Dutch school deploys AtlasIED’s Atmosphere to ring its bell

A constant factor in school life is the bell to mark different parts of a day, from the start and end of classes to breaks to the longed-for going home time. The bell itself has changed over the years from being rung by hand to electric models and is now reaching its technological peak as part of a digital audio processor (DSP). Such new technology now features at the Amsterdams Lyceum, which recently installed an AtlasIED Atmosphere to replace an aging electronic installation.

Amsterdams Lyceum is the oldest selective secondary school (the translation of ‘lyceum’) in the Netherlands, having been founded in 1917, and is located in the Oud-Zuid (Old South) district of Amsterdam. The school’s centralised electronic bell had been used for many years but the staff was beginning to find it increasingly difficult to alter, and had to bring in the IT department to open the equipment rack, with no immediate way to check if it would then ring at the new time.

The school decided a change was needed and brought in Amsterdam-based systems integrator van Brienen AV. Senior account manager Harry Scheringa remembered that the AtlasIED Atmosphere, which is more usually installed as a background music or sound masking system, included a bell scheduling feature. An Atmosphere AZM4 DSP was selected to update the Lyceum’s bell installation and now manages multiple bells and ring lists, with the capability to accommodate unscheduled signals as well as working to pre-planned timetables.

“We installed the AZM4 primarily to make it easier for the school’s IT staff to service the system and the school administration to make adjustments whenever they needed,” comments Scheringa. “The initial set-up of Atmosphere AZM was easy for everyone to understand and they quickly started using the system. Our client is even finding it fun to operate and play different audio files, like funny sounds or songs, instead of the traditional bell.”