Automated voice for announcements at airports
 

Flying from Milan Linate, I heard an automated voice making standardised announcements in English that sounds exactly like the voice used at Luton

Is there just the one company offering this automated service, or is this a multi-player industry ?

I don't think it's just one, but from a project I did at Uni many years ago, there is (or was) only a handful of suppliers. So it's very likely that it's the same company.

Equally, in the UK at least, there's only a handful of voice over artists that do public address systems.

Evening Standard Article about Voice over Artists

Some of the automated announcements at EDDK have been recorded by the actor lending his german voice to Pierce Brosnan. That makes them quite distinct and recognizable. Most notably he greets arriving passengers saying "Wilkommen in Bonn, Cologne-Bonn".

I still think it's funny.

Ooh I am going to have to listen out for that one. :D

Of course you have to mention the legendary Aena voices in Spanish airports. The same voices you used to hear 20 years ago!

...Thread drift...
then there was the original? voice of " Mind the Gap " on the London Underground of Laurance Osborne which was updated in the early naughties. He died I think about 2008 and his wife persuaded LU To bring him back and he can still only be heard on the Northern Line at Embankment...

This is Wiki about Mind The Gap and includes a reference to Mr Laurence. My work is related to the funeral trade and I met his widow and heard the story of his life, fascinating. He died in the summer of 2007. His voice was still on the Northern Line. It was a while later that they took it off and then time for her report to get through and then for them to find where a recording was stored.

The company you’re probably looking for is called AviaVox - see aviavox.com. They’re a Dutch company and supply many airports around the world. Yes, they even have sample voice clips on the website :8

Many thanks - that is indeed the voice I was thinking of. Have been listening to samples from all the other languages - hours of fun bringing back memories of trips ! :-)

It’s actually quite a complex function. The announcements are made through the site wide combined public address and voice alarm PAVA system using the system speakers dotted around.

The clever bit is the linkage to the Airport Operations and using that data to provide automated multiple local gate announcements.

These announcements can be restricted in their bleed across large open areas as well as other gates, so that people who don’t need to know are not alerted.

Keeps them happy eating/shopping and the tills ringing.