Barix in the News

["Mark McCall" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://archives.moneyplans.net/frontend211-verify-7756.html



Barix today announced that Sun International, a leading international
developer and operator of premier resorts, hotels, and casinos, is using
Barix's Exstreamer to introduce IP audio streaming on its casino floors in
South Africa.

Sun International's casinos utilize state-of-the-art slot machines, where
smartcards have replaced coins and screens and push buttons have replaced
the traditional mechanical counters and arms. But the company discovered
one
downside of this technology from the customer perspective. The excitement
created by the sounds of mechanical one-arm-bandits spilling coins into
their trays was missing.

Sun International sought to re-create that atmosphere and approached
Audiotech, a Johannesburg-based audio systems integrator, for a solution.
Audiotech proposed installing small, localized sound systems on each bank
of
slot machines, which could be used to play ambient sound effects, messages,
and jingles when a jackpot was won.

The greatest challenge was providing a method of coordinating and
distributing audio content to each system, while allowing each system to
operate independently.

Because an Ethernet infrastructure was already present at all the slot
banks, Audiotech determined that streaming audio over the network to each
slot bank would be more cost effective than installing dedicated audio
cables. Audiotech chose Barix's Exstreamer, a network audio player, for the
job.

An Exstreamer was installed in each slot bank, acting as the analog audio
source to the sound system. The Exstreamers receive their audio streams
from
a central PC installed on the network, which stores all the source material
in MP3 format.

A custom software solution coordinates the functions of the system and
manages each Exstreamer on the network without any operator input. The
simple, yet effective program (1) listens for jackpot activity on the slots
control network and initiates a jingle playback to the Exstreamer in that
specific slot bank, (2) maintains and manages a schedule of timed
announcements and implements playback via the Exstreamers, and (3)
maintains
and manages a randomly generated selection of ambient sound effects and
plays these back through a random selection of individual Exstreamers.

For more information about Barix's IP audio streaming solutions, visit
www.barix.com.

About Barix AG
Barix AG is a Zurich, Switzerland-based provider of networked audio,
communications, and security solutions and technologies. The company
specializes in developing innovative IP-enabled interface devices targeting
home automation, industrial automation, security and surveillance, and
remote control and data collection systems applications. Barix products are
programmable components with device-level intelligence and are used
worldwide to distribute audio, monitor sensors, and control devices via
standard IP-based networks. For more information, visit www.barix.com.