EXTENSIVE AV COMPLEMENTS NAR'S "GREEN" HQ

EXTENSIVE AV COMPLEMENTS NAR'S "GREEN" HQ - Page 6

The Room with Two Head Ends

Now let’s go to the ninth floor VTC room: a dual-purpose videoconference and presentation room. NAR’s directive, according to Apter, was, “We want this room to do everything.” That ranges from distance conferencing to room presentations, staff meetings and client meetings. “A room that’s ideal for videoconferencing is not ideal for presentations,” declared Apter. “They have different needs and different requirements. What happened is that this space actually has two systems in one room.”

One wall has a dual-screen videoconferencing system comprised of two NEC 50-inch plasmas, which are built into AV-friendly custom cabinets, “so they don’t appear to be just two plasmas stuck into a wall,” said Apter. “They’re surrounded by gorgeous wood.” The conferencing camera is encased between the dual monitors. The millwork has side hinges so the wood panels open up for AV service techs. The codec is a Tandberg 6000.

The wall on the opposite side of the room has an electric screen with imaging from a Christie ceiling-mounted projector. There’s a lectern off the right of the screen. Because all furniture is movable, the U-shaped conference table can be shifted to face either direction for videoconferencing or presentation. So, essentially, the room has two head ends.

Because the shifted-about furniture easily could produce a snarl of mic cables during conferencing, six Shure wireless boundary mics, designed specifically for videoconferencing, were provided. Similarly, FSR floor boxes for laptop, input, LAN and power were positioned carefully to accommodate the shifting furniture. As in the boardroom, a surveillance camera and hanging mic connect to the second floor help desk. The Crestron touchscreen guides people through the two different configurations, because there are different speakers for the different head ends of the room.

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