Paging Speakers come in many shapes and sizes because they need to function in many spaces and settings.
You can breakdown the differences between paging speakers in a number of ways: analog or IP, self-amplified or not, and so on.
One of the key differences is this: indoor or outdoor? It’s easiest to think about indoor paging speakers as the default.
The question could then be rephrased: what do outdoor paging speakers have that indoor paging speakers don’t?
When shopping for an outdoor paging speaker, there are two primary factors you should consider:
- Space-filling sound. Outdoor spaces are much larger than indoor spaces on average. Make sure the speaker is powerful enough and is constructed in such a way to fill the larger spaces.
- Weather resistance. An outdoor speaker might need to deal with extreme temperatures, rain, snow, sunlight, dust, salt spray, road pollution, and more. Make sure the speaker can deal with environmental challenges.
In this blog, we provide in-depth examination of the difference between indoor and outdoor paging speakers.
Let’s get into it!
The Difference Between Indoor and Outdoor Paging Speakers
Indoor paging speakers are the default type of paging speaker, because they don’t require the additional features that make them fit for outdoor installation. Because they need these extra features, outdoor-ready paging speakers are more expensive than their indoor equivalents.
That said, you can use outdoor speakers in either location. Features that make paging speakers fit for the outdoors can also make them more durable, more vandal-resistant, more moisture-resistant, and so on. In fact, for some indoor locations, you really should be shopping for outdoor paging speakers. We’ll get into it.
If the connectivity type, speaker power, energy usage, and price of an outdoor model fit your needs, there’s no reason not to use it indoors. This means you can, if you want, reuse outdoor speakers indoors — if they work with your paging system.
There are types of indoor speakers that aren’t available for outdoor spaces. One example is sound masking speakers, which we covered comprehensively in a recent blog: “What Are Sound Masking Speakers?”
But, for the most part, indoor speakers are indoor speakers and outdoor… You get the idea.
Outdoor Paging Speakers
There are two features that make paging speakers ready for outdoors installation: space-filling sound and weather-resistance.
Outdoor spaces are typically larger than indoor spaces. Walls and ceilings, you know?
Actually, walls and ceilings do an important thing that you might not think about: they reflect sound. By reflecting sound, they make paging speakers louder: the same sound is heard twice, three times, four times…
If there are no walls or ceilings, there are no sound reflectors, so the sound waves just keep on going, and you never hear them again.
Because of the larger size of the space and the lack of sound reflectors, outdoor paging speakers need to be more powerful than indoor paging speakers.
To increase speaker power without greatly increasing energy usage, paging speaker manufacturers build horn speakers.
Outdoor Horn Speakers
Horn Speakers are, in essence, paging speakers with cones (or similar shape) over the speakers to condense and direct soundwaves. They have the effect of making the speaker louder at a given energy input when compared with a regular paging speaker. How does this work?
Think of a garden hose. When you press your thumb over the nozzle, the water shoots out stronger. The identical water flow condensed into a smaller outlet equals greater pressure — it’s fluid dynamics.
It’s the same idea with horn speakers. By condensing sound, they increase sound pressure.
That’s why you see horn speakers outside the time.
The horn shape has two secondary effects that you need to know about.
First, they act as a natural weathershield for the speaker, which is nice. They typically have additional weather-proofing features, but this is a good start!
Second, they condense sound, so the sound doesn’t spread out and fill spaces evenly like a typical ceiling paging speaker. It’s the difference between a spotlight and the light fixture above your dining table. Because of this fact, you need to make sure that you have enough horn speakers that are correctly positioned to provide adequate coverage.
Horn speakers are also commonly used indoors in large spaces like hangars and warehouses.
Weather-Resistant Paging Speakers
Outdoor paging speakers need to be durable enough to withstand environmental challenges. As a shorthand, we’re just going to call this weather-resistance, even though sunlight, for example, isn’t strictly weather.
Weather-resistance comes in many forms.
Most importantly, the paging speaker’s electronics need to function at the temperatures that the speaker will face. Indoor speakers aren’t built for heat or cold, but outdoor speakers are.
In our changing world, extreme heat is ever more common. If you’re in the American Southwest, you really need to pay attention to a speaker’s operating temperature range.
In many locations, outdoor paging speakers also need to deal with moisture: rain, snow, sleet, dew, condensation. This might be because the speaker is installed in a rainy area of the country, it’s a speaker for a public pool, and so on.
Viking Electronics, one of the leading paging manufacturers, has an excellent solution for moisture: Enhanced Weather Protection (EWP). Many of their paging speakers come in two varieties: regular or EWP.
EWP adds several weather-resistant features to the speaker, including a potted circuit board with the electronics encased in a strong polymer material and sealed internal components to resist moisture.
Similar to moisture is resistance to dust. You may have seen IP ratings before: “The new iPhone 16 Pro is IP68 rated!” IP ratings tell you how resistant to moisture and dust getting into a device.
The first number tells you how good it is at resisting water — a higher number is better, 6 is the highest. The second number tells you how good it is at resisting dust — 9 is the highest number.
Dust comes in two primary forms when you’re talking about speakers: environmental and vehicular. Environmental dust is all the sand, dirt, small debris, and stuff that wind picks up and throws at the speaker.
If the speaker is installed near vehicles like highways or racetracks, you really need to look out for dust resistance. Vehicles cause an enormous amount of particulate pollution, as anyone who lives near an interstate can tell you.
With both moisture and dust resistance, pay particular attention to the connections — Ethernet or analog. You might consider installing additional covers over the connections, like the electrical plug covers you might use when running Christmas lights like the Griswolds.
Another environmental challenge that might not come immediately to mind is sunlight. Just think about how badly the beach can go for you when you forget your sunscreen. Now imagine facing the sun all day, every day.
If sunshine will be a problem, look for either speakers with metal bodies or speakers with UV-stabilized plastic bodies.
Marine and Explosion-Proof Speakers
Finally, there are two scenarios that require special consideration: marine environments and places where explosions or fires are possible.
Speakers installed near the ocean have a specific challenge: corrosion-resistance. Salt spray is a brutal environmental challenge, because salt causes rust.
And, obviously, speakers in dangerous locations that demand explosion-proof or fire-proof equipment demand specialized paging speakers.
Valcom offers both types of paging speakers. Just know that, because these speakers are specialized and project-based, it might require a generous lead time when ordering them.
Plan ahead!