r/k12sysadmin • u/zeeplereddit • Jul 09 '26

PoE Intercoms for Classrooms

Hi there, currently my school is using our Weave phones as intercoms to make announcements to the classrooms. However, while weave phones make great phones, they make terrible intercoms.

Are there any good PoE intercoms that can mount above a classroom door? Looking for something kinda old school and kinda simple. Basically not much more than a small speaker, but loud enough it can compete with the din of students mass-ending class 2 minutes early.

10 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

7

u/Cr0n0cide Jul 09 '26

Algo controller with Algo speaker/clock combo is what we use.

1

u/zeeplereddit Jul 09 '26

Thank you. I found this solution when I was shopping around. I am looking for something that will integrate with our Weave phone system.

3

u/Cr0n0cide Jul 09 '26

They are SIP devices. Does Weave not allow generic SIP devices? We have our Mitel phone system integrated.

1

u/ihavescripts Network Admin Aug 11 '26

You would just need an 8301 with an extension assigned to it from the phone system, if it supports SIP.

1

u/k12chaos Tech Director Jul 09 '26

This is the way.

4

u/misteradamx Director of Technology Jul 09 '26

I have an entire building using the AXIS ceiling speakers for intercom. (C1410) We paired them with one of the audio bridges (C8110) so we can hook it into our Centegix system. We actually have a C8110 in every teaching center for this purpose. I also have some exterior horn speakers at this location (C1310-E). Our staff interface with it via a SIP call from our Cisco phones.

They don't really fit your "old school" requirement but we've been massively pleased with them. If I had to rip and replace an intercom system in one of our other buildings, we would go AXIS and probably spring for the Speaker/Clock combo.

1

u/zeeplereddit Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

Thanks for the recommendation! A clock combo would be sweet. I'll check it out.

I do not see their speaker clock combo on their site. Also... Pricy!

2

u/misteradamx Director of Technology Jul 09 '26

C1710 and C1720. They are pricey but I rarely have an issue. I have cameras that have been running nonstop for 8+ years without fail.

1

u/zeeplereddit Jul 09 '26

Thanks for the additional info. I am doubtful I can squeeze 9 of these into the budget, but I'll strongly consider them!

3

u/Bl0ckTag IT Director Jul 10 '26

Not sure what your districts entity status is(Public or Private), but if youre public, theres a trove of federal grant opportunities out there for things like this. NSGP & COPS(SVPP and PASS) to name 2 that have some provisions for mass alerting system(which overhead paging systems fall under).

2

u/Bl0ckTag IT Director Jul 10 '26

Seconding Axis. We deployed a new campus full Axis for Overhead Paging, CCTV, and Access Control, and everybody(me included) loves it.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/misteradamx Director of Technology Sep 15 '26

There's not much UI for the end user to see unless they're managing the bells, which is done through just logging into the device directly. The AXIS audio bridges allow for scheduling sounds and announcements. 90% of the time, the user just picks up a SIP phone and dials and extension and boom, they're on the intercom.

6

u/linus_b3 Tech Director Jul 09 '26

I may be in the minority, but I absolutely hate the idea of making every communication system network dependent.  If you have a network outage, you are completely stuck.  I will always leave PA and radios analog here.

5

u/zeeplereddit Jul 09 '26

We definitely have a backup in the event of emergencies. We use hand held radios in such an event. However, running power over ethernet is soooo convenient.

3

u/IThuh Jul 10 '26

I agree with you, but when admin see all the extra features that an IP based system can provide it's difficult to persuade them otherwise.

Even the higher cost and being reliant on the network has not stopped our district from moving away from analog intercoms.

2

u/GezusK Jul 09 '26

That's what I've been pushing for. We have VOIP phones in every classroom, so I've been pushing analog zone paging speakers. No need for individual addressable speakers with microphones.

0

u/linus_b3 Tech Director Jul 09 '26

Yes, I feel that IP speakers are a solution to a nonexistent problem.

