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Semi-customized conferencing system provides flexibility and clear audio.
ClearOne of Salt Lake City is well known for high-quality conferencing systems. The company's latest offering is yet another example of why it is on the short list of go-to manufacturers when solid conferencing solutions are necessary. Its Converge 560 and Converge 590 systems offer the contractor many options in developing a semi-customized solution.
The applications for which the Converge system is intended include boardrooms, multi-media conference rooms, distance learning rooms, classrooms with videoconferencing, and courtrooms and/or legal hearing rooms. Plug-and-play solutions that include tabletop microphones as part of a complete setup may not quite fit the bill in many of these situations. Indeed, clients may have very specific needs: for instance, a boardroom table with boundary microphones, a podium mic, and video playback. And I certainly have favorite microphones that I like to incorporate in conferencing systems. Converge is flexible enough to accommodate these needs very nicely.
The system provides full-duplex operation so participants can speak and listen simultaneously, without the cutting out associated with a halfduplex system. The company claims onboard DSP enables "natural, full-sounding audio" via a regular phone line. ClearOne's Acoustic Echo Cancellation works well to eliminate echo, further increasing speech intelligibility. The system also features noise cancellation to eliminate fan and/or air conditioning noise. Audio is automatically kept at consistent levels, and first-mic priority eliminates the phase-cancellation "tunnel" effect by activating only the mic closest to the person speaking. The system also enables local sound distribution, so a presenter's voice can be amplified.
Another powerful feature is the ability to interface with video-or webconferencing systems, enabling the delivery of high-quality audio along with the visual. Multiple pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) camera presets can be activated with camera voice tracking. The system also features outputs...