Socially Distanced Mic Arrays
Workers are returning to the office but they’re still going to be socially distanced.
18 June 2020
Ceiling-mount conference microphone systems mean there’s no need to disinfect desktop microphones.
This is the case Sennheiser is making for TeamConnect:
“TeamConnect Ceiling 2 is ideally suited for medium-sized to large meeting rooms, in other words rooms with an area of between 50 and 60 square metres or rooms for 14 to 16 participants. Of course, a reduced number of participants is possible without any disadvantages if smart distancing measures are applied,” explained Jens Werner, Portfolio Manager Business Communication at Sennheiser with responsibility for the areas of Meeting & Conference. “For example, those attending the meeting can keep a sufficiently safe distance during conference calls without the need to crowd together around a telephone conferencing station. Several ceiling mics can be combined to achieve greater coverage, for example in very large rooms or ones with an unfavourable shape. Due to its very principle, Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 meets strict hygiene requirements. It is the perfect solution for all conference and meeting rooms where excellent speech intelligibility, simple handling and seamless integration into the existing room environment are required.”
The TeamConnect Ceiling 2 microphone array, which is specially designed for ceiling installation, can be elegantly integrated into every room environment and ensures that the participants’ contributions are transmitted with an outstanding level of detail regardless of their individual position in the room.
Sennheiser: en-au.sennheiser.com/tcc2
With its 28 condenser capsules that are intelligently linked via DSP matrixing, TeamConnect Ceiling 2 covers the entire room; the signal processing takes place within the microphone housing itself. Dependent on the signal level, the ceiling microphone recognises precisely where the speaker is located in the room and “focuses” on the corresponding area in the form of a beam. Other areas are attenuated accordingly.
Dynamic beamforming means that the ceiling microphone does not have to be adapted to different seating arrangements or changes in the number of people in the meeting. The system is therefore ideal for flexible collaboration scenarios or “ad hoc shared space” room utilisations, allowing participants to move around freely and speak anywhere in the space covered by TeamConnect Ceiling 2 without any need to reconfigure the settings.
Audio output is through a three-pin Phoenix contact for analogue connection (external audio processor, video conference codec) and two Dante ports (primary/secondary, 2 x RJ45) for digital scenarios. Power is supplied by PoE (Power-over-Ethernet). Setting the system up and trouble-free AV workflows are best achieved by using the free Sennheiser Control Cockpit software 4.0.0, which also supports the evolution wireless G3 und G4 microphone series, as well as the SpeechLine Digital Wireless series and the ground-breaking Digital 6000 system. As an alternative, TeamConnect Ceiling 2 can also be operated with a media control system.
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