About The Facility - Marghera, Italy lies five miles northwest of Venice. One of Venice’s six boroughs, Marghera’s population is approximately 30,000. That includes a large industrial port called Porto Marghera. The bustling port handles production activities such as petroleum refinery, metallurgy, electricity, and aluminum. While the industrial facilities that process and store chemical materials have their own alarm and warning systems, Marghera’s citizens remained understandably concerned about the potential danger. For this reason, the Servizio di Protezione Civile of Venice approved an acoustic alarm system to instantly alert residents should harmful toxic pollutants get released into the air.
The Sound System - Marghera needed an alert system that would cover a wide area with no chance of failure in an emergency. The C.V.R. (Consorzio Venezia Ricerche) had recently completed a flood warning system for Venice’s Tidal Forecasting and Signaling Centre. While that experience proved beneficial for this project, they still faced challenges.“The main problem derived from the fact that Marghera has few high buildings and we had to cover a very wide area,” said acoustical expert Umberto Nicolao, who managed the project’s design. “The city’s houses have maximum two floors, not useful for implementing the concentrated acoustic diffusion system I had in mind.” The team decided to use Marghera’s water tower as the system’s central location. Standing 54 meters high, it was the best structure available. However, the city’s lone skyscraper stood nearby, so they couldn’t send a high level acoustical the skyscraper direction was outside the sound beam.”
To manage and control the signal and power amplification,the team selected the Vocia Amplifiers VA-8600 from Biamp Systems. Vocia meets Europe’s EN 54-16 and EN 60849 safety standards. Its architecture distributes processing and page routing through the network, which eliminates the possibility of faults in the system. Vocia AM-600c power modules drive the loudspeakers. The sound system also features five sub-locations with four Community RSH-462 Loudspeakers a piece in a multidirectional configuration.
Developing the acoustical warning signal itself had to account for many factors. Ambient noise in parts of the city, as well as atmospheric conditions, could make it difficult to hear. On the other hand, the team didn’t want a sound so loud that it might unnerve the residents. Several professionals with specialized expertise contributed to the project. For products and technical support, Nicolao worked with Ennio Prase of Prase Engineering S.p.A. Network engineer Gabriele Ferrari built the architecture for the communication system. Sofitel, based in Treviso, Italy, managed the installation.
The warning system works extremely well, keeping the Marghera residents safe. It was specially designed to continuously monitor its status, so that any problems get signaled and addressed immediately. Based on its success, according to Nicolao, the nearby city of Vicenza decided to develop a similar system for river flooding emergencies.
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
