With Paso, Made in Italy is guaranteed: the Italian company has been chosen to manage announcements, alarm messages, and calls to prayer at the Al Mouwasat Group’s new hospital site in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
“Al Madinah,” translated in Italian as “Medina,” is one of those toponyms that evoke entire scenes, somewhere between the historical and the fairy-tale: an extraordinary, enlightened, and historic Arab city rising in a vast oasis, a pilgrimage destination for millions of Muslims, a holy city of Islam. Medina is also home to a very modern hospital headquarters of the Al Mouwasat Group, inaugurated just one year ago.
The Al Mouwasat Group is well-known within the health sector for controlling and managing several hospitals in Saudi Arabia.
The Group:
Mouwasat Medical Services is a group established in 1975 with a mission completely focused on the patient, whose best interest is placed at the top of its priorities. The group’s goal is to provide the necessary care to the patient, who is followed from the beginning until full recovery, with the most advanced equipment and attention to detail. Visual and design aspects are not neglected and are crucial for the reception of patients and visitors, as well as the comfort of rooms and medical environments, including special attention given to the design of all areas of the hospital building, including the kitchens.
The Group’s fundamental belief is that everyone has the right to quality healthcare, based on a combination of state-of-the-art technology and sound, evidence-based medical practices, including close collaboration between local practitioners and international medical organizations.
Among the values the Group declares is a commitment to patient and environmental safety. And this is where Paso comes in, bringing with it an important “slice” of Made in Italy to this fascinating corner of Arabia, kissed by History, Spirituality, and medical science.
Paso in the Lane: Quality Audio for All Applications
The hospital inaugurated by the Al Mouwasat Group in Medina is located right in the center of the city, and it is a facility of excellence. Therefore, it’s not surprising that Saudi Projects & Supplies Company, the local system integrator in charge of supplying the technological equipment for communication inside the hospital, a long-standing partner of Paso, chose the renowned Italian brand to offer the facility that extra touch of class and efficiency, guaranteed by products designed and built in Italy, and world-famous for their functionality and reliability.
Paso’s signature solution covers the entire management of announcements, both alarm messages and calls to prayer, which are essential in the Muslim world, in all the different areas of the hospital. But how is this complex and layered multi-zone system structured?
First of all, it is based on the architecture of the P8136 & P8236 Multizone Voice/music binomial, master and slave units, respectively, which allow the management of up to a maximum of six zones with the ability to turn music on/off for each zone via simple buttons. The simplicity of connection (CAT5) between the various units and control bases, even when they are far apart from each other, makes this multi-zone system suitable and cost-effective for both large and small installations, moreover allowing the use of both centralized and local controls.
Master and slave units can be used to switch both line signals (one amplifier per zone) and power signals, and depending on the size and configuration of the sound system, the units can be used individually or linked together. So, you can connect two amplifiers (one for music and one for speech, in a two-channel system) or a single voice/music amplifier. The maximum system configuration includes six master control units connected with 30 slaves (a maximum of five per master), thus allowing the user to manage as many as 216 voice/music zones!
That’s not all, because up to 16 PMB106-G and/or PMB112-G microphone consoles can be connected to each unit. In fact, the P8136 master unit offers, unlike its twin P8236, four inputs for auxiliary sound sources with a selector and level adjustment, as well as two line inputs with automatic priority activation (VOX) and four RJ45 inputs for call stations, capable of controlling all zones in the system.
Finally, the P8136 master unit is also prepared for the insertion of the optional ACMG8136 and ACIO8136 boards, both of which are used in the case of Al Mouwasat Hospital, whose system involves the use of one P8136 master unit and four P8236 slave units.
Expansion Boards and Microphone Bases
The expansion cards mentioned above, ACMG8136, and ACIO8136, are essentially for automatic and/or manual broadcasting of prerecorded messages. Specifically, ACMG8136 allows the messages stored in the SD card memory to be played back by triggering events programmed through the P8136 Manager software, enabling hourly, daily, and weekly management of messages, as well as single or periodic cycles. The ACIO8136 expansion board, on the other hand, is designed to interface the P8136 unit with external peripheral units, offering features such as CAT5 master/slave connection, six opto-isolated input contacts, six relay output contacts, and a balanced audio line input. Depending on the mode required and the connection line on which it is used, this card can operate either as a master unit, connected to the P8136 unit, or as a Local Unit, connected to the appropriate socket on a P8236 unit. In Master mode, the ACIO8136 board operates according to the programming carried out using the P8136 Manager system software and allows factors such as priority, inactivity status, signal output, or playback of a pre-recorded message in the configured zones and triggering of output events to be established for each input contact.
