Intercom Systems Are Not Just For Calling The Teacher To The Principal's Office

My earliest experience of intercom systems was the primary school intercom. We usually began the school day with news recited in measured tones via this device by the principal's secretary. I don't think anybody actually listened to any of it but we obediently gave the impression of doing so because the disembodied voice came from on high, i.e. the principal's office. Occasionally, the chirp of the intercom would interrupt lessons to call the teacher to the office. Of course, we all loved it when this happened because it meant we could make a big noise while the teacher was out of the room. Needless to say, we had been told to keep quiet and read the textbook while she was gone, so it was all the more satisfying to know that we could be heard all the way to the principal's office.

It was only many years later when I came to realize that intercom systems are intriguing gadgets with many applications. They can be wired or wireless and some even have video. There is now even a wireless Bluetooth intercom system for motorcyclists to communicate with their passengers and with other motorcycles. But despite some of their more exotic applications, intercom systems often exist quietly on the walls of homes and outside drive gates to the extent that we take their value for granted. The primary value of intercom systems is in the areas of communication and security. As the name suggests, an intercom is a device that allows intercommunication, which to my mind, distinguishes it from a public address system that announces only. Intercoms are found at exits in public garages so that you can call someone to help you if your exit ticket doesn't work or the boom won't go up. They can be used by the staff in hotels to tell Housekeeping to send up more towels and by patients in hospitals to call a nurse. In the home there are baby monitors to keep an ear out for the baby, and those aforementioned intercoms with a handset in the house and a speaker at the gate for visitors to announce themselves. If the intercom is connected to an automatic gate then you will be able to let people and or out without going outside to open the gate. While it is a major convenience to be able to open a gate from inside without going out, it is also a security risk and negates the value of having an intercom for security purposes. It is all very well if you recognize the voice on the other end but some people will open the gate to their apartment complex whenever they hear a buzz without first checking to see who is there.

As you can see, intercom systems add value in a variety of different ways. Nevertheless, I am still waiting for the day when my body corporate adds value to my life by going completely sci-fi and installing a video intercom system in my apartment complex. Not so that whoever is pushing the button can see me, you understand, but so that I can see them. I want to know who it is that has been pushing my intercom button in the middle of the night and then running away.

The site http://www.auto-roller.co.za, is for a company which sells intercom systems.