AEQ has announced it will be showcasing its latest technologies for professional audio production and broadcasting, including Forum IP Plus, its new AoIP digital console for radio and television, and Systel Max, an advanced call management and multiconferencing system for broadcast and corporate environments, at the 2026 NAB Show, April 18-22 at its booth C3106

The company said that the Forum IP Plus and Systel Max both illustrate the company’s focus on flexible, scalable solutions designed for today’s workflows, where IP connectivity, system integration, and operational efficiency are key.

Forum IP Plus is AEQ’s new AoIP digital console, designed for radio and broadcast production environments that require maximum flexibility and seamless integration into modern IP infrastructures.

As part of the company’s Forum series, it combines ease of use with extensive configuration capabilities that are capable of adapting to all types of scenarios, from compact studios to complex installations.

It features 32 mix and processing buses and 10 N-1 buses, along with multichannel connectivity via AoIP or MADI. Optional features include telephone hybrids, a virtual control surface, and a touchscreen for control and monitoring. Its modular 3RU FR_CORE engine allows configuration of up to 24 motorized faders in groups of four and management of up to 180 channels.

In addition, AEQ will present Systel Max, its next-generation call-in and multiconferencing system, developed for radio, television, and professional environments that require efficient, high-quality communications.

Based on VoIP technology and the SIP protocol, Systel Max enables the integration of broadcast communications with existing IP PBXs, corporate telephony systems, and IP service providers.

This helps reduce operating costs and eliminate the need for traditional dedicated lines, AEQ said. The system is highly scalable, with the capacity to manage up to 128 lines distributed across multiple studios.

Its architecture, which is based on a non-blocking digital matrix and Dante / AES67 connectivity, means Systel Max ensures that multiple calls can be on air simultaneously without compromising audio quality, AEQ said.

It also offers various control options through software applications and touchscreen terminals, adapting to the workflows of producers, engineers, and presenters in both radio and television.

2026 NAB Show attendees will be able to see demos of Forum IP Plus and Systel Max firsthand, along with other AEQ solutions, at stand C3106.

A reliable intercom system is the glue that holds live production together. In our latest Guide to Intercoms, we take a look at the evolution of intercom systems and how they have adapted to the challenges of today's live production environment.

Download your free guide here

Broadcasting is all about communicating to and with the viewing audience. A big part of making this happen is the ability for production teams, technical crew and on-air talent to communicate with each other. Which is why intercom has always been a key technology, albeit one with fairly humble beginnings. But from relatively simple systems for studio communications, with facilities to talk to incoming sources, it has grown into both a continually developing technical area and a substantial business sector.

Part of this can be attributed to the expanding scale of TV production, not just bigger and more elaborate shows but also the ever growing use of remote access through IP networks and the cloud. This has seen REMI (REMote Integration) become a major consideration for intercom installations, although most manufacturers regard it as something that is already well-established in live production.

Smaller Crews
The difference today, says Dave MacKinnon, recently appointed vice president of product management at Clear-Com, is that whereas such a set-up would have been “very well planned out” 10 years ago, broadcasters are now working on a more “run and gun” basis.

“More productions are being done by either one person or a small production team,” explains MacKinnon, who came to Clear-Com after a career that began with the federal government and continued with 12 years at NBCUniversal. “And because of increased bandwidth and 5G, the production center doesn’t have to be in the city the show is coming out of. In the last few years the economics of broadcasting have changed dramatically, with many broadcasters wanting to spin up FAST channels to extend the value of what they are doing.”

As part of this, MacKinnon adds, “flexibility and interoperability” are the two main features broadcasters expect from modern intercom systems. Both these criteria are highlighted by John Hooper, president of Eartec, which produces a range of wireless headsets that can be connected to wired intercoms using the company’s digital interface module.

