Interview: Michal Riha, CEE Sales Manager, Zenitel

a&s Adria: Mr Riha, thank you for sparing time to talk to our readers. Could you present yourself, your educational and professional background, and what business area are you in charge with at Zenitel?
Riha: I am Zenitel’s area sales manager, safety and security, for Central and Eastern Europe. I have 25 years of sales experience with selling B2B and technical solutions. With all my positions I have enjoyed establishing new relationships in new markets and increasing sales.
a&s Adria: Zenitel has many years of experience in research and development of public address and intercom systems. On the road of becoming one of the global leaders in this area, Zenitel has experienced a lot challenges and milestones. Tell us more about your company’s history, its important milestones, its present state in number of employees, sold products, revenue, etc.?
Riha: While Zenitel history dates back to 1901, we were the first company in 2006 to introduce IP-based intercom systems (VoIP). In 2014, we incorporated IP video in our intercom stations. An important additional milestone for Zenitel was in 2021, when we joined forces with ASL (Application Solutions Limited). With more than 30 years of experience, ASL has a strong offering in Public Address, General Alarm and Voice Alarm Solutions (PAGA/PAVA), as well as Control Management products.
Zenitel’s primary solution offering is within intercom and public address. Among others, we actively focus towards building security, public safety, education, healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, and retail markets. Ease of integration is one of the key features of our solution as our solutions are very easy to integrate with most third-party Access Control, Video Surveillance/Video Management Systems, Alarm Systems, Security Management Systems, Radio Integrations, Telephony and DECT, and PA Systems. Our 300-person team of engineers, sales, product managers, customer service, and more are located around the world.
a&s Adria: Could you briefly present your product portfolio? What are your core technologies?
Riha: Zenitel solution are designed to deliver crystral clear communication no matter what the situation might be. Our product portfolio includes IP intercoms, IP speakers and public address solutions. The audio quality for our solution is best in class as in our solutions carry features such as active noise and echo cancellation, automatic volume control, automatic gain control, a 10W speaker, a 10W class D amplifier, and a 100db sound pressure level.
a&s Adria: What product or product group would you stand out as flagship or most sold both in public address and in intercom systems portfolio and why?
Riha: Our Turbine series is the most popular intercom solution. Since its early design and development, the Turbine Intercom has delivered high audio performance in situations where communication is critical. The Turbine IP Intercom achieves this by combining an array of innovative features that push the limits of audio and acoustic technology. For example, a10W speaker, matching 10W class D amplifier, and digital MEMS microphones can provide open, duplex, hands-free communication. And with an audio amplification that powerful, the intercom solution can also be used as a public address speaker.
In addition, the Turbine intercom can adjust a voice that is too loud or too soft to an intelligible signal for the call recipient. The speaker volume automatically adjusts to an audible level to overcome ambient noise levels, even up to 30dB. And while many intercoms impose physical constraints upon its users, where a person must stand close to the station in order to be heard clearly, the Zenitel Turbine intercom solution automatically adjusts the gain on the speaker’s voice, effectively maintaining a constant volume level to the receiver, regardless of the speaker’s distance from the station. This drastically increases the intercom’s usability and improves safety, as not only are the speaker’s hands free, but they are also no longer restricted to a close proximity of the intercom.
Within the public address domain, our Vipedia & Integra system are known for their quality and reliability. The solutions provide exceptional audio performance, with 16bit/48kHz sampling and high-quality audio processing that results in crystal clear, high intelligibility message reproduction. In addition, the solutions are designed for high availability and 10-year operating lifespans, while meeting rigorous safety standards, with EN 54-16, UL, and CSA certifications.
a&s Adria: You have launched a next generation of intelligent IP speaker series, some of which, like ELSII-10HM IP horn speaker and ELSIR-10CM ceiling speaker, you presented at this years’ Intersec and ISC West. What are their key features and benefits?
Riha: IP speakers are essential for mitigating security and safety challenges, especially in demanding environments. The interactivity and integration features of our new IP speakers provide many benefits over traditional public address systems, to include talk back functionality, ambient listening, automatic volume control, and flexible zoning. Even more, each speaker has their own built-in amplifier that eliminates the need for central or localized amplifiers and reduces cabling. Our use of open standards such as SIP, Multicast, and RTP streaming enables easy integration. Our three modes of operation, SIP, IC-EDGE, and ICX-AlphaCom allow users to scale to their needs, from single devices to standalone systems, to enterprise grade solutions. Last, the speakers conform to IEEE802.1x network standards, providing a cybersecure deployment.
There are many uses for our new IP speakers, including around a building and fence line for perimeter protection, anti-theft and vandalism in stores and parking lots, paging for employee and visitor announcements, crowd and queue management in large areas such as sports stadiums, as part of a passenger information solution in transportation hubs, and more.
a&s Adria: All Zenitel TCIV+ stations, kits, and IP speakers are now packed with the ONVIF Profile T features and you also use open-source code. How does that help to seamlessly integrate and map Zenitel solutions with other security systems?
