It's often the little things that really count in a new vessel. Obviously, crew communications are of vital importance on a busy, complex and often large ship or boat. Communications equipment must be reliable, effective, low-maintenance and easy to use with minimal training. This is where Zenitel comes in.
The company's equipment has been around seemingly forever. Zenitel intercoms are in such common use that they are often overlooked and simply accepted as an essential part of every vessel. That, of course, is why Zenitel systems are fitted to ships of all shapes, sizes and descriptions globally.
"We believe that one of our strengths is the flexibility of our intercom systems, from simple solutions on smaller vessels, to advanced systems for larger vessels where interface and interoperability between various systems play a vital role," Zenitel told Baird Maritime. "When you can connect an intercom system to the onboard safety systems and infotainment systems such as CCTV, alarms, or a wide range of entertainment solutions, you get full operability. Our products are also known for their sound quality, which is in line with our slogan of 'to hear, be heard, and understood in any environment'."
The company added that it has a wide range of intercom stations, purposely built for various installation areas. These include outdoor in marine environments, indoor in engine rooms and noisy environments, in hazardous areas and console mounted stations to be used on bridges or in engine control rooms.
"For the marine market in 2021, we updated our Ex Intercom stations, and we have also updated a range of our IP intercom stations with new features that satisfy more exacting customer demands. Although not so often used in the marine market, we have also introduced a range of intercom devices with high quality cameras (full HD), and we believe there will be a market opening also in the marine segment for this."
The company has also released a new intercom server, and development of new features and functionalities is also underway. This intercom server (ICX AlphaCom) received its maritime approval by DNV in late 2020.
For Zenitel, 2021 was a good year, and it has even witnessed changes in requests on intercom systems going towards IP technology and more interface between systems.
"We also see that new vessel types, especially those in the growing offshore wind market, are getting more attention. In general, we also witnessed substantial growth in our energy markets, though most of the systems here are still more oriented towards our PAGA solutions and radio."
Zenitel added that for the future, it foresees an increase in digital technology. Although the company claims it cannot comment too much about this at present, many exciting developments are ongoing, and it looks forward to sharing these developments with target markets.
"The future is digital," Zenitel told Baird Maritime, "with more interfaces between systems and preferences for a 'smarter' way of processing and distributing information. The future will also be dictated by the use of touch systems and interfaces, intelligent platforms that can run several applications, and expanded use of IoT in the maritime segment. There will also be adoption of voice control for both intercom and alarm systems, as well as intuitive user interfaces and more."
Zenitel added that cyber security will also become increasingly important over time. The company is therefore working on getting type approval for its systems in accordance to cyber security standards.