Eartec’s “plug and play solution includes software to balance the signals of the existing wired intercom and Eartec’s full duplex wireless transceivers to create a seamless audio link,” Hooper says. “We’re also seeing a growth in demand for long-range communication and offer [Eartec’s] Global Connect system for wireless communication over IP. This is linked to a computer or even a smartphone and allows mobile wireless users to communicate in full duplex through the internet.”

Eartec recently announced the availability of its new UltraLITE PRO16, a full duplex wireless headset aimed at larger crew sizes.

REMI Workflows
Rick Seegull, senior vice president of technology and business development at Riedel Communications, adds scalability and reliability to the list of requirements along with flexibility and interoperability. “Of course, there is a major IP component to provide for these features and most are converging to a SMPTE ST 2110-based system so they can easily share resources and sources—for everything, not just intercom—without creating technology islands,” he says.

REMI workflows have been at the forefront of broadcaster’s needs in live location work for several years, Seegull adds.

“This has escalated exponentially since 2020 and now become a standard component for live events, as is At-Home production allowing operators not only to be in the broadcast control room as opposed to on-site but now even being at home whenever the need arises,” he says. “Scalable intercom systems over WAN via VoIP [voice over IP] connectivity or even uncompressed, extreme low latency connections with panels linked anywhere in the world, which allows operators to use the same components they would in the broadcast truck at the venue only back at the main control room or even at home.”

Increasing Interest in Cloud Connectivity
As for the cloud, Seegull comments that it is “definitely being discussed” and used more when it comes to intercoms. This growing interest in virtualized and de-centralized hosting for intercom operations is confirmed by Martin Dyster, vice president of business development at Telos Alliance, which has been a leading proponent of cloud-based communications in recent years.

“We’ve seen a lot of growth and increased interest in this area,” he says. “It’s not necessarily because people are getting into cloud production per se or building entire systems around cloud-based audio and video technology, although those customers exist. People recognize the benefits of a virtualized comms system in being able to deploy an intercom panel at the drop of a hat to anybody anywhere in the world without the overhead of boxing up a piece of hardware, shipping it round it world and relying on someone to hook it up remotely.”

Telos has “worked closely” with the Media and Entertainment team at AWS to determine “best practices” for larger cloud workflows, according to Dyster. “We’ve also worked with technology partners to get over some of the hurdles of moving multicasts between elastic cloud computing instances [a virtual server or computing environment], which, up until now, has been very difficult to do. The partnership with AWS is very positive and they chose us as the comms partner for its delivery of the NAB Show LIVE broadcasts.”

As Michael Brown, business development manager at RTS, observes, one of the first questions asked when people discuss the cloud is: “Whose cloud?” The options are, he says, hardware on-premises or bringing in a third party to oversee the connections set-up. “Other questions that must be answered include “who is responsible for reliable connectivity and who is liable if there are missed commercial inserts when an automated update to another network occurs?’” he muses. “As well as answering these questions, the technology must be proven before a totally cloud-based comms systems is deployed on a high profile, high value production.”

Brown envisions a hybrid design, with a hardware backbone and cloud connectivity “as an adjunct and secondary usage for non-critical communications.”

Gary Rosen, vice president of global sales for wireless intercom developer Pliant Technologies, calls cloud-based intercom products “a great enhancement to an existing infrastructure” but is not convinced it will become the dominant technology for communications, at least in the short-term. “With so many factors needed to make cloud devices work external to the venue, and given the reliability of on-site systems, I don’t believe current systems will be replaced with cloud-based intercom in the near future.”

Options for cloud operations, Rosen adds, include dedicated and hosted servers, which are either in-house or provided by the likes of AWS and Google. AEQ has taken a different approach to most broadcast manufacturers by offering a dedicated cloud service that was created for the company’s systems.

“We manage it and is our own cloud, providing support to our intercom systems with full back-up and no other material on it,” explains sales director Gustavo Robles. “The cloud is very popular because it offers the possibility to interconnect remote locations in a very easy way. But there are still big projects for big customers that demand a traditional, robust, mega-redundant central matrix with dedicated hardware.”

