Case Study
Public Address and Voice Alarm System Migration at Liverpool Airport: Seamless Transition During Live Operations
Liverpool John Lennon Airport successfully upgraded its Public Address infrastructure from a legacy system to a new VX-3000 PA/VA system without interrupting day-to-day operations.
The migration was executed during full live operations, including regular daytime hours. Each loudspeaker line was individually reconnected from the legacy system to the new infrastructure, line by line. This approach required both systems to run simultaneously and remain fully compatible throughout the entire transition period.
PAXGuide
Solution
Airport
Vertical
2026
Launch
About the Customer
Liverpool John Lennon Airport is a significant international gateway located in Liverpool, United Kingdom. The airport plays a crucial role in the region's economy and serves millions of passengers annually. It is the Faster, Easier, Friendlier Airport of choice for passengers from across the region, recognised for its relaxed, hassle-free environment and best in class operational performance and has won local and national awards in recognition of its excellent customer service. Among the awards, Liverpool Airport has been recognised as the UK's best airport by Which consumer group for the last 2 years in a row.
The Challenge
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Replacing the existing PA/VA system while maintaining full airport operations at day and night
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Reconnecting loudspeakers individually from the legacy system to the new TOA PA/VA system infrastructure without creating gaps in coverage
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Ensuring consistent, duplicate-free announcements across two technically different PA/VA systems running in parallel during migration
Solution
In close collaboration with Liverpool Airport, Sittig Technologies implemented the PAXGuide Announcement Platform as a central communication layer across the entire environment. PAXGuide was deployed ahead of the migration, ensuring immediate compatibility between the existing legacy system and the new TOA infrastructure from day one.
Parallel Operation Across Two PA/VA systems
PAXGuide acted as an intelligent interface between both systems. As loudspeakers were reconnected line by line - even during regular daytime operations - PAXGuide ensured announcements were distributed consistently across both systems at all times.
This enabled the team to:
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Trigger announcements once, from a single central point
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Automatically distribute them to both PA/VA systems simultaneously
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Gradually migrate individual lines with minimal gap in coverage
Duplicate announcements were fully eliminated, and passenger communication remained consistent throughout showing a reflection of one of PAXGuide's core strengths: the ability to seamlessly interconnect multiple PA/VA systems from different manufacturers within a single unified platform.
“While migrating from an old public address and voice alarm system to a new one, the PAXGuide was set up to work with both systems simultaneously. This allowed us to easily pull a speaker line from the old system, reconnect it to the new TOA infrastructure seamlessly with no reconfiguration. The PAXGuide adapted automatically with no disruption to the customer making the change over straight forward."
Mark A. Smith
Fire & Security Service Supervisor
HESIS Limited
Centralized and Automated Communication
Alongside the migration, Liverpool Airport leveraged PAXGuide's full communication capabilities: PAXpaging provided a central, web-based interface for all announcements; integration with the airport's AODB system enabled real-time, data-driven messaging; and Text-to-Speech functionality ensured multilingual communication for international passengers. Together, these features transformed announcements from a manual, error-prone process into a standardized and fully automated workflow - running seamlessly across bothPA/VA systems throughout the migration.
Migration Line by Line
A key advantage of PAXGuide was the ability to decouple announcement logic from the physical infrastructure state. As loudspeakers were moved from the legacy system to the TOA system, PAXGuide automatically adapted distribution with no configuration changes required. Liverpool Airport could therefore begin the migration at any point including regular daytime hours, maintain one consistent workflow throughout, and reconnect speaker lines gradually without affecting passenger communication.
Benefits
Uninterrupted Operations During Migration
Passenger communication remained fully consistent throughout the transition. Even as loudspeakers were being physically reconnected from one system to the other, coverage gaps were minimal and disruption to daily airport operations was virtually non-existent, whether the work took place at night or during regular daytime hours.
Single Announcement, Multiple Systems
All announcements were distributed simultaneously across both the legacy system and the new TOA system, regardless of the current migration status of any given zone. This eliminated duplication and ensured consistent messaging at every stage.
Reduced Operational Workload
Airport staff worked with a single, unified interface throughout the entire project. No parallel workflows, no system switching, no additional manual effort.
Improved Communication Quality
Multilingual, standardized, and data driven announcements enhanced clarity and passenger experience across the terminal.
Faster Time to Value
The airport benefited from the new announcement system immediately, without waiting for full infrastructure replacement.
Future Ready Platform
With PAXGuide in place, Liverpool Airport now operates a flexible, scalable communication platform fully equipped to adapt to future system changes or expansions.
Key Takeaway
Liverpool Airport demonstrates that a PA/VA system replacement does not need to be tied to rigid infrastructure timelines or require operational compromises. By reconnecting loudspeakers line by line, including during live daytime operations, and using PAXGuide as the central integration layer throughout, the airport was able to:
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Run two technically different PA/VA system fully in parallel
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Maintain a single, unified announcement workflow at every stage of the migration
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Ensure complete and consistent passenger communication, even while individual zones were being physically switched over
This approach transforms a complex infrastructure migration into a controlled, predictable process delivering immediate operational benefits from day one.
