Top Radio España installs the Systel IP 12 platform in its studios in Madrid

The Madrid station combines a single IP telephony system, for three studios and a meeting room.

Top Radio, a station belonging to the Mexican group Multimedios, has just installed AEQ's Systel IP 12 platform in its studios in Madrid.

Juan Ramón Albarracín, technical director of Top Radio, highlighted that “although our programming is based on unforgettable music of all time, we also carry out special programs between Spain and Mexico with the rest of the group's stations. In Madrid we intersperse current news with music and traffic conditions. Any radio station that intends to be in communication with the outside world, the listeners and in our case with Mexico, must have a reliable, flexible communications system especially focused on minimizing expenses.”

Albarracín admits that he had been looking for an affordable solution for some time to install a telephone system in our studios in Madrid, “until I finally found the solution with AEQ. My question to the AEQ sales department was if they had a telephone hybrid that accepted VoIP calls and not only did I get an affirmative answer, but they also gave me all the technical support I needed. The solution provided by AEQ is quite simple and helps us save on call services.”

The solution adopted is based on the Systel IP 12 system, distributed to three studios using the analog inputs/outputs. As Top Radio is currently in the process of changing from traditional telephony to VoIP, AEQ installed devices that adapt various types of telephone lines to VoIP. These devices or “gateways” convert POTS and ISDN lines into VoIP channels. Thus, the external lines of the system are two RTB or POTS, a mobile line, two B channels of the same ISDN number and an ADSL line.

Sytel IP 12 is made up of twelve VoIP audiocodecs with SIP signaling protocol and an audio matrix with 12 inputs by 12 outputs, analog and digital.

Great flexibility

“The main advantage is being able to have any of these telephone lines in any studio and immediately. Although more than one Systel IP output can be used towards the studios, we have chosen to connect one input and one output per studio. Usually the way to put calls on the air is using the 'queue' mode, but AEQ's IP Systel can also establish multi-conference," says Albarracín.

Control of AEQ's Systel IP 12 is carried out from a web browser on the station's local network. The system also includes four ports to connect the handsets of the operator or producer in each studio, and can also use an IP phone as a handset.

Juan Ramón Albarracín highlights that “on each line there is a button to pick up/hang up the call that simultaneously activates the handset, an ON AIR/WAIT button, a button to adjust the audio level we receive and the one we send, a button to select the queue or multi-conference mode and a chat window for notes between the producer and the operator. Although the system is multi-user, we only validate one user per study.”

The Systel IP was installed in the technical room using part of the structured network cabling available at Top Radio, for the connection of IP phones and handsets. Since they do not yet have an IP PBX, they have installed an Asterisk PBX on a PC to be able to manage extensions, voicemail, forwarding,... The lines are distributed according to the studio and program in use.

In addition to voice quality phone calls, it is also possible to establish HD voice communications, thanks to the use of the G722 algorithm. This allows them to connect with Smart phones or AEQ audiocodecs, obtaining high audio quality.

“At the moment we are not making use of all the potential that AEQ's Systel IP offers, but soon we will be one hundred percent. One of the planned applications is to be able to establish multi-conferences for our internal meetings with our central offices in Mexico, using one of the outputs available in the Systel IP12 matrix to send the multiplex to the meeting room,” says Albarracín.

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