Case Study: AREC + Televic, the formula for every successful council

Dear ADENA Partners, in this case study, we review how Rochford Council in the UK successfully uses the AREC DS-4CU together with the Televic Confidea discussion system. Thanks to the efforts of our distributor, Tukans, and system integrator, Nuway, Rochford Council now embodies its “Simpler, clearer, faster” slogan in every council meeting, increasing transparency and improving public outreach. Learn more about how the systems work below and watch the system in action on the Council’s YouTube channel.

Rochford Council is a governmental institution responsible for district services and providing information for the Rochford district. This includes plans for local economic development, tourism, housing, jobs, and many other matters. The council’s workload necessitates frequent meetings and debates, which, until recently, were streamed with a single camera. 

While the streams did make the meetings publicly visible, they only conveyed the bare minimum. Important parts of the proceedings, such as computer-shared content and diagrams, could not be displayed, and it was not possible to focus on active speakers without manual control of the camera. Consequently, the council decided to look for a way to improve its streaming setup, and thanks to the efforts of our distributor, Tukans, and system integrator, Nuway, found that the AREC DS-4CU was exactly what they needed.

DS-4CU Speaker Tracking Station

The DS-4CU is a speaker-tracking station that supports up to four video sources connected by HDMI, VGA, or network. It is integrated with a variety of popular discussion systems on the market, including Audio-Technica, Shure, Bosch, Televic, and others. The station can select a customisable layout with multiple video sources, switch overlays and backgrounds, and control PTZ movement of each connected camera uniquely for every speaker in a fully automatic mode. The combination of these features allows Rochford Council to clearly display the current speaker, switch to opposite cameras to display councillors on the other side of the chambers, and show various computer content as part of the livestream. 

Televic Confidea

Our station is used together with the Televic Confidea, a bespoke and robust discussion system for councils. It ensures that every speaker is clearly heard and comes with a multitude of features tailored to council meetings, such as voting, RFID authentication, and more, which Rochford Council uses in every meeting.

The council has joined the long list of successful meeting transformation projects accomplished with AREC, and you can see the results on its YouTube channel. Is your council also looking for a solution to improve recording, streaming, and conferencing processes? Reach out to us at www.a-dena.com, and we will be happy to arrange a discussion to show why AREC is the right solution.

Case Study: Operator’s Dream, Student’s Saviour — AREC In the University of Latvia

Dear ADENA Partners, this month’s case study highlights the University of Latvia’s P. Stradiņš Medical College experience with AREC! The university captures, controls, records, and displays all medical simulations taking place in their medical school using our devices. Created by our partner Boon, AREC delivers easy-to-use yet functionally advanced lecture capture and control solution.

The University of Latvia (known as Latvijas Universitāte in Latvian) is a well-known institution in the country. It is simultaneously the third-oldest and one of the top three universities in Latvia, offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to over 14,000 students every year. The university is divided into 13 faculties, which are further divided into numerous departments, chambers, centres, and laboratories. Some of these faculties have been using AREC Media Stations for years to record and stream lectures, but, until recently, not the P. Stradiņš Medical College. Its medical simulation centre, in particular, did not have any AV systems in place.

To prepare for the new academic year and improve the student experience, the university decided to address this by equipping the medical college’s simulation centre with professional lecture capture systems and cameras. There were several technical requirements for the new equipment:

• Capture three PTZ network cameras and a computer running medical software for the simulation doll.

• Ability to display all video sources in a mixed video layout in the auditorium (room 304) and the three simulation rooms (301, 303, 305).

• Provide two-way communication between all rooms.

• Ensure minimal delay in audio and video transmission, as with defibrillators and other medical devices in the room, every moment counts, and instructions must be delivered instantly.

• Provide a way to easily control the cameras’ PTZ movement, video source switching, audio control, and other media tasks.

• Record every lecture and have an option to stream them to YouTube easily.

  
  

The university was analysing different systems available on the market until our partner Boon arranged a three-way video demonstration. During the call, we showcased how intuitive and capable AREC solutions are, delivering exactly what the customer asked for and more. The final design consisted of four key elements that we go through below.