The microphone stations chosen for the system (PMB112-G) feature an electret microphone and a flexible stem at the base, and can operate with central and local power supply (18÷36 VDC). Configuration operations are programmable from the keypad: address setting (up to 31), priority level (up to 7), microphone sensitivity adjustment, programming of zone selection keys, and general call key (ALL), and activation of a word filter for better intelligibility. To complete the equipment, PMB112-G microphone station expansion keypads were also used, offering twelve programmable zone selection buttons, indicator LEDs, general selection key, as well as the ability to cascade up to two units.
Expansion boards and microphone bases
The expansion cards mentioned above, ACMG8136 and ACIO8136, are essentially for automatic and/or manual broadcasting of prerecorded messages. Specifically, ACMG8136 allows to the messages present SD card memory to be played back by triggering events programmed through the P8136 Manager software, enabling hourly, daily and weekly management of messages, as well as single or periodic cycles. The ACIO8136 expansion board, on the other hand, is designed to interface the P8136 unit with external peripheral units, offering features such as CAT5 master/slave connection, six opto-isolated input contacts, six relay output contacts, and a balanced audio line input. Depending on the mode required and the connection line on which it is used, this card can operate either as a master unit, connected to the P8136 unit, or as a Local Unit, connected to the appropriate socket on a P8236 unit. In Master mode, the ACIO8136 board operates according to the programming carried out using the P8136 Manager system software, and allows factors such as priority, inactivity status, signal output or playback of a pre-recorded message in the configured zones, and triggering of output events to be established for each input contact.
The microphone stations chosen for the system (PMB112-G) feature an electret microphone and a flexible stem at the base, and can operate with central and local power supply (18÷36 VDC). Configuration operations are programmable from the keypad: address setting (up to 31), priority level (up to 7), microphone sensitivity adjustment, programming of zone selection keys and general call key (ALL), and activation of word filter for better intelligibility. To complete the equipment, PMB112-G microphone station expansion keypads were also used, offering twelve programmable zone selection buttons, indicator LEDs, general selection key as well as the ability to cascade up to two units.
Audio Amplification and Broadcasting
Finally, to wrap up the project, the necessary final audio power adjustments, as well as the audio signal diffusion within the various areas of the hospital building, have been entrusted to the PMD500 modular amplifiers and the C57/6-EN and C49/6-T loudspeakers.
The PMD500 amplifiers are modular class “D” amplifiers based on high-tech components and characterized by extreme compactness and low power consumption. Complete with a diagnostic board for testing correct operation and verifying the integrity of the loudspeaker line, they are equipped with dual output circuits with separate control (A and B), allowing the realization of redundant line systems. If a short-circuit is detected in one of the two outputs, the line is automatically disconnected for the regular operation of the other. Importantly, the independent power supply of each amplifier makes the system reliable and compliant with safety standards.
Regarding the diffusers, the choice was primarily the C57/6-EN models, which are certified EN 54-24, EN 60065, and EN 60849, with an IP32 protection rating, specially developed for emergency and evacuation systems. Featuring solid metal ceiling plates, the C57 models are equipped with ceramic terminals and a thermal fuse, ensuring the safeguarding of the connection line. The steel flame-proof cap also ensures compliance with fire safety standards.
As for the speaker model C49/6-EN, they are 6W/12W speakers suitable for both wall and ceiling mounting. Made of UL94-V0 self-extinguishing ABS in white, these speakers are also specially developed for use in emergency and evacuation systems. Like the C57s, they are equipped with a ceramic terminal block and a thermal fuse, making them very suitable for indoor environments where clear, intelligible, and safe sound reproduction is required.
The First Digital Hospital in Medina
The Mouwasat Hospital in Medina is ultimately the first facility in this renowned Holy City of the Muslim world to be equipped with all the latest equipment, becoming a true digital hospital where all workflows are managed by technology.
With its equipment fleet and expertise from different countries around the world, Al Mouwasat Hospital in Medina can provide the best medical services to patients. The choice of Paso for both the public address and emergency sound system was due to the company’s proven experience in implementing communication systems in the public arena, along with the wide range of products available in the company’s catalog that could meet the project’s requirements.
The hospital’s director, Khalid Hussain, described the system as “the most stable and reliable system possible to design. Requiring minimal maintenance efforts and being usable even by staff without technical experience; this system is indeed very functional and flexible.”
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