Overview

The telephone has always been essential to live broadcast. Studio Telephone Access Center (STAC) puts you in control of your talk shows, call-ins and phoners with great sound, ease of operation and scalable configuration.

STAC incorporates a pair of Comrex high-performance digital hybrids with automatic audio level control. The result is the most natural sounding telephone audio, even when conferencing multiple callers. A compact, rack-mounting mainframe houses the hybrids, the multiline controller and all telephone and audio connections.

The attractive, ergonomic control surfaces offer two operational modes, selectable with a flip of a switch:

• Studio/Producer Mode provides both pre-air and on-air caller management.
• Screener Mode simplifies the task of screening and queuing callers.
• Powerful call management can be quickly mastered with minimal training. A single control surface is included for basic operation. For more demanding programming, up to four control surfaces may be used.

Call screening and control are available from any networked computer, using a standard web browser, with the included STAC IP. With STAC IP, your talent can host their shows from anywhere there is an Internet connection or you can economically create more control points from any computer on your local network. No additional computer is needed to serve the STAC IP webpage, as it is served from the mainframe. Your connections are secured by password protection and no dedicated client software needs to be installed. In addition to replicating the call status information on the control surfaces, STAC IP also provides fields for additional information about callers and text "chat" among those on your show network.

Innovative features include an Auto Attendant that automatically answers incoming callers with your custom message and puts them on hold; dedicated control surface buttons to designate the next caller to be placed on air and to activate an external recorder or delay; and program-on-hold audio.

The STAC12 mainframe and control surface are configured for 12 phone lines, while the STAC6 is configured for six lines. Expanding a STAC6 to a STAC12 in the field is quickly accomplished by installing a mainframe extension card and control surface "sidecars".

No matter what you're talking about, you'll be talking about quality, convenience and value when you put the Comrex STAC on the line.

STAC Control Surface

One control surface is included with purchase of mainframe. Additional control surfaces, up to four per system, may be added at any time. STAC6 control surfaces can be upgraded to STAC12 in the field with our Sidecar Expansion Kit.

The clean, logical design allows functions to be mastered quickly. Dedicated buttons, with associated multicolor LEDs, minimize the number of button presses and make it easy to determine status of phone lines and callers.

Any control surface can operate in Studio/Producer or Screener Mode and can quickly be configured via DIP switches on the rear panel of each surface.

The STAC Control Surface is designed to use standard Cat-5 wiring to link the control surfaces to the mainframe. No proprietary cabling or additional power source is required for control surface connection.

Functions Available in All Modes

• Auto-Attendant activation, deactivation.
• Default Priority for next caller to be placed on air is:
  • Callers on hold who have been screened,
  • Followed by callers on hold who have not been screened, in order of length of time on hold.
• Change Priority function overrides the default priority to select and indicate the next caller to be to be placed on the air.
• Busy All function assists in “clearing the phones” for contests and
  other uses. Pressed once, the Busy All button drops all unlocked
  lines and will “busy them out”. On second press, the unlocked
  lines are freed up and are now available to receive calls.
• Aux button controls logic output to turn on/off external recorder or delay. DIP switch configurable as momentary or latching. The Aux function on each control surface operates independently of the others. In Studio/Producer mode, this button may alternately operate as a “Next” button, seamlessly putting the next priority line on the air.
• Jack provided for headset connection to provide alternative to handset.

STAC IP

• Duplicates control surface functions on any network-connected computer using standard web browsers.
• Password protected access to talent, producers and screeners on existing local networks and Internet connections.
• Software is served from STAC mainframe, so no dedicated server is required.
• Call timers are displayed for each line, showing length of time on hold and length of time on air.

Our live demo is to an actual working STAC system at our facility in Massachusetts, USA. The STAC web interface requires a high-speed internet connection, modern web browser, and the Adobe Flash Player browser plugin. To log in, you can use any username with the password comrex. We recommend running the demo in full-screen mode (F11 toggles full-screen mode on most browsers).

Connections

• Send Input: XLR female, 0 dBu nominal, adjustable, balanced, bridging, 20 kΩ impedance
• Caller 1 & 2 Outputs: XLR male, 0 dBu nominal, adjustable, balanced, 50 Ω impedance
• Telco: Two x RJ-45 connectors per six phone lines, POTS line, analog extension from a PBX or dry line (no DC offset voltage)
  • Auto-disconnect: Disconnects on loop drop
  • Key Service Compatibility: Any key system providing true tip and ring compatibility to telephone instruments
  • Tip/ring switching: Solid state relay
• Loop-through to PBX: Two x RJ45 per six phone lines
• Hybrid Expansion Port: RJ-45
• Control Surface: Four x RJ-45
• Network Connection: 10Base-T Ethernet

Power & Physical

• Internal supply: Auto Adjusting 100/240 VAC 50/60 Hz
• Dimensions: 19" W x 11.5" D x 3.5" H (48.26 cm x 29.21 cm x 8.89 cm)
• Weight: 12.5 lb (5.75 kg)

Dip Switch Adjustments

• Selection of Control Surface Mode: Screener or Studio/Producer
• Aux Mode Selection: Momentary or toggling
• Aux/Next button mode assignment
• Handset level boost
• Headset mode selection
• Rear panel connections

Connections

• Headset jacks: Two stereo mini-jacks
• Aux control output: DB-9, selectable as momentary or latching signal