A boardroom audio system has to let everyone around a long table hear and be heard, both in the room and on a call. This boardroom in Dublin city centre has rows of conference microphones along the table, two handheld wireless microphones and a rack of equipment in its own cupboard. The photos were taken on 23 and 24 March 2023, while we finished and tested the room. It is the same boardroom as our boardroom video conferencing post, which shows the twin screens and the camera, so this post is about the sound and the rack behind it.
Conference microphones along the table
Along both sides of the table and across the end below the screens, each seat has its own conference microphone unit: a gooseneck microphone, a small screen with buttons and a speaker grille in one low unit that sits on the table. However long the table, each person along the sides is only an arm's length from a microphone.
The lectern at the end of the room has a gooseneck microphone of its own, and two Shure handheld wireless microphones wait on their charging station in the rack for anyone who stands up to present.
The rack behind the sound
The equipment sits in one rack, in a cupboard with timber doors that match the room. From the top down it holds:
- a Crestron CP3N control processor
- a Netgear AV Line network switch, with a brush panel below it for the cables
- two Haivision video streaming units
- the Shure charging station with the two handheld microphones
- three Extron DTP transmitters and an Extron DTP CrossPoint 84 switcher, with eight inputs and four outputs
- two HP Elite Mini computers
- Biamp TesiraFORTÉ X 1600 and TesiraFORTÉ X 800 audio processors
- two Biamp TesiraXEL 1200.1 amplifiers at the bottom
Vented panels between the units let warm air out, and two fans in the roof of the rack move it away. At the back, the cables are tied in and labelled, so each one can be traced when the room needs attention.
Zoom Rooms on the twin screens
When the room is not in use, the twin screens show the Zoom Rooms home screen with the words Tap Controller to Start, so anyone who walks in can see how to begin a meeting. Our Zoom Rooms installation post shows another Zoom Room in Dublin city centre.
Planning a boardroom audio system
Start with the people: how many sit at the table, who presents, and how often the room joins calls. A microphone at each seat suits a long table where everyone takes part, and handheld wireless microphones suit presenters who like to move. An audio processor with echo cancellation keeps calls clear, amplifiers drive the speakers, and a control system ties it together. Give the rack a ventilated space of its own, close to the room but out of sight. Biamp's own Tesira pages describe the TesiraFORTÉ processors used here.
Our pages on audio conferencing, conference rooms and Crestron cover the options for your own rooms.
The boardroom and its rack in pictures
More finished rooms are in our Gallery.
Talk to us about your boardroom
Whether it is one boardroom or a floor of meeting rooms, we can help you plan the sound, the screens and the control together. Get in touch, or ring 01 906 9326 in Dublin or 021 202 8107 in Cork.
- Log in to post comments