Despite this, Robles acknowledges, requirements are changing, with users deploying what suits the productions, including utilizing smartphones or wearables as wireless beltpacks. The shifting nature of intercom is also shown by Riedel connecting analog microphones to a Bolero wireless intercom beltpack for interview work; and Telos’s prototype combined comms and commentary software panel, which can be controlled either by a touch screen or a hardware box such as the new Elgato Stream Deck Neo.

Which shows that in many ways broadcast intercom is the same as it has always been but is also evolving as new technologies appear to meet broadcaster’s needs.

Since broadcasters moved to the cloud and IP, intercoms have followed suit, and with these transitions, communications technology has become more reliable, flexible and user friendly. Advances in wireless technologies from Wi-Fi to 5G have helped improve coverage range, bringing wireless comms capabilities into areas where they were previously unavailable. Digital technology has also brought enhanced security and audio quality as well a large increase in channel capacity.

Communication is critical when it comes to live production and reliability tops the list of requirements. Getting your message from here to there in the shortest amount of time with clarity and security are vital and in our latest Guide to Intercoms, we look at how vendors are continuously coming up with more innovative ways to accomplish this.

Download your free ebook here. 

Communications systems have always been a necessity in broadcasting but, often, they were something that was almost taken for granted. But this year’s NAB Show gave a major platform to new intercom technologies and products.

Many of the big technological trends and fashions in broadcasting do not always cover all the technical aspects of acquisition and production. The spotlight at most NAB Shows over the last decade has been firmly on 4K, HDR and location to post-production workflows. 

With the possible exception of the last of those, that focus has excluded intercom but this always important, sometimes overlooked area is now fully on trend thanks to the high profile of the cloud, virtualization and remote operations at the major broadcast technology exhibitions of the last few years.

That was certainly the case at this year’s Vegas gathering, where Remote Integration (REMI) based on IP—and increasingly involving the cloud and virtualized systems—was addressed by the main intercom manufacturers.

Bridging Old with the New
“People continue to look for new ways to communicate,” said Kris Koch, business development director for Broadcast Network and Media Production at Clear-Com. “In particular, REMI workflows were a common topic at NAB. Our customers require us to be flexible in supporting their workflow, whatever that may be. Often we need to bridge older technologies with new IP based workflows, so while AoIP [audio over IP] has become something of a standard in new designs, most customers need to transition into IP workflows.”

Clear-Com’s Arcadia Central Station received particular attention this year—the IP-based communications platform is scalable and can integrate components from the company’s HelixNet, FreeSpeak and Encore ranges, as well as third party Dante AoIP devices, to provide communications for fly-away systems and OB trucks. Also on show were new features for the Eclipse HX digital matrix, including Dynam-EC real time production software and V-Series Iris IP-based user panels.

Telos Alliance made the brave—or foolhardy—decision to give live demonstrations of its Infinity Virtual Intercom Platform (VIP), linked together with other AoIP products from the company’s portfolio, plus telephony devices, on what Martin Dyster, vice president of business development, described as “one big LAN”.

He acknowledges that it was a “bit of a leap of faith” to stage such a demo at a trade show but that the company wanted to illustrate how a hardware system could be virtualised in software and deployed on a computer or mobile phone with built-in audio, including a USB microphone and loudspeaker.

Telos VIP is now featured as part of other companies’ cloud infrastructures, including Grass Valley AMPP (Agile Media Processing Platform), Vizrt’s Viz Now and the Panasonic KAIROS IT/IP system.

“It has found favor from some big hitters that have built end-to-end virtual platforms using a SaaS [software as a service] model,” explains Dyster. “VIP doesn’t need a lot of bandwith, it can work as a four-wire intercom for both on-prem and cloud with about 32 Kbps in each direction.” He adds that the audio quality produced has now led to customers wanting to use the system for both contribution links and voice-overs.

