Microphone Mist technology solves all the historical issues of poor audio, such as dead zones that kill the flow of the meeting.
Presenters can stand at the front of the room, walk to the back, turn around, it doesn’t matter. The clarity of their voice will remain constant.
It’s long been acknowledged that the ‘audio’ element of ‘audio visual’ has historically been the poor cousin, trailing behind in terms of technological developments. More recently, there’s been a definite shift in addressing this, and a good thing too as ‘audio’ is arguably more important than ‘visual’ in effective communication.
We’ve all sat in meetings that have been fraught with audio problems, particularly when video conferencing with remote participants is involved. Sound that has interference, loses clarity or just doesn’t work. It causes confusion, frustration and ultimately boredom as delegates disengage.
When you look at today’s market there are any number of solutions that resellers can specify for their customers, most of which work well for the environment they are designed for.
At one end you have what might be termed entry-level systems, plug and play microphone systems that typically sit on the meeting room table or are fixed to a screen. For a client seeking a solution for a group of up to around 6 people who will meet around a traditional meeting room table, these can work perfectly well. They are probably the right recommendation in what’s become known as huddle spaces, particularly where budgets are tight.
Margin-rich
Up at the other end of the market are high-end, professionally installed beam forming audio systems. With the need for precision programming and ongoing maintenance and calibration, they not only deliver great sound for large spaces, such as boardrooms, but provide integrators with the opportunity to create margin-rich installations.
But what about the middle ground? The medium to large meeting rooms? The environments that tend to feature in the changing work environments that embrace models such as active collaboration? And can the desire to adopt UC platforms such as Skype for Business and Zoom across an entire organisation be achieved in a scalable way whilst delivering a quality audio conferencing experience?
Audio solutions
Jon Knight, commercial director of technology distributor Ascentae, regularly encounters this challenge when talking to his channel customers:
“I hear from many resellers who have clients with multiple needs. Differing rooms sizes, used in different ways. The challenge is being able to propose an appropriate audio solution for those rooms in the middle. What I hear is that either they don’t get included in the project, or that there is a ‘make do’ solution installed. The problem is, that results either in solutions being overpriced and so not purchased in large scale or in something that delivers a pretty poor user experience.”
Knight believes that the Nureva HDL300 audio system is the perfect missing piece in the jigsaw that precisely targets that gap. By having this technology in their arsenal, integrators can present a full choice of solutions to their customers, giving them an ideal audio solution regardless of room size or use.
He explains “the HDL300 system revolves around Nureva’s totally unique technology – Microphone Mist. This technology fills the room with 8,192 virtual microphones to pick up voices no matter where people are in the room. or which direction they are facing. Microphone Mist has the capacity to process sound from all of its virtual mics in real time and is capable of processing 15,000 million instructions per second.”
What this means for the users is consistent, distortion-free, natural-sounding conversations. Presenters can stand at the front of the room, walk to the back, turn around, it doesn’t matter. The clarity of their voice will remain constant. Delegates in the meeting can speak naturally without having to lean into a microphone. Whether sat at the back or front of the room, whether they speak loudly or quietly, they will be heard. If they want to stand up and make their point, their contribution remains clear. All of which, of course, is the whole point of a conferencing solution.
Game-changing
According to Knight “I believe this is a game changing technology. Everyone who hears a demonstration is wowed by it. Ultimately, people don’t want to talk to technology, they want to talk to people. Microphone Mist technology solves all the historical issues of poor audio, such as dead zones that kill the flow of the meeting. And it’s a crucial tool for enabling active collaboration, by ensuring every contribution is clearly heard, and through promoting totally natural interactions between team members.”
Latest developments to the system include the recent launch of the Dual model which doubles the number of virtual microphones for coverage in larger spaces and Intelligent Sound Targeting, a breakthrough approach to managing unwanted background sound sources.
In summarising the reasons why resellers should investigate this new technology, Knight concludes: “It allows the channel to specify an audio solution for medium to large size rooms that just works seamlessly and at a cost-effective price point. It is a highly scalable solution that dovetails perfectly with the trends for enabling rooms for Skype for Business and Zoom. I’d encourage anyone with clients looking for audio solutions to hear a demonstration.”
The HDL300 system revolves around Nureva’s totally unique technology – Microphone Mist. This technology fills the room with 8,192 virtual microphones to pick up voices no matter where people are in the room. or which direction they are facing.
