Embracing Modern Mass Communications Systems

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By Geoffrey Chadwick, P.E.

Modern mass communication systems utilizing Internet Protocol-based adoption offer many benefits over legacy analog systems for military bases, including critical issues of security, functionality, and compliance to meet evolving expectations, standards, and safety requirements.

For military installations, effectively and reliably communicating with personnel is essential. However, many facilities are still operating with legacy fire alarm, paging, and mass notification systems. As these infrastructure assets near the end of their functional lives, base commanders need to consider whether to replace equipment with more of the same or look at what new approaches have to offer.

Legacy mass notification and public address (PA) systems have considerable limitations. The analog wiring in this generation of technology is vulnerable to physical disruptions, notably from lightning strikes. They typically lack fault monitoring. Issues may go unnoticed until a malfunction disrupts communications. The absence of tamper detection also presents a security risk. If someone manually tampers with the wiring or hardware, there is no alert system in place to respond.
Modern Internet Protocol (IP)-based systems can address these operational deficiencies and provide additional functionality for campuses or installations, while a series of considerations must be addressed when transitioning to such a system.

Replacement Approach

For any site owner looking to replace a legacy mass notification system, an “in kind” substitution may seem like the safe choice. However, this approach risks non-compliance with modern best practices and ignores the benefits of technological advances in intelligibility, functionality, and security. Without a modernized system, facilities may struggle to meet their day-to-day operating needs or stay ahead of potential cybersecurity threats.

It is less of an impact to the facility in the short term to deploy a replacement legacy system compared to an IP-based solution, but legacy systems, even newly installed, lack physical and cybersecurity features, maintenance functionality, and diagnostics that demonstrate major advantages over the long term. In addition, legacy systems were created long before SP 800-53 was established by the National Institute of Standards & Technology. This is an information security standard for federal systems and organizations. It provides a catalog of security controls, a risk management framework, and guidance on compliance and harmonization.

Modern IP-based systems offer several advantages over legacy analog. They enable “heartbeat” functionality to continuously monitor hardware, wiring, and signals to provide proactive fault detection and empower maintenance teams. Each component can be configured to report any malfunctions to operators in real-time, eliminating the need for manual testing. In a military context, this means fewer resources spent on maintenance and a quicker response to potential tampering or system failures.

Leveraging Secondary Benefits. Additional options available through an IP-based setup can improve efficiency and save lives. Consider, for example, the response to an active shooter. Modern systems can empower security teams to securely link multiple systems into a single control point. This allows warnings to quickly go out across every piece of government-owned communication technology on base—including loudspeakers, telephone handsets, and radios. It is possible to send notifications to the shooter’s exact location, to indicate that they have been detected.

Conversely, it also is possible to notify every part of the base other than the shooter’s location, so that they can be approached by responders without their knowledge.

Broadened Benefits

Modern PA and notification systems offer quality-of-life functionalities beyond what traditional analog systems can provide, particularly in environments with high ambient noise, changing acoustics, and large open areas. Newer systems incorporate automated volume controls. These can adjust announcements based on ambient noise levels, improving message clarity while reducing noise in quieter areas. This feature helps ensure that announcements are noticeable without being disruptive. These same systems can measure the impedance of the wiring to their speakers (and the speakers themselves) to detect tampering as well as poor performance, accelerating maintenance.

New supplemental technologies can even support crowd control, which may be particularly important on facilities overseas. Sound generation systems can produce particularly loud and unpleasant sounds that drive crowds away from secure areas. This provides military bases with a valuable non-lethal means of crowd control.

Modern systems enable facilities to introduce multi-layered notification methods, including public announcements, pagers, and integration with handheld radios. This redundancy ensures that messages reach all personnel, even if primary communication channels are compromised.

Overcoming Challenges

Implementing an IP-based system, despite their many benefits, does come with its own set of challenges. Networked systems require thorough cybersecurity protections. On many installations, PA and notification systems are set up on isolated network segments to mitigate the risk of cyber intrusion. For instance, creating an air-gapped system helps protect the system from accidental connections to potentially insecure networks. However, the risk of inadvertent breaches remains, especially when proper design features are overlooked.

Cost is another barrier. If there are cybersecurity requirements on the manufacturer for every amplifier (and the testing and auditing that goes with that), then cost increases dramatically and with only minimal improvements in security. In that situation, instead of pushing the cybersecurity requirements onto the PA system hardware, it might be more effective to put a police system onto the network in order to monitor for additional connected devices. This would provide the same functionality while managing network connections and hardware by layering information on the network and disabling ports and protocols not specifically needed.

If an unknown device comes onto the network, it can be blocked quickly. An onsite team can be notified of a potential issue. Through an air gap connection that is behind a firewall outside of that network, site security can be alerted and told about the intrusion—and, by using the information on the switch that was connected to, determine the intruder’s likely location.

Balancing Compliance Demands. Compliance with regulatory standards is essential for military bases, but applying these requirements without a nuanced understanding of the expectation can lead to unnecessarily high costs. For example, strict password protection requirements may not be necessary for components that are already located in secure, access-controlled areas. It is prudent to strike a balance between compliance and practicality by focusing on the intent of regulations. Offering alternatives also can meet reasonable compliance rather than blindly following requirements to the letter.

Experienced engineers can work with site managers to identify cost-effective compliance strategies, such as protecting only the main control systems with stringent measures rather than implementing lower-level actions at every device. This tailored approach avoids the trap of “over-securing” components where not necessary, freeing installations to allocate resources effectively.

Increasing Security

As legacy PA and mass notification systems reach the end of their functional life, leadership will have the opportunity to upgrade these critical devices. However, undertaking upgrades requires careful planning along with an understanding of modern cybersecurity and the dynamics of the military environment.

With more advanced IP-based mass notification systems, military bases stand to gain benefits in security, functionality, and efficiency. These enhancements lead to quicker responses to emergencies, more effective daily operations, and greater support for the military missions entrusted to these installations.

Geoffrey Chadwick, P.E., is Lead Controls Engineer, Encorus Group; chadwick@encorus.com.

Published in the January-February 2025 issue of The Military Engineer