About Intercom
Intercom puts your production crew in each other’s ears using the phones they already carry. Camera operators, audio, lighting, graphics, and the director talk and listen over your church’s Wi-Fi, with a headset plugged into their phone. There are no belt packs or base stations to buy.
It’s built for a Sunday service or a live stream, but you can set it up for any team that needs to talk during an event, like security, parking, or campus operations.
What it does
| Feature | What it means |
|---|---|
| Parties | The channels people talk on, like Production, Camera, or Audio. Everyone listening to a party hears whoever talks on it. |
| Talk and listen | Each party has its own Listen switch and TALK key. Hold TALK to speak, or tap it to lock your mic on. |
| Your own mix | Everyone sets the volume of each party, and can put a party in their left ear, right ear, or both. |
| Program audio | Show audio from your sound desk or switcher, played quietly under the crew so people can follow the service. It dips when someone talks. |
| Ping and call | A ping is a nudge: a chime and “Jordan needs you”. A call rings until they answer, then opens a private line between the two of you. |
| Messages | For moments you can’t talk out loud. Typed messages are read aloud in the other person’s headset. |
| Cues | The director sends Stand by, Ready, Go, or Clear to a party. It shows as a banner and is spoken. |
| Tally | The red and green lights that tell camera operators when they’re live. Intercom reads them from your Blackmagic ATEM switcher and shows them full screen on each operator’s phone. |
The pieces
| Piece | Where it runs | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Intercom Hub | A Mac on your church’s network | Carries everyone’s audio, sends program feeds, connects to your ATEM, and is where you set up parties and roles. It also has a director panel. |
| Intercom app | Your crew’s iPhones, iPads, and Android phones and tablets | Where people join, talk, listen, and see tally. |
| The relay | Culminate’s cloud | Lets crew who are off your Wi-Fi (on cellular, or at home) reach your Hub. Audio stays encrypted end to end. |
Voices go from each phone to your Hub and are never recorded.
What you need
- A Mac that stays on and on your network, running macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Apple silicon and Intel Macs both work. See Set up the Hub.
- Wi-Fi your crew’s phones can join, on the same network as the Mac.
- A phone or tablet for each person, with a headset. A wired headset gives the lowest delay.
- Intercom turned on for your organization. It’s a paid add-on in the dashboard under Features. See Turn on Intercom.
- Teams for your crew. Intercom uses your Teams to decide who can join and what they hear. Crew sign in with the same Culminate Life account they use in the Teams app.
How it works
Turn on Intercom
In the dashboard, turn on Intercom in Features and copy your device code.
Set up the Hub on a Mac
Install the Intercom Hub, enter your device code, and add your program feeds.
Set up parties and roles
Choose your parties, and link each group of parties to a team in Teams. Link roles to team positions so people join with the right role.
Your crew joins from the app
They sign in with their Culminate Life account, tap your Hub under Your intercoms, and they’re on. Their role, and their camera for tally, come from today’s schedule.