Custom audience microphone solution for a conference or teaching auditorium
The Challenge: how to ensure equal participation and visibility for both on-site and remote participants in a large auditorium?
In an auditorium with over 300 seats, it can be difficult to make sure everyone is able to communicate and collaborate effectively. How can you ensure that everyone has the ability to equally participate, to hear and be heard as well as to be seen by not only those other participants seated in the auditorium, but also those participating remotely? This is the challenge we were presented with from a local AV consulting firm. Unfortunately, the client and facility are top secret and thus we cannot use names or logos in this case study.
The Solution:
The first solution considered by the client was ceiling microphones, which given the size and scope of this project were not ideally suited for the required system performance.
Given the high security environment, wireless microphones were also not an option.
So what made a conference microphone system the right solution for this interactive auditorium space? Several reasons including:
- The ability to position microphones conveniently out in the audience to increase participation
- Ensuring rock solid performance via a redundant cabling structure
- Enabling a reliable connection to pan/tilt/zoom camera systems, thus turning the auditorium into a distance learning or video conference facility.
- Ability to remotely control switch microphones on/off or adjust gain or capture valuable meeting data
- Ability to add names to the microphones and operate the system in a request-to-speak mode
- The possibility of adding a polling feature to further engage the audience and measure retention levels of the participants
One of Televic’s most popular solutions for collaborative auditorium spaces is a handheld microphone with a push-to-talk button on it and a coiled extension cord.
These microphones can be provided one per seat, or easily one per two seats and come in several standard mounting options.
One of the more common options, depending on the size of the auditorium chair (and chair arm), is to mount the handheld microphone into the top of the chair arm with the microphone submerged into the mic plate for easy access.
Another is to mount a clip for the handheld microphone to either the front or the back of the chair arm and mount the electronics inside the arm enclosure or behind the chair.
Having a coiled cord ensures that the cord will not be a trip hazard to those walking between seats. Daisy chain cabling with closed loop redundancy ensures an easy and reliable installation.
Additional challenges that required a customized solution:
The cabling infrastructure and physical attributes of the room were already finalized when Televic was brought into the project.
The chairs had already been selected and ordered and unfortunately did not have any space to insert our electronics or mount a handheld microphone.
In addition, the auditorium was set up in stadium style with a two-foot knee wall between rows and a safety railing on top.
This design ensured that we could not go with a standard out-of-the-box microphone solution. Televic’s custom design team to the rescue!
The Result:
Four concept drawings were created to showcase available options, and the winning design was to create a custom metal enclosure that would house the handheld microphone, with the coiled cord and system electronics that would mount perpendicular to the knee wall and allowed the handheld mic to drop down into the enclosure.
The enclosure also includes an internal tube that holds the handheld mic and helps guide its coiled cord back into the enclosure thus ensuring that tangled dangling cables will not be an issue.
Once the concept was settled on, we had several revisions of the size of the enclosure to match ergonomics. We also relocated internal electronics to allow the client’s access panel to align with the knee wall in the right spot for installation. Also options for sink screening and engraving the customer’s logo were also submitted and selected (again, these have been removed from this article out of respect for the client’s privacy).
A key element we should also mention is that the Televic electronics provided inside the custom enclosure are standard off-the-shelf Televic products, so they will be easy to repair, service, or replace as needed.