Matrix Advances
Intracom Systems’ VCOM virtual matrix is another software-based communications platform aimed at both on-premises and in-cloud implementation. During the NAB Show, the company highlighted v7 of the system, which included new features for selecting talk and listen keys, which can now also be activated using Elgato’s Stream Deck control interface, and managing user access using Single Sign On (SSO). 

Intracom chief executive Stephen Brand observes that in the current “crowded intercom field,” broadcast customers are looking for features, functions and overall technologies that will “save them money, simplify workflows and keep them ahead of the curve in a highly competitive environment where pristine communications are critical.”

AEQ has taken a matrix-less approach with its Xpeak system. This cloud-based intercom is particularly aimed at live and remote production applications, with Sales Director Gustavo Robles adding that REMI is now a “major trend in the market.” New from AEQ this year was the TP9116 rack-mounted intercom panel, featuring 16 four-way lever keys, with two functions on each lever, and IP connectivity over either Dante or AES67. Robles said a desktop version could be available by IBC.

Riedel Communications launched its Audio Monitoring App (AMA) for the 1200 SmartPanels range at the show. Product Manager Kristina Uhlitz comments that this is capable of running “several apps simultaneously” and attracted interest from many of the visitors to the company’s booth. 

Also introduced were the Dante UIC card for the Artist system and new firmware for Bolero and its integrated charging station. “It provides visual data of registration and charging status and lets you upgrade all devices in the charger at once,” she added.

RTS introduced the DSPK-4 digital speaker station, part of the RTS Digital Partyline intercom range. Offering hybrid functionality in desktop, flush-mount and wall-mounted versions, it can operate in party line mode with the OMS (OMNEO Main Station) or as a portable key panel in conjunction with a RTS matrix, either ODIN or ADAM.

Competitor Compatibility
Many intercom manufacturers now offer compatibility with competitors’ systems. Studio Technologies’ new Model 545DC is compatible with Clear-Com party line products, while the Model 545DR, launched alongside it, offers a single two-channel interface for the RTS TW two-channel analog intercom circuit series.

Both can connect to Dante-equipped matrix intercoms, digital audio processors and mixing consoles and can work with Studio Technologies’ Dante-enabled belt packs, intercom stations and audio engines. Also new was the Model 342 intercom station, which can be used in multiple modes with a Dante audio matrix or as a point-to-point system involving two units.

Pliant Technologies continued to fly the flag for wireless-based intercom and debuted a new IP-rated radio transceiver for its CrewCom range. Available in both 900MHz and 2.4GHz versions, these are aimed at live broadcast and events where outdoor placement of transceivers is necessary. 

Also on the booth was the new CCU-08 CrewCom control unit, which allows operators to use up to eight four-wire ports and provides the same features as the existing CCU-22 and CCU-44. Gary Rosen, vice president of global sales said there was still interest in wireless communications and while the cloud and AoIP have found favor for remote production, when it came to on-site installations “a dedicated and reliable intercom system remains key for most users.”

Whatever the connectivity medium, intercoms certainly showed significant advances at the 2023 NAB Show. 

Broadcasting is still behind IT when it comes to cloud adoption but there are parts of media and entertainment—playout and post-production in particular—that have embraced the virtual platform as a way of decentralizing and streamlining operations. The same, however, cannot be said for intercoms, an area that still has high demands in terms of real-time connectivity and is mostly holding on to its established hardware-based methods.

As with so many things in life and work, the pandemic changed the view of many on this point. Among them were several broadcast organizations, says Martin Dyster, vice president of business development for TV at Telos Alliance. "During the last 18 months or so we've found that broadcasters are increasingly looking at cloud and virtual intercom solutions in order to provide an effective means to communicate as they develop new broadcast production workflows," he says.

A 'Waiting Market'
To meet this emerging requirement, Telos introduced the Infinity Virtual Intercom Platform (VIP) in 2020, which, Dyster says, found a "waiting market." VIP can work entirely in the cloud when fully deployed on a VPC (virtual private cloud) platform. This has proved to be a major turnabout for the intercom market, which, despite wireless connections and mobile apps, continues to rely on hardware infrastructures. Because of this, Dyster feels there will continue to be resistance from other manufacturers because working in the cloud does not align with their core businesses.

