NIKOS – Festumzug

Crowd management for Christopher Street Day in Hamburg

autonomous reliable cost-effective

NIKOS is not a conventional PA system, but a radio-based public address, alarm and control system for large events, construction sites and crisis situations, which you can rent by the day through certified partners and either integrate into your PA or use on its own.

Challenge

Targeted management of visitor flows along the parade route

During Christopher Street Day in Hamburg, crowds and bottlenecks constantly shift along the parade route. Loud surroundings, spontaneous changes of direction and dense crowds make it difficult to deliver clear instructions to the right places in good time. In such situations, visitor flows must be coordinated reliably, even when public network communications are overloaded or short-term diversions become necessary.

Solution

One unified solution for everyday use and emergencies

One platform for everything: NIKOS unites visitor information, alerting, crowd management and control in a single, network-independent system. For events such as Christopher Street Day in Hamburg, NIKOS combines status monitoring, alerting, information announcements and remote control on a single platform. Rapidly deployable, radio-based units are used wherever visitors need to be guided or informed. Operation is handled via NIKOS [dispatcher]², allowing individual announcement locations, specific areas or the entire event site to be addressed. NIKOS [audio]² receives the voice transmission by radio and outputs it as an analogue audio signal via the mobile sound systems on the floats; NIKOS [horn]² supplements the sound coverage in sections without their own system. NIKOS [LED]² supports visual signalling, NIKOS [relay]² provides switching functions and NIKOS [flash]² delivers the visual warning signal. This reduces equipment and installation costs as well as the need for decentralised operating posts, because recurring announcements and control tasks can be managed centrally and carried out by NIKOS.

FAQ

Information for planners and organisers

Are announcements made via NIKOS standard-compliant?+
Yes — NIKOS fully meets DIN EN 50849 (electroacoustic emergency warning systems). The system was designed specifically for safety-relevant announcement and alerting tasks, technically built for everyday operation as well as for emergencies. For ELA systems, DIN EN 50849 sets out the relevant framework. Because NIKOS — unlike mobile network-based solutions — does not depend on any external network, it is always immediately usable and fully meets the requirements set out in the standard. Other safety-related standards such as DIN EN 54, DIN VDE 0833-4 or DIN 14675 (voice alarm systems) concern a different field of use and functional scope and are therefore not relevant for NIKOS in terms of approval. Since 2017, NIKOS has been used successfully many times a public address system for temporary and mobile applications in mission-critical communication tasks. RADACOM and your regional NIKOS partner will be happy to advise you on the wide range of NIKOS functions and support you in implementing the requirements cost-effectively.
Where can cost savings be achieved at Christopher Street Day?+
Depending on the application, NIKOS can implement various functions via a single, integrated communications platform. NIKOS mainly reduces the effort required for separate loudspeaker, control and communication solutions. Material requirements and cabling work are reduced, and information and emergency announcements can be made from a single location. The savings achieved in this way can quickly offset the rental and installation costs of NIKOS. When its wide range of functions is used consistently, the result is often not only an increased level of safety and easier work for employees, but also savings in the overall budget. For crowd management and other safety-related coordination tasks, NIKOS combines employee alerting, visitor information and system control on a single platform. This reduces the need for materials, cabling and cable ramps that pose a trip hazard. In addition, tasks that would otherwise require several security, reporting or operating posts distributed along the route can be handled from a single location through central announcements, remote control and status monitoring. This can reduce staffing requirements or allow personnel to be deployed more effectively at safety-critical points. Particularly for temporary events, this significantly reduces the costs of planning, setting up and operating the safety technology.
What happens if the mobile network or power supply fails?+
NIKOS operates via its own autonomous radio network and is completely independent of public communications networks and their availability. This makes the system highly resistant to external influences. As NIKOS does not rely on cables but communicates by radio, the connection is automatically re-established after an interruption. This makes NIKOS far more resilient to disruptions in normal operations than many other systems and demonstrates the crisis resilience of this communications system. NIKOS [audio]² has an internal battery with a runtime of up to 16 hours and also supplies connected accessory modules. Even if the mobile network is overloaded, the internet provider has been hacked or someone has pulled out the wrong plug, NIKOS continues to operate. This means that crowd management for Christopher Street Day in Hamburg remains reliably functional even in the event of a power failure or disruptions to public communications networks.
How are announcements heard despite the floats’ loud music?+
When the music is loud, NIKOS [flash]² uses a flashing light to signal to the DJ or the person responsible for the float that the music must be stopped immediately. The visual signal is clearly noticed on site and triggers the necessary interruption. This ensures that safety-critical announcements remain reliably understandable even with loud floats and dense crowds.
Crowd management for Christopher Street Day in Hamburg: Where can NIKOS be rented?+
NIKOS is rented by the day through certified partners, including advice, instruction and technical support. Your regional partner coordinates the deployment with you. Find a partner and request a rental

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