Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

THIS HOOM IN A ROCHESTER FACTORY IS EQUIPPED WITH LOUDSPEAKERS FOR INSTAMANE- OUS AND GENERAL COMMUXICA1 ION WITH W OHKEHS. in fact, in imy inside or outside location wliere it becomes necessaiy to con\ev sound intelligibly to groups of people or over distances where unainplified sound will not serve the jiurpose. C^oinnicrcial Sound has served a fearlul as well as a useful purpose. It is indeed doubtful if Hitler's hordes would now be o\er-running Europe, Asia, and Africa if he had not been able to exercise his almost hvpnotie control over millions of people through the use of loudspeakers. On the other side of the picture, however, the use of amplified sound has become a tremendouslv important factor in the expediting of production, tlie improvement of efficiency in or- ganization operation; a most potent time-saver in locating key men iTi e\erv nook and corner of om- great factories; and has tremendously reduced loss of life and damage to property in emer- gencies. So, a microphone is now found at the elbow of e\ery man who desires to accomplisli tilings quickly and efficiently, and millions of loucl- speakers are in use throughout the world, in every place where people gather either for business or pleasure. Originally when it was found pos- sible to satisfactorily amplifv somid and project it for some distance, the field of entertainment seemed to be the most natural de\elopment for the use of loudspe.ikers. .\s this use grew and developed, the possibilities for educa- tional purposes became apparent, ;uul it was not long before the schools and colleges throughout the countrv wore equipping their auditoriums, laliorato- ries, and individual classrvioms with this most useful device. Slowlv and gradually the amplifier found a place in various types of business establish- ments, although at the beginning it was curtailed in most places to the use of iiitercdnininiiiration equipment. Rapid Expansion Develops It has onl\ been within the last 24 months that the real possibilities of the amplification of .sound in great indus- trial estal)lishments were realized. This development has proceeded with such tremendous iin|ietus. however, that in- teresting and even s|iectaculai inci- dents illustrating the value of .sound equipment are developing daily, and the storv surrounding the use of such C(inipment is worth telling. Perhaps the best description of the varied use of sound equipment in in- dustrial operations can be given bv cit- ing specific reports that are now avail- able from many plants that are en- gaged in full wartime production. Many of the giant imildings that have recently been erected to house produc- tion of militaiy equipment, cover great areas of ground with immense rooms unbroken by walls or partitions. Rapid man-to-man contact is difficult because ol the tremendous distances and num- bers of people involved. Buzzer or horn signaling in code, and the tele- phone and interdi'partmental memo have been tried, but, due to the lim- itations of time and space, contact has been slow and much valuable super- visory time wasted trving to locate people wanted for (juiek answers. Paging executives and key men has now become a fast and efficient process through the use of plant-wide sound systems, and it is interesting to note .some of the comments that have been made regarding the actual efficiency in operation achieved in this vvav. .A letter received from one of the big aircraft companies C(mtains the following .sig- nificant sentence: "To indicate the iinportaiuv of these sound systems in our jil.uits. i( is inter- esting to note tlial our main plants make approxiniatelv 1,500 calls each per dav, Willi the sMialier dcparlinental svstcnis makini; approxiiiiaIcK 250 calls each per day. niakiii;; the total calls of all svstenis about 6.000 per dav." From another large Eastern indus- trial plant conies this statement: "W'e also find that our maintenance work is greatly expedited by our ahilitv to reach the niainteiiance crews and give them orders iminediatelv. no mat- ter where fliey may be in (he plant." Through the proper installation and use of a sound system the load can be taken ofi^ the existing telephone lines. The necessity for new lines is therein- obviated, as well as additional switch- board personnel and telephone lines in- (Coutiniicd itn page 26) \2 RADIO AGE