7 Mistakes We Made When Deploying a PAGA System

Mistake 2 – Ignoring Network Latency for IP-based PAGA

In our 7 mistakes we made when deploying a PAGA System series we will be diving into mistake 2 in this blog;

When we deployed our first IP-based PAGA system offshore, we underestimated the importance of the network side of things. With most of our attention on the hardware, speakers, amplifiers, power supplies, we overlooked the network latency.

This was revealed during the first live test.

The PAGA messages were delayed. In some zones, the message came through almost instantly. In others, it lagged by several seconds. For a system meant to deliver emergency alarms and safety-critical messages, that delay was unacceptable.

The root cause? Poor network design. We hadn’t segmented PAGA traffic into a dedicated VLAN. IP-based PAGA systems rely heavily on real-time audio delivery, and without prioritizing that traffic, the consequences could be critical.

Here’s why the network was overloaded:

Too much unnecessary traffic: Some network switches were not set up properly, causing them to send out a lot of unnecessary messages across the entire network.
Camera feeds taking up too much bandwidth: When CCTV network and PAGA network both share the same switches.
Network reconfiguring itself: Every time there was a small change—like plugging or unplugging a cable—the network had to pause and reconfigure, which delayed important data like PAGA audio.
Everything was on the same network segment: All systems—CCTV, control systems, PAGA, even internet access—were sharing the same network path, causing congestion.
No traffic prioritization: The network treated all data the same. So urgent audio messages from PAGA had to wait in line behind less important traffic, like software updates or email syncs.

Lesson learned

if you ignore latency, your PAGA system will only work in ideal conditions, and offshore operations are rarely ideal.

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