LS-410 Media Station

The AREC LS-410, our 4-channel Media Station and the foundation of the proposed system, met most of the requirements on its own. It captured the computer, network cameras, and ClearOne audio system. The station combined these AV sources into layouts, and thanks to its 1 DP and 3 HDMI video outputs, simultaneously displayed them in every room. The station records these video sources together and separately, and streams the combined video to YouTube. The LS-410’s internal 2 TB drive ensures that the university can store months’ worth of lectures on the device itself, but it also can automatically back up videos to USB drives, FTP/SFTP servers, VCMS platforms, and Google Drive, making it very simple for the university to manage the recordings.

DS-AC1 Control Station

A-TS02 RADA Touch

The station and cameras were controlled by the DS-AC1 Control Station, a device that combines the functions of video switchers, streamers, and control panels. Through the DS-AC1, a technician can operate each camera’s PTZ using an inbuilt digital joystick, preview and control the LS-410 through an integrated interface, monitor every camera on a local display, and control features of other devices, such as the ClearOne audio processor. The device’s control interface is output to a RADA Touch — our compact touch display, perfectly suited for monitoring and controlling operations.

The RADA A-TC04 NoirCam were chosen as cameras — 4K PTZ network cameras with 25x optical zoom and multiple output options. They deliver pristine images at the highest magnification, capturing every detail of an ongoing simulation. The cameras also feature AI auto-tracking which can be turned on to ensure that the operating student is always in the shot.

A-TC04 NoirCam AI Tracking Cam

The University of Latvia has already started using the system and has praised it greatly for its convenience and simplicity of use. Is your university looking to create the perfect simulation centre solution? Contact us at www.a-dena.com, and we will be happy to demonstrate what AREC can do!

Case Study: AREC, Sennheiser and QSC Turn One Room into Three for an Energy Major

Dear ADENA Partners, this month's case study highlights how a major energy and chemical products distributor in Chile uses AREC infrared tracking cameras to enhance their conferencing experience. The solution, created by our partner Videocorp, is centred around AREC CI-T10 IR tracking cameras and products from other brands, including Epson, Sennheiser, and QSC. Together, our brands enable the company to conduct up to three simultaneous conference calls in a highly modular room with ease.

The company is one of the main Chilean distributors of fuels, lubricants, and other chemical products used in the industrial, marine, aviation, land transportation, construction, and other sectors. With more than 100 years of experience, the company has business interests in other countries as well, such as Paraguay and the USA. Consequently, the company’s headquarters are always bustling with activity and meetings between the different divisions and partners. Sometimes, these meetings require multiple divisions of the company to be present, while at other times, multiple separate meetings need to take place simultaneously. Since the existing room arrangements did not accommodate these specifics, the company sought a solution. Our partner Videocorp delivered it using AREC IR tracking cameras and several other brands.

The devised solution fully resolved the company’s needs. They redesigned the meeting rooms to be modular: when multiple meetings are taking place, the rooms work independently, separated by foldable walls. If a meeting requires more attendees, the walls fold, and the rooms become one. To capture the presenters and ensure they are tracked, each room is outfitted with a CI-T10 IR tracking camera and an AM-600 IR positioner. The simplicity in configuration and usage of these cameras makes them an ideal fit for modular rooms. The cameras follow the positioners in their field of view. They do not require zone configuration, face registration, or other settings, typically required by AI tracking cameras, so their tracking is not affected by different room configurations. Moreover, since the cameras only follow the positioners, they are not distracted by hand gestures, other people in view, or other kinds of obstructions. Tracking can be turned on, off, or paused by pressing one button on a positioner, giving the presenter full control over the camera at all times.

The presenters’ audio is picked up by Sennheiser handheld microphones, while ceiling microphones are used for the audience members. The combined audio is sent into the conferencing software. Presenters’ content and conferencing software are displayed by Epson projectors. Audio, video, and other elements of the room are controlled by QSC devices. The company’s staff can control projector screens, microphone audio, operate cameras, manage conferencing software, and perform other operations from control panels installed in every room.

With the renovated and adapted meeting spaces, the company is now fully equipped to hold effective meetings regardless of the needs of the day. Would you like to know more about how AREC solutions can be used to enhance conferencing rooms? Contact us at www.a-dena.com and we will be happy to arrange a discussion with you.