For more resources or to read the first post in this series, visit the channel page, Audio Collaboration Resources.

In the AV world, we’ve all seen a back-and-forth between the importance of the “A” (audio) versus the “V” (video) over the years. It’s easy to say that in “AV” both sides are equally important. And they are. But not only has the video side seen a greater surge of new technology in recent years—audio and video have always been, and will continue to be, very different animals.

We’ll look at new audio world developments like innovative new microphone technologies that are rebalancing the equation. But first, let’s step back from specs and marketing language laden with layers of complexity and get back to the basics of physics for a moment.

Light (that comprises any video image) travels at, well, the speed of light. Technically, that’s called fast. It’s so fast—299,792,458 meters per second (670,616,629.3844 miles per second), to be exact—that the dynamics of any particular room or space don’t wreak havoc with how the video image gets from a display or a screen to your eyes. Video images don’t bounce or reverberate around a room in odd and unpredictable ways. It’s a clean path from the display to you—and it’s so fast that, aside from line of sight, the room architecture does not come into play.

Nureva Audio Manager Delivers New Functionality to the HDL300 System (Jan. 24, 2018)

Audio could not be more different. Sound travels, in most conditions through air, at 343 meters per second. That’s why designing audio systems for everything from an outdoor concert to conference rooms is really more complex than providing video signal or video display for the “V” in AV. And that’s why, historically, it’s taken much more craft, and experience, to set up audio systems. It’s really not rocket science to provide video images for an audience or conference attendees. To do that well is by no means easy, but it’s getting easier and easier all the time. Doing audio well has perplexed many an AV pro, IT manager, and end user, and it has traditionally required much more hands-on system configuration, ongoing tweaking, and maintenance.

Even as audio has moved to digital platforms for transmission from location to location (inside a stadium, or across the country), that “last mile” or, better said, last few feet, of the audio path is the part that is still tricky. Because nothing changes the basic laws of physics that define the painfully slow speed of sound and what different architectural spaces do to sound’s path.

Nureva Announces Dual HDL300 Audio Conferencing System for Larger Spaces (Feb. 5, 2018)

So let’s turn back to audio conferencing, and some really interesting new microphone technologies. If you’re looking at different audio conferencing solutions, you’ve probably heard of beamforming microphone technology—the technology featured in some in-ceiling installed systems. In the beamforming system, beams from the mics in the mic array are aimed at specific zones in the room where the meeting participants are expected to be—that is, in their chairs in predetermined locations. When nobody moves and everyone speaks within range of a beam, performance is OK. But an audio conferencing system based on beamforming still carries the inherent disadvantages of traditional ceiling mics or tabletop mics. The “mics” are still oriented towards rooms and meetings in which everyone sits around a single table and faces in the same direction—usually towards the display. It’s still not enough craft, art, or science to produce the best solution for the highest level of audio conferencing.

Thanks to efforts to achieve better audio conferencing, there are now alternatives to using beamforming. Nureva has taken a bold step and has developed its new Microphone Mist™ technology in their HDL300 audio conferencing system with 8,192 virtual microphones that tame some the challenges of, well, physics. Dedicated processing harnesses the capabilities of those mics, and additional critical processing handles acoustic echo cancellation and noise reduction, while integrating with codecs, and particularly soft codecs.

Here is some interesting information about the new alternative to beamforming, in the links below.

For more resources or to read the first post in this series, visit the channel page, Audio Collaboration Resources.

Beyond Beamforming—Some Reasons to Consider Other Options

AV Network article: “A New Breakthrough in Audio Conferencing Solutions”

A new e-guide: “A Brief Guide to Audio Conferencing Technologies: How to Get the System that Enables More Dynamic, Collaborative Meeting”

How Advanced Audio Conferencing Solutions Meet Today's Demanding Applications

For more resources or to read the next post in this series, visit the channel page, Audio Collaboration Resources.

The business case for designing better collaboration spaces and systems begins not in the traditional AV gear world per se—with focus only on the specs of screens and video and audio tools. It begins, rather, with forces that are causing significant change in the AV world and beyond—all surrounding the huge increase in demand for interactivity and collaboration among end users.

A lot of attention is given to the video side of the collaboration equation. The volume of video on the world’s IP networks today exceeds all other forms of traffic combined, and trends like video over IP are strong. And in fact, much of the increase in demand for larger display sizes is attributed to the increase in demand for interactivity and collaboration among end users. That’s why display companies are focusing on offering touch displays that can be used in both corporate and education sectors. Bandwidth requirements in the enterprise, of course, increase proportionately. And so the video side of the story evolves—and garners most of the press and product attention.

But smart AV integrators and end users are starting to understand that the audio side of the conferencing equation is not only just as important as the video side, but it’s also the side where advances in technology have ushered in new business models and new efficiencies in system design and maintenance.

Before you look at the technical specs of these new solutions for audio conferencing, start by trying to cut through the noise to get back to the business goals of your customers. Your customers’—or your company’s—need for better audio conferencing is all about engaging a more mobile workforce. It’s about the increasing demand for workforce innovation. Are all the “intrapreneurs” in the organization tuned into the work and the workflow? The audio conference is probably the number-one tool for connecting remote and in-office workers. If people in the organization don’t feel connected, they’re not going to be effective.

You’ve read about, and probably installed, huddle spaces, flex spaces, and other new-form meeting spaces. The industry is seeing an increased demand for more flexible spaces. Video is now more comfortable for people. But if you can ask “what is a video conference without video?” then the question of how audio defines and shapes conferencing becomes more urgent than ever, as we create interactive collaborative spaces that involve not only in-room participants but also remote participants. And one key to understanding the dynamics of audio conferencing is this: the in-room participants now, more often than not, move about the room as they use video and other collaboration tools. If remote participants can’t really participate through hearing everything that goes on in the room, they won’t really be connected.

How do you create a room that meets all of those needs? What if you could install an audio conferencing system for the space and more easily? A system that did not require ongoing maintenance? What if a single device—that would be far more efficient for integrators and end clients alike—could handle all the audio needs for the room?

There’s an intriguing new self-contained system for natural audio collaboration that is pointing to new business models—and new business efficiencies: Nureva’s new HDL300 audio conferencing system with Nureva’s Microphone Mist™ technology. It’s a pretty significant jump forward in audio conferencing technology. Readers can see it, and learn more, using the links below.

Related Resources

AVNetwork, October 2017: “A new breakthrough in Audio Conferencing Solutions”

How Advanced Audio Conferencing Solutions Meet Today's Demanding Applications

Meeting the Needs of the Dynamic Meeting Room: A No Jitter/Enterprise Connect Webinar (starring David Martin and Phil Edholm)

The 4 Challenges an IT Leader Faces in Selecting Audio Conferencing Equipment for Meeting Spaces: A 15-Slide PowerPoint Presentation

From the AV-IT Summit in Denver: The Dynamic Meeting Room

Advanced Audio Conferencing Solutions for Today’s Demanding Applications: An ebook published by New Bay Media on Advanced Audio Conferencing Solutions for Today’s Demanding Applications