Telwater (BRP) & ClearOne BMA360
The challenge:
In our Telwater Head Office (BRP) we were struggling with poor audio quality in our video conferencing room. This caused problems with collaboration and productivity. The meeting room is quite large at 10m x 10m, and due to the dynamic layout of the room, we were keen to find the right solution.
Factors at play
1. Audio: The far end audio was being delivered through our smart display speakers, which was great for those sitting at the front of the room but those at the back were struggling to hear and be heard. The microphones built into the smart display did not cover the space adequately which resulted in remote participants being unable to hear everyone clearly.
2. Room acoustics: High levels of ambient noise and hard, reverberant surfaces made capturing intelligible voices difficult. We relied on UC software DSP and Echo Cancellation to manage this, but we needed more. Combining these factors with our standard USB video conferencing equipment, resulted in a poor in-room and remote participant experience.
The solution:
The ClearOne BMA 360 beamforming, ceiling tile microphone combined with the ClearOne Converge Pro2 48VT Digital Signal Processor delivers a more natural auditory experience to our room. Even though the room is quite large, with the BMA 360, all participant voices are captured clearly from any location in the room. The Converge Pro2 DSP provides the ultimate control for video conferencing audio, so that all voices can be heard clearly, sound more natural, and ambient noise is reduced to acceptable levels. To ensure remote participants are heard clearly across the room, four ClearOne ceiling speakers were installed. Utilising amplification built into the BMA-360 simplified the setup and cable management. The speakers are spread out across the room to distribute audio evenly throughout the space.
The team at Audio Visual Distributors have gone above and beyond to setup the microphone for optimal performance and provided great technical advice for our venue.
I would highly recommend using this product in any space due to its versatility and performance. The microphone placement is unobtrusive while maintaining full 360-degree overage. The in-ceiling installation is simple and is working well with our current video conferencing applications.
Dennis Lugiarto
IT Manager
BRP Adventure by design