Page 18 - Security Today, April 2017

Talk About History
Chicago company morphs from record players to call boxes
BWy Ralph C. Jensen
hen Talkaphone was founded in Illinois in the 1930s, security was not a part of the business plan. As the successful record player manu- facturer’s business developed and the market’s evolution of needs changed, they began pro-
ducing intercoms. These intercoms earned the company an “essential industry” classification, when World War II came in 1941. Intercoms grew to become a core product and today—more than 80 years lat- er—the company’s business model is as a well-known designer and manufacturer of security and life safety communication products and solutions for customers in 40 countries around the globe.
Specific Designs
“Like many companies, we were transformed by World War II and so after the war ended we stayed with producing intercoms,” said Talkaphone Chairman Samuel Shanes, whose father, Abraham Shanes, developed the company with best friend, Arie Liberman. “Over the decades, we went heavier into the security space and be- gan making products that were specifically designed for the indus- try. As a result, Talkaphone has become synonymous with the blue light emergency phone.”
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Talkaphone’s call stations provide many functions including emergency notification and mass notification.
“The presence of a blue light emergency phone on a college cam- pus or in a shopping mall gives end users the ability to initiate a di- rect phone call to security or first responders,” Shanes said. “This pinpoints the caller’s exact location enabling dispatchers to promptly send assistance which is crucial in the event of any criminal threat, active shooter, or life-threatening health emergency.”
With mass notification, call stations and broadcasting towers, and wall mounts can be used to loudly and clearly broadcast an intelligent message that warns of an impending threat. With Talkaphone, this can be accomplished with an award-winning interactive mass noti- fication system they developed called Wide-Area Emergency Broad- cast System (WEBS) that includes a line of towers, wall mounts, speakers and software.
“Unfortunately, we live in a world where we must take precau- tions against increasing public threats and violence,” Shanes said. “The ability to rapidly notify many people—employees, students or passengers—across a campus, facility, or mass transit station of approaching danger is now an essential part of a comprehensive security solution.”
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