"You can see a similar reaction within the audio mixing console market where the brands that have led the field in large, medium and small format mixers for decades have not embraced virtualization," he says. "In both the intercom and mixing technology sectors, it seems the door has been left wide open for more agile and forward-thinking companies to bring new products to market that fulfill the needs of broadcasters who are embracing cloud production. I cannot believe it will be long before at least one of the hardware brand leaders in each sector breaks rank and shows their hand."

Telos' Infinity and the Unity system—which is set up online through a web portal and supports a single group of users sharing six party-line channels—are the main intercoms to be fully hosted in the cloud. Among those still adhering to established hardware methodologies for intercom is Pliant Technologies. "Intercom has always been a communications technology for collaborative working group in real time," says vice president of global sales Gary Rosen. "The cloud is really best used [for] non-real time storage and retrieval. It's not really suited for this application."

Live Production Demands
The main objection to using the cloud from traditional, hardware-oriented intercom developers is the potential for a complete loss of communications if something does not work properly.

"When everything is down, the intercom still needs to work," comments Nico Lewis, senior sales manager for EMEA at RTS Intercoms. "Consider a live television show: A camera fails or a microphone fails and the audio operator can't hear the guest. ‘No problem, we'll just tell the technical director to take another camera and the audio operator will ask the stage manager to get a spare microphone to the talent.’ 

“But—'What do you mean, no one can communicate these simple instructions?'” Lewis asks rhetorically. “Intercom is the critical component and therefore we wait [in using the] cloud till the last moment. Or maybe do not do it and keep it connected in our established way using OMNEO [RTS' media networking system]."

Lewis does concede that "the future will tell," about cloud adoption for comms, however Clear-Com sees the eventual move to cloud as unavoidable.

"We have been watching the deployment of new cloud-based production tools with interest and feel that adding comms to these workflows is inevitable," says Kris Koch, business development director for broadcast networks and media production for the company. "The urgent nature of comms, [however], and the need for it to be always available, especially when nothing else is, creates a challenge. It becomes critical to not only deliver the features our customers need through the cloud but also to provide reliability and redundancy so broadcasters can operate independently in times of emergency or technical problems."

At Riedel UK, sales manager Nacho Lee observes that the cloud will "probably" become part of intercom but not yet. "There are still concerns [over] reliability and security," he says. "Most of our clients in education, theater and even broadcast still tend to have an isolated intercom island, separate to their IT network, [which is] mainly for independent control as well as safety reasons."

Gustavo Robles, sales director at AEQ, agrees that there is a lot of talk in the comms market about cloud, saying it is "the future," with the company already working on new units and systems. "Until now we [have been using] VPN [virtual private network] and a dedicated hardware central matrix but the idea is to move far from this and offer the same specifications but totally virtual," he explains.

All or Nothing
In terms of reliability in the cloud, Dyster acknowledges that losing connection to a virtual platform would "leave you without intercom," but adds that if a production was using a wider cloud system, its problems would be bigger than just communications.

"Equally, if you are using remote intercom panels with a matrix-based system and relying on the internet to connect them, losing that connection would also take your comms out," he adds. "AWS provides redundant solutions that safeguard against the former event but, like anything, there could be exceptions where you are vulnerable and AWS has certainly had the odd 'blip.'"

The answer to whether or not the cloud does become part of intercom systems—or the entire infrastructure—could lie in recent history. There was some resistance to audio over IP (AoIP) as the basis for comms but now that is well established. Matrices and traditional party lines have not gone away yet but AoIP, particularly in uncompressed form, is being widely used for intercom, with Dante, AES67 and SMPTE ST 2110-30 providing the backbone for many installations. If the cloud follows a similar route, then its wider-scale adoption seems more likely.

