college with three campuses, each with a central Vocia processor of its own. Biamp lists the parts as the Vocia paging system, Vocia DS-10 paging stations, Voltera amplifiers and Desono in-ceiling loudspeakers, the last two in one major building on the Marian campus.
The college's ICT Director, Tony Sayce, tells Biamp that the system is simple to grow: "It's very easy to expand." He also describes a long power failure at two campuses, after which, he says, Vocia "just booted up and worked".
Biamp does not name the installer. 1Install was not involved; we cover the story because it shows how a campus paging system behaves over a decade, which is what a Dublin school buyer most wants to know before spending money.
Five Biamp Vocia lessons for schools and colleges in Dublin
1. Give every site a brain of its own. Cardijn's campuses each have their own Vocia core. If the internet connection drops, each campus still runs its bells and paging. A Dublin school with a junior and senior building, or a college with a city centre site and a sports ground, should ask the same of any paging design.
2. Zone by audience, not just by room. The college can page staff only, students inside, students outside, or a mix. Many older systems in Dublin schools were wired by building, which means a message for teachers goes to every corridor. Thinking about audiences first gives a far more useful system.
3. Keep a human voice. The college chose live announcements over recordings, because Biamp says students respond more reliably to a voice they recognise, above all during drills. That has a practical effect on design: the desk station needs to be where the right person actually sits, and its microphone needs to be clear in a noisy yard as well as a quiet classroom.
4. Copy what works. The planned campuses are expected to get the same configuration. If your school is adding a building, ask for the paging to be designed so the new block joins the existing system with the same zones, stations and bell schedule.
5. Expect it to recover by itself. Biamp says Vocia came back without intervention after outages of six to eight hours. Ask your installer what happens on your own site after a power cut, including the network switches the system depends on, and test it.
What the Biamp Vocia DS-10 desk station offers
The DS-10 is the station Cardijn College uses for live announcements. Biamp's data sheet describes ten front panel buttons for recalling page codes, up to 999 user configurable page codes, a backlit display and a cardioid gooseneck microphone. It takes power and audio over a single network cable, using PoE, and is CE marked.
For a school office that means one tidy unit on the desk, with buttons set up for the announcements staff make most often, such as all school, playground only or staff only, called up from its ten buttons.
Bells, paging and evacuation in one system
Cardijn uses Vocia for scheduled bells and everyday announcements as well as emergency voice evacuation. Biamp says Vocia is EN 54 certified and compliant with NFPA 72-2016, and describes its design as decentralised with no single point of failure.
If a Dublin school wants its paging to carry evacuation messages, that has to be planned with the building's fire safety design and checked against the rules that apply to the building. Biamp's own design material says local standards may apply and that its example designs must be validated by the relevant authorities. For bells and day to day announcements only, the work is simpler, but the zoning questions above still apply.
Planning paging for a Dublin campus
When planning paging for a school or college site, the first questions are how many buildings and outdoor areas there are, who needs to make announcements and from where, which audiences need separate zones, how the bell schedule works across the week, and how the paging will connect to the network the IT team already runs. Each answer shapes the equipment list.
We have written about other Biamp projects from Biamp's own releases, including a Biamp audio system at a gym in Adelaide and the Biamp LVH-900 and VenuePolar design tools. You can read more about education AV, get a guide figure from our commercial quote builder, or see how a project runs.
1Install designs, supplies and installs meeting rooms, Teams Rooms and audio visual systems for offices, schools and colleges in Dublin.
Questions we are often asked
Can Biamp Vocia cover several school campuses?
Yes. Cardijn College runs Vocia across three campuses, each with its own core processor, and plans to use the same configuration at its planned Larkin and Aldinga sites.
Can Biamp Vocia send a message to staff only?
Yes. Biamp says the college can page staff only, students indoors, students outdoors or any combination of those.
Which Biamp Vocia paging station does Cardijn College use?
The DS-10 desk paging station, placed in the administration areas for live announcements.
Does Biamp Vocia keep working after a power cut?
At Cardijn College it did. Biamp says the system resumed without any intervention after outages lasting six to eight hours.
Who installed the Biamp Vocia system at Cardijn College?
Biamp's case study does not name an installer, and 1Install was not involved in the project.
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