Communication is crucial for this former residence of the kings of France. Though a Zenitel customer for some time now, early this year a decision was made to migrate the existing PAMEX system towards a new STENTOFON AlphaCom 138. The migration has been a very sensitive, yet successful issue – interruption of the intercom system was not permitted. More than 200 stations, most of them anti-vandal door substations, are dispatched throughout this vast building. The intercom purpose is mainly for use by the Security Officers. Thanks to the interface with video function, the STENTOFON system restricts access to specific zones, such as personnel entrances, control rooms, staircases, lifts and all the other areas closed to the public. But above all, the STENTOFON system allows access control to the storage rooms: the huge and sacred heart of the museum.
The choice to migrate to a new platform was made for two main reasons, to open up the existing system to IP to cope with any increase in museum visitors, and to benefit from the new security this system implies. Partly due to the success of Dan Brown’s 2003 novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’, in 2005 the Louvre received a record 7.3 million visitors compared to 5 millions visitors in the early 1990’s. Working towards an expected 9 million in 2010, saturation of public space is being questioned, and more precisely the entrance hall located under the glass pyramid. Its architect, Ming Pei is assessing the situation and solutions are being considered. Zenitel looks forward to further consultations with The Louvre Museum in adapting an already successful system.