HAIALIAH, Fla.—UnivistaTV, an internet TV channel launched about one year ago, is entertaining audiences with shows like "El Show de Carlucho" from its newly installed all-digital and IP-based studios.

The setup includes a For-A Hanabi production switcher, Ross Carbonite Black Live production switcher, Allen & Heath Dante-enabled SQ7 audio mixer with AoIP connectivity and Yamaha audio monitors.

UnivistaTV also is using a 72-port AEQ CrossNet intercom with TP8116 rack panels for consoles in production master control, vision and audio control and graphics. Separate TP84116 desktop panels are available to directors and spotters, the company said.

Technicians and other personnel on the set and other areas rely on AEQ Xplorer wireless beltpacks. Xplorer uses Wi-Fi technology and can run for up to 20 hours at full capacity, something that is important when cascading live recoding sessions and there’s not time for battery changes, it said.

Integrated into the channels’ AoIP flow, the entire system makes it possible to share signals between different contribution, intercom production and coordination systems. 

Audio present in the AEQ Crossnet intercom matrix is available on the Dante AoIP network as well as other equipment, such as the Allen & Heath SQ7 audio console, it said.

Callers are handled with an AEQ Systel IP16 talk-show. Multiple conference systems were installed with connectivity for multi-channel AoIP networks, it said.

Three SystelSet + Handset offer caller control from a single device. Connected to the Univista TV corporate switchboard, the system allows interconnection with all areas of the channel.

Audio signals distributed between the Crossnet matrix, the audio console and Systel IP 16 talk show system and the wired intercom user panels rely on an AoIP network using Dante and the AES67 protocol, it said.

The Xplorer wireless intercom beltpacks and user panels rely on VoIP connectivity using the AEQ/KROMA protocol. 

UnivistaTV’s voice lines and the Systel IP 16 talk show and multi-conference system, including the Systelset+ terminals, operate with SIP-based protocol VoIP in HD Voice quality, the company said.

Installation, configuration, commissioning and training were led by OM Solutions, Juan Carlos Ortolan.

More information is available on the company’s website. 

MADRID—TRECE is a Spanish TV station that has recently renewed its image. We have simultaneously moved to new facilities located in Madrid, which now comprise two studios and a central TV control. In our previous setup, we used a Kroma digital intercom system with 14 user panels, connected to outside of the facility via an AEQ Systel IP 12 voice coordination system. The all-analog system was connected around a Yamaha 02R console.

In order to integrate the existing equipment into the new facilities, we acquired an AEQ CONEXIA matrix to manage the studios’ audio and intercom signals.

INTERCOM AND BROADCAST AUDIO WITHIN THE SAME HARDWARE

CONEXIA is a redundant and modular audio matrix that simultaneously manages audio for broadcast and four-wire intercom circuits. We have defined a structure comprising five 64-channel AoIP Dante modules, 12 four-dual-channel AES/EBU cards and two additional 8-channel modules for Kroma digital intercom panels. The included switching and processing capability sums more than 300 inputs and outputs.

The 14 series-4000 intercom user panels are reused and connected by digital link, while the new 16 series-8000 panels are connected to AoIP circuits. CONEXIA’s new acoustical design and audio processing—which includes dynamics, equalization and feedback control—provides improved voice clarity. Twenty-four matrix input and output circuits have been routed to two Systel IP VoIP systems and two STRATOS audio codecs for external intercoms.

Three audio circuits are not used for intercom: General purpose digital audio inputs and outputs in the CONEXIA chassis itself; Analog and digital circuits at the four NETBOX 32, which are Dante AoIP terminal devices featuring 16 analog inputs and outputs plus eight dual AES/EBU ones each, located in several locations at the studios; and Dante AoIP links with each studio’s mixing console.

For external communications, two Systel IP 12 systems are connected to external 4-wire inputs and outputs of the CONEXIA matrix. The operator establishes the communication to the remote peers using a Systelset+ terminal.