Riha: ONVIF is an open industry forum that provides and promotes standardized interfaces for effective interoperability of IP-based physical security products. ONVIF profiles make it easy to recognize how ONVIF conformant devices and clients are compatible with one another. An ONVIF profile has a fixed set of features that must be supported by a conformant device and client. It ensures that a client that conforms to Profile S, for example, will work with a device that also conforms to Profile S. There are also conditional features, which are features that shall be implemented by an ONVIF device or ONVIF client if it supports that feature in any way, including any proprietary way. Optional functionalities are also defined, they do not need to be implemented but can if it’s chosen. Video and audio from our devices can be recorded, either manually or based on trigged events, or by other hardware and rule-sets in the security management system. As a company, Zenitel is committed to seamless compatibility.
a&s Adria: In 2021, Zenitel was awarded Work Boat Intercom Supplier of the Year by publication Baird Maritime. Since maritime is one of the most important verticals for Zenitel, your company did a lot of updates to its maritime intercom solutions. Update of the Ex Intercom stations as well as updating and adding new features to their range of IP Intercoms was part of this. Most importantly was probably the DNV classification of its new ICX AlphaCom System. Tell us more about these updates and what does DNV classification stands for?
Riha: Since we are a Norwegian company, we always seek DNV approval first for our range of maritime & energy products where this is required. Meeting DNV standards are important when there is requirement that needs this assessment. DNV is by far the leading classification society in our markets, and also when receiving a DNV approval it is easier when seeking other approvals for markets where this is required – such as ABS (American Bureau of Shipping), CCS (China Classification Society), LR (Loydss Register) and other. Meeting stringent requirement is a necessity in our markets, but at the same time the requirement are quite specific and doesnt necessarily cover all configuration and product groups. What is important is to meet the key requirements – usually related to central equipment and central functionality. When it comes to the ICX AlphaCom System this is then in compliance with:
- DNV rules for classification – Ships
- IMO Res. A.694(17) General requirements for shipborne radio equipment forming part of the global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS) and for electronic navigational aids
- IMO A.1021(26) Code on alerts and indicators (2009)
- LSA Code VII 7.2
- IMO MSC Circ 808
a&s Adria: Thanks to Zenitel, digital technology is going to play an even bigger role in the future of maritime, with more interfaces between systems and preferences for a “smarter” way of processing and distributing information. What will become possible in near future?
Riha: The maritime industry, although a traditional and long lasting industry segment is undergoing a global change to become smarter, safer and greener. Part of this is also the critical onboard communication systems. We see a change in RFQ’s towards more digital systems, based in IP technology and with interface between systems such as PAGA, Intercom, CCTV, Wireless communication and information & entertainment systems. However systems still need to be redundant and there is also a requirement in IMO regulations to have a secondary system onboard that is outside the main power of the vessel, so although we see core systems requiring more digital setup, there is still a huge market on analog systems as they are “safer” for pure onboard communication. Things we will see in the near future is more use of touch screens on the bridge and engine room control systems, where the onboard communication will be accessed via application interface on the main monitor. We also see that CCTV combined with audio is getting a stronger position, something that creates great opportunities for us as we have gained great experience interfacing CCTV systems with our own developed audio systems both in PAGA and Intercom segment. Lastly crew welfare is becoming increasingly important, and an onboard info & entertainment systems is not just a stand alone TV system anymore, but interfaced with other critical communication systems to make sure crew and passengers are notified early in case of emergency.
a&s Adria: As one of few organizations that have contributed to creating industry standards for safety and security, what is Zenitel’s approach to cybersecurity and can you highlight some of your strengths when it comes to preventing cyber attacks?
Riha: Zenitel is committed to keeping critical communication systems secure. We have kept IP security at the forefront for many years. In 2010, we were the first IP intercom vendor to implement IEEE 802.1X network access control. Zenitel is a member of the Center for Internet Security (CIS), a forward-thinking nonprofit entity that harnesses the power of the global IT community to safeguard private and public organizations against cyber threats. The CIS Controls and CIS Benchmarks are the global standard and recognized best practices for securing IT systems and data against the most pervasive attacks. These proven guidelines are continually refined and verified by a volunteer global community of experienced IT professionals. CIS is home to the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), the go-to resource for cyber threat prevention, protection, response, and recovery for state, local, tribal, and territorial governments.
Learn more from our Cybersecurity Hardening Guide here.
a&s Adria: By Market and Market’s estimates, the digital twin market is valued at $3.1 billion today and is projected to reach $48.2 billion by 2026. As a technology or a model that connects the dots between IoT, AI and big data, digital twin will help companies to increase situational awareness, reduce and mitigate security and safety threats, optimize operations, etc. Where does Zenitel see its role as digital twin technology adaption increases?
Riha: Zenitel sees its participation in a digital twin ecosystem through some of its solutions, such as IP speakers, intercoms, and public address/voice alarm systems. We believe our solutions will support digital twin by providing data/events that will allow businesses to further enhance their safety and security capabilities in different use cases such as access control, parameter management, emergency response, and more. We are ensuring that our solutions and systems have the necessary connectors that feed digital twin with events and data. For example, our range of IP devices has built-in hardware acceleration for edge AI, allowing better control of data to be kept private or to be shared with the digital twin.
Learn more here.
a&s Adria: Zenitel will be exhibiting at the Adria Security Summit next month in Zagreb. What do you expect from Adriatic region’s largest conference and exhibition, are you looking for new partners and distributors, and what is your opinion about Adriatic region’s security market in general?
Riha: First and foremost, we look forward to this event as an opportunity to meet many of our partners and customers. While we will be sharing our solutions, we are excited to have conversations with our partners and customers around emerging trends and how they are shaping up their expectations from a global player like Zenitel.