Passenger Terminal World - Passenger Terminal World Annual Showcase 2025
In the increasingly complex passenger announcement sector, investing the time to get the solution right first time can lead to significant operational rewards down the line
2024-10-17 08:48:42
THE FUTURE’S CALLING
With so many new possibilities, technologies and regulations to understand and adopt, it can be difficult for airports to find time, headspace and budget to procure a new announcement system. However, it’s worth making time to explore all the options and get the right system – after all, most airports go for long stretches before they upgrade their systems again.
This is especially true for smaller city airports. According to the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization, the US alone has almost 5,100 airports, including a high proportion of small hubs and non-hubs. Because airport IT teams are often under pressure, going out to tender can seem like a major burden.
Airports large and small often take the easier route of just procuring the same passenger announcement system they had before. While this might seem like a logical and time-saving option, it does leave the airport open to missed opportunities and even to additional costs.
Disability support
Airports now face increasing legislation around accessibility for people with disabilities. For example, the European Union has extensive ordinances, most notably the Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 and the European Accessibility Act. Additionally, Australia has the Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standard and the National Construction Code (NCC).
In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) have recently been supplemented by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. One of the key principles of the ACAA’s 2022 Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights is ‘the right to receive information in an accessible format’, and that requires careful consideration of the passenger announcement system.
Supporting passengers with disabilities is no longer simply a matter of facilitating wheelchairs, access to bathrooms and assistance desks. Not every disability or condition is physical, or visible. Passengers with neurodiverse conditions such as autism, dyslexia and dysgraphia may need just as much support with announcements as those with visual or hearing impairments.
PAstream, from AviaVox, provides technology that can assist all such passengers, delivering announcements directly to their mobile devices. These announcements can contain a wide range of notifications, including everything from gate changes, delays and security notices to retail offers. The technology can be integrated into an airport’s own app or can function app-free (via a QR code/web link).
To further support those with hearing impairments, PAstream also provides a pragmatic and cost-effective alternative to hearing loops – otherwise known as audio frequency induction loop systems (AFILS). Traditional loop systems are rarely able to cover an entire airport, which leaves gaps, and they require a user to wear special hearing aids. This means that only some hearing-impaired passengers can access PA announcements via loop systems. PAstream, however, lets passengers bypass loops entirely and simply receive announcements as text or audio.
Compliance helps everyone
As highlighted above, it is a growing legal requirement around the world for airports to ensure that all passengers have equal access to facilities, services and information. Yet, for airports, compliance also holds other advantages.
Supportive technologies such as PAstream can significantly enhance the passenger experience by reducing stress levels, even for those without disabilities. Such technology means that information is now received and understood, rather than misheard or ignored because of the noisy environment. With real-time information delivered to the palm of their hand, passengers can have the confidence to leave the FIDS areas and spend time in airports’ retail, dining and hospitality zones.
That real-time information also improves passenger flow. AviaVox’s intelligent passenger announcement system has been shown to increase boarding efficiency significantly, which means fewer delayed push-backs and thus fewer regulatory sanctions for the airport to navigate.
Language matters
Despite all this, announcements – however they are delivered – will not assist a passenger if they are issued in a language the passenger cannot understand. Therefore, part of the procurement process should be ensuring that the required languages can be provided. AviaVox supports more than 35 languages and dialects, for use over public address systems or delivered to mobile devices or FIDS.
Access to multiple languages also supports silent airport policies, because it means that many PA calls can be limited to specific zones where certain groups of passengers will be present at any particular moment, according to their departure time and likely nationality/language.
"Having agents make a lot of ad hoc live PA calls serves no one"
Employee efficiency
Procurers can also work with managers and HR teams to think about how airport staff are deployed and how their efficiency can be improved through the use of more intelligent announcement systems.
Having agents make a lot of ad hoc live PA calls serves no one. Ad hoc agent calls are often rushed, inaudible, heavily accented, error-prone and lacking in engagement and dynamics. This makes announcements far less likely to be heard, understood or acted upon. They also take agents away from key tasks – reducing their efficiency and productivity and potentially adversely affecting the passenger experience.
While they are sometimes necessary, the majority of these calls could be eliminated through the smart generation of announcements, well-designed scripting protocols and ensuring that passengers get the right message the first time.
Flexibility is everything
Many airports are constrained because their announcement systems cannot integrate, or cannot integrate easily and cost-effectively, with third-party solutions. Yet technologies continually emerge onto the market to address the demands of a rapidly evolving regulatory and technological landscape – let alone the expectations of passengers as well as the airports themselves.
The industry is increasingly seeing new announcement formats, such as sign language on FIDS in terminal buildings and at departure gates. As more and more specialist technologies like this emerge, passenger announcement solutions will need to be modular, well-integrated packages that are made up of products and services that are supplied by multiple providers.
It is extremely unlikely that a single provider can develop, maintain and support the full range of technologies to meet a range of complex requirements, especially at best-in-class standards. A modular approach will be key. Procurers therefore must look for solutions that can interface with legacy systems as well as adapt to future technologies.
The ability of any system to integrate readily, seamlessly and securely with multiple third-party providers must be a core concern when procuring any passenger announcement solution. Fortunately, there is no shortage of experienced and expert systems integrators and consultants who can support that process, helping to ease the burden on the procuring airport.
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