A new YMCA complex serves as the communications hub for the eventual integration of sister YMCA and schools.

The administrators of a new 62,000 ft² YMCA in Urbana, Maryland, had more than the recreation center’s current communications needs in mind when they contacted Audio-Video Group to design and deploy an IP-based audio system throughout the massive, state-of-the-art facility. “One of their main objectives was having a high-quality communications system that would serve all their needs now, but could be easily expanded over time to connect with an older YMCA location across town, as well as with the school district’s middle and high schools that sit directly behind the property,” says Audio-Video Group sales director John Pierce.

The YMCA has 15 unique audio zones developed to function independently. Source: Rave Pubs

For Pierce and the rest of the AV integration team, AtlasIED’s enterprise-class GLOBALCOM.IP system was the obvious choice, given its installation and configuration flexibility. Audio-Video Group paired the customizable communications platform with a combination of roughly 100 AtlasIED speakers and IPX Series endpoints to ensure that guests and employees -- whether on the basketball court or in the swimming pool, taking an outdoor yoga class or running on the track -- can hear and see routine and emergency notifications.

That’s not to say this project was void of challenges. “Unlike most projects where we design a communications system for a specific space, for the YMCA we needed to design a system to serve many different types of spaces but within the same enormous facility,” Pierce says. Within the structure are an aquatics center, health and wellness center, a running track, several fitness studios and gymnasiums, meeting rooms, outdoor exercise spaces and more, each with its own unique acoustical and communications requirements. Through the GLOBALCOM.IP GCK software, Audio-Video Group was able to customize messages, alerts, announcements and music for each of the YMCA’s 15 audio zones; for example, broadcasting pre-scheduled, pre-recorded daily reminders only in certain zones, while playing music in other zones.

The GLOBALCOM.IP IP-100 Announcement Control System handles emergency alerts with similar smarts. Each zone is equipped with a panic button, which when pressed, triggers the GLOBALCOM.IP processor to transmit a pre-recorded notification to preset zones.

Read the full story and learn more about what the GLOBALCOM.IP System has to offer.