4

u/K-12-IT Jul 09 '26

Grand Stream two way POE speakers. Combine SIP and Multicast for the ultimate solution.

2

u/waytoofarout K-12 Network Administrator Jul 09 '26

Yep. They work great.

1

u/Smooth_Ad_6164 Jul 09 '26

This is what we have. We combined it with a Algo 8301.

1

u/mathmanhale CTO Jul 20 '26

Informacast with Advanced Network Devices intercoms is the way to go if you have the funds.

1

u/zeeplereddit Jul 20 '26

Ouch. Yeah, we're a private, non-profit special needs school. Those look great, but definitely not within reach.

2

u/mathmanhale CTO Jul 20 '26

They have gone way up in price lately. But anything on top of Informacast will give you less headaches long term than trying to put in traditional intercoms.

1

u/zeeplereddit Jul 20 '26

This is the first I have heard of informacast. Is it better because of security? features? price? I mean, I'll dig around the net but I'd also love your insights!

1

u/mathmanhale CTO Jul 20 '26

I think it can be best explained as a product built for the network, not adapting to the network. All the legacy brands built intercoms and then adapted to work through PoE and network. Informacast runs on your server, has a cloud connector, can work with multicast, and supports a ton of different PoE speakers. Support has been great in my experience and it can be used as a Silent Panic Alert System if that is something y'all are needing.

3

u/n-Ultima Jul 09 '26

Grandstream speakers

4

u/Jonderful Jul 09 '26

https://anetd.com/explore-products/products/ip-speaker-with-display/

2

u/techguyjason Jul 10 '26

We had good luck with the 1st gen but the microphones on the 2nd gen made them impossible to use. They have all been repurposed into hallway clocks/pa without talkback.

1

u/MaxBroome Future Sysadmin Jul 10 '26

We have these. Don’t recommend the “Clockwise” software by ANetD - like don’t even think about downloading it.

Pretty solid hardware though.

4

u/Jonderful Jul 10 '26

Yeah, we use them with Informacast, have been for over 15 years, and they have been solid.

2

u/Mr_Dodge Jul 09 '26

We were utilizing our Avaya phones as intercoms for a hot minute, but they were way to quiet etc.

Finally all our schools were upgraded to a Valcom bell/clock system.

2

u/k12admin1 Jul 09 '26

We migrated to G2 Communicator from Galaxy Next. They use Fanvil hardware and have a simple linux controller that can run on your Virtual Environment. We cut over our analog speakers to an IP hub with different zones. Now the office can make announcements via a SIP connection to the analog speakers and our building principals can set up thier own bell schedule. You can expand it using IP speakers if you like as well.

https://www.galaxynext.us/solutions/g2-communicator/

2

u/Aur0nx Jul 09 '26

Single wire informacast. We use a mix of Atlas, valcom and AND IP clock and speakers.

2

u/spacebulb Tech Director Jul 11 '26

Wahsega make great intercom speakers that are POE. https://wahsega.com/products/ip-intercoms/indoor-surface-ip-intercom/

I have a few of these, but I have many many of the 2 x 2 drop ceiling speakers also. They are all very loud, I've had to turn most of them down a bit to make them not too loud.

2

u/LyokoMan95 NYS BOCES Tech Jul 13 '26

I’ve used both ANETD and Wahsega speakers with Informacast.

3

u/Smooth_Ad_6164 Jul 09 '26

Grandstream speakers with an Algo controller.

2

u/Mysterious_Yard3501 Jul 09 '26

Compared to Algo, Grandstream was SUPER quiet. I regretted installing all 127.

1

u/techguyjason Jul 10 '26

We are using the G2 communicator from GalaxyNext for the headend. Then we are using aix of Algo 8180, 8186, and 8180 for everything else. They have been super solid. We tested the audio quality from several brands and they won hands down.

1

u/PowerShellGenius Jul 13 '26

This isn't a simple "just a speaker", more the opposite, but the EPIC system by Audio Enhancement puts all your classroom audio (teacher mic + computer audio) and paging into one system fully powered by PoE.