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CASE STUDY | HIGHER EDUCATION

Cardijn College

Location

Adelaide, South Australia

Facility Scope

Multi-campus Catholic college with 2,250 students across three campuses (expanding to four)

Objective

Provide a highly reliable, easy to-manage paging and bell system capable of delivering clear announcements and scheduled bells across indoor and outdoor zones, with straightforward scalability for future campus growth

Biamp Solutions

  • Vocia™ paging system
  • Voltera™ amplifiers
  • Vocia DS-10 paging stations
  • Desono™ loudspeakers

Outcome

A robust, “set-and-forget” paging platform that has delivered uninterrupted service for more than a decade with minimal maintenance or intervention

With more than 2,250 students and staff spread across multiple campuses, Cardijn College depends on clear, reliable communication every day. From scheduled bells that keep classes running on time to emergency announcements that support campus safety, the college requires a paging and voice evacuation system that performs without fail.

Challenge

In the education sector, reliable paging and bell systems are not optional — they are essential. With more than 2,250 students spread across multiple campuses, Cardijn College requires a system that performs flawlessly every day. For more than 10 years, Biamp Vocia has served as the dependable backbone for daily bells, routine announcements, and emergency voice evacuation at the college.

Tony Sayce, ICT Director at Cardijn College, is responsible for technology across all campuses. His verdict on Vocia is clear: “I don’t touch the Vocia system. It pretty much runs itself. I don’t have to babysit the devices or anything like that. The same devices I put in 10 or 12 years ago are still running now.”

Vocia manages two critical functions: scheduled bells to move students between classes and targeted paging for daily announcements and emergency situations. The system features flexible zoning — staff only, students indoors, students outdoors, or any combination — giving front office staff the ability to reach exactly the right audience.

Live announcements are made via Biamp DS 10 paging stations located in the administration areas. The system is intentionally kept live (rather than pre-recorded) because experience shows students respond better to a familiar voice, especially during drills and emergencies.

I don’t touch the Vocia system. It pretty much runs itself. I don’t have to babysit the devices ... The same devices I put in 10 or 12 years ago are still running now.

TONY SAYCE Manager,
ICT Director
Cardijn College

Solution

The Vocia platform is IP-based, with a central core processor at each campus delivering audio over the network to endpoint devices. One major building on the Marian campus utilizes Biamp Voltera amplifiers paired with Desono in-ceiling loudspeakers.

Tony Sayce particularly values the system’s simplicity when it comes to expansion: “It’s very easy to expand… Once you get your head around how it works, it’s a very straightforward product.”

With new campus developments underway at Larkin and Aldinga, Cardijn College plans to replicate the same proven Vocia configuration.

Conclusion

Redundancy is built into the design, with separate cores per campus ensuring local operation even during internet outages. The system has also proven itself during extended power failures.

“We had a huge power failure here and at the other campus — the power was out for six or eight hours,” recalls Sayce. “By the time the power came back up, Vocia just booted up and worked — didn’t miss a beat.”

For Cardijn College, Vocia delivers genuine peace of mind — a dependable system that simply works, day after day, with virtually no intervention required