As developers continue to invest in tenants’ sought-after amenities, background music systems fall under that “state of the art systems” description and should be considered as part of any building amenity stack.
Property owners, managers, and developers know that building amenities can differentiate their properties. Along with reliable WiFi, well-appointed lobbies, and frictionless access control, a high-quality background music system can add to other Class A amenities by enhancing the tenant & visitor experience and further unlock the value of underutilized spaces such as elevator bays, corridors, and outdoor areas.
As defined by BOMA (Build Owners and Managers Association International), Class A Buildings represent “Buildings that have high quality standard finishes, state of the art systems, exceptional accessibility, and a definite market presence”. As developers continue to invest in tenants’ sought-after amenities, background music systems fall under that “state of the art systems” description and should be considered as part of any building amenity stack.
Background music helps to set a desired atmosphere as an environmental-design element. Played at low levels, BGM should unobtrusively compliment a space and the experience of that space. This makes the quality of sound all that more critical. With high-performance distributed audio systems, the quantity of speakers doesn’t necessarily drive quality; the quality of the speakers, amplifiers, and DSP does, as does the design. These systems can also provide paging and noise masking.
High-performance distributed audio systems can broadcast background music to multiple zones including a Main Lobby, an Elevator Lobby, Corridors, an Atrium, and Outdoor Courtyards and Patios. Basic components of a quality background music system include a source device (media players, streaming devices), mixer, power amplifier, speakers & subwoofers, digital signal processor (DSP), and control system & interface (such as a touch panel).
Design of a background music system can be part of the earliest stage of new construction, renovation, and retrofits. It’s important to discuss zone coverage with your designer/ integrator to ensure the system adequately meets the spaces’ requirements. Other discussion points should include specialty integration (for example, speakers affixed to marble columns), the desired visibility (or non-visibility) of the speakers, speaker-grill custom colors, sources, and system control. Also to consider are all-in-one Background Music + Paging + Sound Masking systems. These all-in-one solutions can be used exclusively in a multi-zone sound masking application or a mixed-use application where zones can be used as sound masking while others can be utilized for paging or background music.
From coverage of one space to multiple areas including outdoors, consider adding a Background Music system to your Class A, or any of your building’s amenity stack.
About USIS AV. USIS AudioVisual delivers solutions for a digital and built environment’s AV, IT, and Unified Communications technology stack. We design, integrate, service, and support collaboration, digital media, video conferencing, audio, experiential, agile workforce, sound masking, and other application-specific AV systems across multiple markets that drive the employee, audience, guest, and customer experience. As part of USIS, the $200M technology infrastructure and professional services firm with roots from 1924, we are one of the only design/build/service organizations nationally providing cross-functional expertise in IT & Communications Infrastructure, AudioVisual Systems, Security Systems, Wireless Solutions, and Electrical Contracting services.
Media Contact. Theresa Hahn, TheresaHahn@usis.net
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