Voice alarm and emergency sound services, and nothing else
It sounds like something needs doing to the voice alarm, and you'd like to know who does what before anyone visits.
Not sure which you need? Ten questions show what a year of maintenance should include for your system, and how much of it you're getting now.
Which service do you need?
Voice alarm maintenance
A Maintenance Contract in its own right: standby batteries and central equipment tested, and on Recommended and Comprehensive every loudspeaker circuit measured and compared with the year before. Three levels, compared as numbers. Start here if your system is currently serviced under the fire alarm contract.
Fault-finding and repairs
A zone that has gone quiet, a panel showing a line fault, a circuit that trips the amplifier. The fault is located with calibrated test equipment, documented, and the fix quoted separately from the visit that found it.
Upgrades and additions
Extra zones, loudspeakers for a refit, controller and monitoring upgrades, compliance work phased across budget years. Additions to systems that exist, and new systems for existing clients. No open tenders for major new-build installations.
Consultancy
Acoustic modelling from a LiDAR scan and measured noise, system specification, tender management and expert witness work, from a specialist with no installation contract riding on the advice. More loudspeakers won't fix the room, and the model shows you where that is true before anything is bought.
Systems covered
- Public Address Voice Alarm (PAVA): everyday announcements and, when the fire alarm triggers it, the evacuation message. Maintained to BS 5839-8.
- Emergency Sound System (ESS): emergency broadcast independent of fire detection. Maintained to BS EN 50849, within the BS 7827 zoning at a large or complex venue.
- Emergency Voice Communication System (EVCS): fire telephones, refuge intercoms and stewards' telephones. Maintained to BS 5839-9.
- Public Address General Alarm (PAGA): the alarm and announcement system on ships, ferries and offshore platforms.
- Audio Frequency Induction Loop System (AFILS): the hearing loop that carries announcements to a hearing aid. Checked to BS EN 60118-4.
What ProAudium does not do
No fire detection, no open tenders for major new-build installations. If a project needs an installer, say so at the first call and the conversation stays short. If you need the lowest price for one annual visit to a small system, a good local fire alarm company will look after you well.
Reviewed on 1 October 2026 by Nigel Williams.