This project was challenging from a design point of view since a balance needed to be found between the budget and a system that would work effectively. It took a while and several versions of the proposal before the final solution was agreed upon, but everyone involved is pleased with the results.
The first location included a divisible suite, 4-person room, and x6 8-person rooms.
Divisible suite
A wide-angle camera is positioned over an 85-inch Microsoft Surface Hub at the front of the room, while a PTZ camera is mounted at the rear of the room, facing the presenter position. Users can connect a laptop to the system and control the system using the small, wall-mounted touchpanel next to the display. Sources can be switched using a Crestron DMPS presentation matrix.
The room supports a couple of different audio options: a wireless headset microphone and handheld microphone are used for events, while a ceiling-mounted beamforming microphone array is used for video calls and the induction loop. Sound is presented to the required rooms by a multi-channel amplifier, after it has been mixed by an audio processor.
The benefit of having a divisible suite is that the room can be made larger or smaller depending on the users’ requirements. An optical sensor set is fitted at each partition, enabling the system to automatically reconfigure to the room arrangement. When the partitions are all open the low-spill phased array induction loop covers the entire divisible suite.
Secondary divisible suite (BYOD)
Each BYOD secondary space features a 55-inch Sony LCD, mounted on a trolley. Inputs to the system include: a laptop, wireless presentation dongle, conference soundbar mounted on the same trolley as the screen. The conferencing soundbar includes a 4K pan-tilt camera, microphone array, and speakers. Sound is picked up by the soundbar array and presented to the space via the soundbar speakers. There is no control option for these spaces; a connected device will automatically be shown on the LCD.
Secondary divisible suite (Surface hub)
For variety, some secondary divisible suites also feature a 50-inch Microsoft Surface Hub on a trolley, which is manually connected to the selected source device: Laptop input or feed from the primary space. Sound is picked up by the Surface Hub microphone array and presented to the space via the Surface Hub speakers. Control of the system is via the Surface Hub’s onboard touchscreen GUI.
4- and 8-person meeting rooms (BYOD)
Again, some meeting rooms supported BYOD and some Microsoft Surface Hub.
Each 8-person space features a 55-inch Sony LCD mounted on a tilting wall bracket. Inputs for the display include: two laptop connections (USB and HDMI), Microsoft wireless presentation dongle, conferencing soundbar mounted on a with 4K pan-tilt camera, microphone array, and speakers. Sound is presented to the space via the soundbar speakers. As soon as the laptop connects to the monitor the content will automatically appear on the display.
The 4-person meeting room is the same as the 8-person room, but it has a basic webcam instead of a conferencing soundbar.
8-person meeting rooms (Surface Hub)
Each secondary space features a 50-inch Microsoft Hub, on a trolley. The input is a laptop, and the sound is picked up by the Surface Hub microphone array and presented to the space via the Surface Hub speakers. Control of the system is via the Surface Hub’s onboard touchscreen GUI.
Second location
Divisible suite and large meeting room
This divisible suite features an 85-inch Sony commercial LCD, wall-mounted via an articulating bracket to allow access for maintenance. Over the display, there is a wide-angle camera mounted to capture the participants sitting at the table and a PTZ camera at the rear of the room, to capture the presenter.
Sound is captured using three microphones: wireless headset mic, wireless handheld mic, and ceiling mounted beamforming microphone array. The two wireless microphones are used for larger events and presented to the room via a set of ceiling speakers. The signals from the microphones, along with audio from the selected source, is mixed by an audio processor and presented to the room(s) via a multi-channel amplifier. A low-spill phased array induction loop also covers the entire divisible suite and can be used when the partitions are all open.
The system is controlled using a small wall-mounted touch panel next to the display, which uses a Crestron DMP presentation matrix to switch sources. The cameras are switched via the DMPS and converted to USB to feed into the laptop, along with the microphone audio.
The large meeting room has the same design as the primary room in the divisible suite, but with no partition or feeds.
