National Association of Broadcasters Engineering Handbook, 11th Edition

Chapter5.19

Intercom and IFB Systems

Vinnie Macri and Kari Eythorsson

Clear-Com, LLC

Alameda, CA

Introduction

“Intercom” is a general term to describe a stand-alone voice communication system or devices that allow people in different locations to speak to each other operating independently of the public telephone network. There are several types of production intercom subsystems that will be examined in this chapter. They are: wired party-line systems, wireless party-line systems, matrix systems, system interfaces, virtual communications and communication subsystems such as IFB and commentary.

Within the production environment, some of the more common highlights of intercom include the following:

• Can be expanded to hundreds if not thousands ...