Biamp Systems today introduced four new small amplifiers as part of its Vocia networked public address and voice evacuation system. The concept of Vocia is decentralized, networked paging system without one home-run for all signals to terminate. So, for example, a building on campus with a bunch of small classrooms where each one needs amplified sound as well as to be connected to a centralized system would benefit from this line. It’s modular in the sense that you can add rooms as you want to — thus building the system amplifier by amplifier. They are all EN 54-16 certified, which is a product standard governing “Voice Alarm Control and Indicating Equipment” (VACIE) and is issued by the European Union Construction Product Directive (CPD), also known as Directive 89/106/EEC.

The networked multi-channel Vocia Amplifiers (VA-8600 and VA-8600c) provide eight channels of modular amplification with up to 2400 watts of power per chassis via AM-600 and AM-600c cards. There’s also optional channel-to-channel or device-to-device failover — all easily configured using Vocia’s intuitive software. Add the new Vocia VA-8600 Failover Module (VFOM-1) card and expand the failover options to include 7:1 channel failover or two sets of 3:1 channel failover.

You can get more info here: http://www.biamp.com/products/vocia/outputs.aspx