We have found that Systelset+ greatly simplifies operation, as it includes a small physical support and a wide touchscreen. This allows us to execute most of the commands and operations required during TV production coordination, where most of the calls are generated by ourselves. Simultaneously we can receive and route them using matrix circuits to either the sound mixing console or, more frequently, to a panel or panels group for internal studio communications.

We use this setup mainly to coordinate ENG devices through mobile phones. The journalists receive the program and command return via their earset, and the camera operator communicates using a 4-wire circuit through micro-headphones installed in the phone.

The audio and Intercom system has been enhanced for two studios and a central control. A high-availability audio router with large processing capability has been incorporated. Our existing AoIP terminals have been used to distribute inputs and outputs. The whole installation has been deployed using IP, unifying broadcast and intercom audio. The intercom system has been expanded using new panels while keeping the old ones, and the external intercom system has been enlarged by incorporating very intuitive, efficient and small-sized control terminals.

Daniel Cemillán is the technical manager for TRECE. He can be contacted atdaniel@trecetv.es.

For more information, visitwww.aeq.eu/products/conexia-1.

AEQ has appointed Iván Olmeda as its new general manager and CEO. Olmeda takes over the role from Rogelio de la Fuente, who lead the Spanish firm for more than 35 years.

With over 20 years of experience in the broadcast industry, Omelda most recently was responsible for AEQ’s business development division. He joined the company’s management team in 2014 after its acquisition of Kroma Telecom, where he was managing director.

“This is a very well-matured decision and an important step for the growth of AEQ,” commented Rogelio de la Fuente. “With Iván’s profile and experience, it is a guarantee for the future — I am leaving AEQ in good hands and with great expectations,” he said. De la Fuente will act as advisor to the new CEO until the end of this year, and will remain as a member of the board thereafter.

“It is an honor for me to take over the direction of AEQ, which is a a true reference point in the broadcast sector and for international sporting events,” said Olmeda. “After four years here, it is clear to me that AEQ has a great human and technological foundation and enormous potential. In recent years we took an important leap toward IP technology, which puts us in a strategic place to provide our customers with optimal products and services.”

Headquartered in Madrid's Leganés Technology Park, AEQ is active in more than 90 countries. Since its foundation in 1979, the company has operated as a manufacturer of audio and communications equipment for the broadcast industry. When the company acquired Kroma Telecom in 2014, it also began offering intercom and video processing solutions.

In addition to Spain, AEQ has offices in the United States, Mexico and Portugal.

It’s often been said that producing live television can be among the most complex of technical operations. The margin of error is small and the consequences of a lost audio or video signal or missed cue can have a significant impact on a station or production company’s bottom line—and its reputation. 

Perhaps that’s why intercoms have taken on an ever more important role in television production, especially live events. Intercoms create the integral links between production crews and directors and the technology to maintain those links is evolving rapidly.

In our 2018 Guide to Intercoms, we focus on the latest trends in intercoms for broadcast and the new systems vendors are offering to the industry

MADRID—AEQ has released the Conexia platform, an integration of AEQ’s broadcast audio technology and Kroma intercom systems, a fully featured intercom system that can also serve as the centralized management of audio signals for radio and TV studios.

The Conexia is based on the Kroma Intercom Master Controller and AEQ Audio Matrix with a capacity of up to 1024x1024 cross-points and a modular card structure. The system is able to integrate intercom and broadcast audio sources into the same matrix, with internal sampling at 48 KHz at 24 bits and a 100 percent redundant system at all levels. It is also compatible with all Kroma intercom terminals and can expand its interface with Kroma accessories and AEQ cards.

An optional feature available for the Conexia system is the AEQ Phoenix Family of Audiocodecs. These codecs are suitable for a range of telecommunications infrastructures and integrate 100 percent through Conexia’s management software CrossMapper.

AEQ reports that the Conexia intercom system has already been put in place in a number of broadcast stations around the world.