Today’s meeting spaces are rarely used for just one type of activity. A single room can host small team meetings, training sessions, hybrid meetings, one-on-ones, or collaborative brainstorms. Flexible spaces are great for employees, but they can also be tricky when it comes to accommodating the audio needs of different group sizes and kinds of meetings.
There are steps you can take to ensure a space works for all of its uses. Sound reinforcement amplifies a speaker or presenter’s voice, and voice lift distributes voices throughout a space so everyone can hear who is speaking in an interactive discussion. Shure describes the difference between sound reinforcement and voice lift as “one to many” versus “many to many.”
An example of sound reinforcement is a system that helps amplify the speech of a corporate trainer in a large roomful of learners. The system could include an assortment of microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and signal processors.
An example of a voice lift system is a combination of those same tools, but they would be selected and placed to help all collaborators hear and be heard in a large space.
Both sound reinforcement and voice lift can boost engagement in meeting spaces. With these solutions, all meeting participants can hear what is going on. Additionally, participants don’t have to worry about raising their voices or the awkwardness of speaking up only to have no one understand or even hear them. This environment makes it easier for everyone to participate.
Clear, quality audio also improves communication by preventing certain distractions. Participants don’t have to ask others to repeat themselves, move their seats to hear better, or pause the conversation to wait for a handheld mic to reach them.
Since voice lift and sound reinforcement solutions can be made up of multiple types of equipment, choosing the right technologies can be challenging. An expert technology partner can help you design and integrate audio solutions for all your spaces. Nationwide Audio Visual has completed thousands of projects, all with a focus on customer experience and choosing solutions based on user needs. One of our projects was for Apotex Pharmaceuticals, a company that was experiencing audio problems with its existing system.
Apotex had a multi-functional space with seating for hundreds of attendees. The room needed to be able to accommodate a variety of uses, including important quarterly meetings. With the old system, meeting attendees were not able to adequately hear the presenter. The Nationwide AV team worked to design, engineer, and install a solution with maximum audio intelligibility.
We accomplished this by first replacing equipment that was faulty or improperly installed. Our team also installed new microphone technologies and loudspeakers that were programmed for the room. We then added a control system, better security, and more.
If you want to improve the audio in your meeting spaces, our experts can help. Give us a call or send a message.