atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX VoIP & Cloud Phones, Hosted PBX, General IP Phones Paging and loud ringing

Jeff, I did exactly that when I was confronted with a similar setup last year. In my case though, the phone was to remain functional for the user. So I did a little surgery and tied the speaker leads to (what used to be) a headset jack on the phone's underside. I ran a line cord from there into a Viking CPA-7B, which worked like a champ. The only caviet is that the speakerphone can't be used for phone calls, otherwise the conversation is blasted across the warehouse floor. It wouldn't have been hard to disconnect the speaker altogether, but there was some weird reason why they wanted it left alone.

We use Viking CPA-7B for these applications. They work great.

I plan to install a 70V amplifier in this office. Will I still need the CPA-7B or something like it?

The CPA-7B is an analog interface, amplifier and steel horn all-in-one. At 11W max, it's not super duper loud. But as an aux alert or for a night ringer (in an area about the size of a tire shop) it's perfect.

There's no need for a CPA-7B if you intend to drive all the speakers with an independent 70V amp.

Can you explain your sitch with just a little more detail? Or call me? I'm wondering if you're working at an all-IP remote site where a pair of MultiTech MVP130 units could save the day.

This is a hosted VOIP system. The phones plug right into the network switch. The system itself is in some datacenter in New York.
It's one office of a small company. There are no branches or anything.
Tim-PM me your number, maybe you can give me some tips

Ok..did some investigation today. The horns that were left in the building by the old occupants are Valcom V-1030C. This looks like a 4 wire 24V system.
We added a couple more cable runs for additional IP phones so I think he is gonna hold off on the paging for now.

Those Valcom's are simple. Somewhere should be the power-supply for them and a single pair for the audio. If they had zone's then you should have a single pair per zone.

I always used the V1036C (15-watt horn) and they were plenty loud for most shops. I always just liked the simplicity of not needing to worry about transformers, voltage, etc. Call it a lack of knowledge/experience/confidence if you want.

If you feel like you've eaten your wheaties that day you can take a tone generator and tap the suspected pair for the horns. If you here the most god-awful chirping ever then you've found the right pair (assuming that the volume is turned up and they have power). If the thing is literally right above your head (specially the 15-watt 1036 ones) then wear ear protection.

The wire was 4 conductor alarm wire. 2 wires were for power and 2 for talk. The wire was cut off in the phone room, naturally.