When Farmers Mutual Telephone Company, an American fiber optic internet, video, and phone services provider, wanted to redesign and reconfigure their main conference room as part of a whole building renovation, they knew that they needed to work with a company that could offer a complete audio solution that didn’t jeopardize their desired aesthetics.
To do this, they turned to integration firm AVI Systems and ClearOne. “We wanted our whole facility, and particularly our main conference room, to present a forward-thinking image, which is particularly important for us when
hosting outside partners for meetings or presentations,” Matt Kutzli, IP/IT Technician at FMTC said.
“We knew that we had to opt for a solution that guarantees seamless audio coverage and operation, without the clutter of visible wires or other components — making ClearOne the obvious choice.”
As part of the building’s renovation, the room’s original tin tiled ceiling was overlaid by a modern drop ceiling configuration. However, the FMTC team still made an effort to maintain the room’s original look, by outfitting the suspended ceiling with formed composite tiles, mirroring the original style.
“Having ClearOne’s Beamforming Microphone array ceiling tiles blend-in so seamlessly allowed us to easily maintain some of the original aesthetic.” Kutzli asserted. “It made perfect sense to utilize a solution that provides whole-room audio coverage, without compromising the impression we wanted. Plus, the absence of long speaker wire runs simplifies the installation and maintenance throughout the life of the system.”
The ceiling is broken up into nine coffered sections, each containing a grid of ceiling tiles. All of the ClearOne technology is contained in the front six sections, with the middle sections containing the microphone ceiling tiles, and the outer left and right sections each featuring a ceiling tile speaker fed by the BMA-CT.
In total, the conference room features two ClearOne Beamforming Microphone Array ceiling tiles, four ceiling tile speakers, a Converge Pro 2 Digital Signal Processor (DSP), and a ClearOne Dialog20 that can be used in the room, or portably for off-site meetings that require a wireless microphone solution.
Since integrating these ClearOne solutions, FMTC executives, staff, and partners are now able to more easily meet, communicate, and collaborate
— maximizing the room’s potential and slashing required training time.
There’s also wide agreement amongst employees and outside clients that having a ‘hidden’ microphone system makes the room more visually appealing. “The quality and simplicity of ClearOne’s products are a stark departure from FMTC’s previous conference room system that was limited by less capable and lower-quality tabletop speakerphones,” Kutzli concluded.
Aside from a wave of positive results and reactions from those utilizing ClearOne technology, FMTC points to ClearOne’s industry-leading customer support, as a reason for their continued partnership.
“There is not a doubt in my mind that ClearOne’s solutions are a top-tier option that we will continue to consider for future projects” Kutzli said. “They’ve been an excellent partner, and very responsive to any needs that arose during installation and setup.”
