How Your Conference Room Can Benefit From Ceiling-Mounted Microphones
In years past, the limitations of available technology gave you little choice in what kinds of devices could be used during conference calls. Users were usually stuck huddling around a single speakerphone, their conversations consistently disrupted by poorly optimized audio. With recent advances, the selection of available devices has expanded quite a bit, revolutionizing telecommunications by giving users access to conference audio devices that can be mounted on their tables, walls, and even ceilings. The ceiling microphone in particular has a number of unique benefits for your videoconferencing experience both visually and in the quality of the audio for your organization’s communications.
Benefit 1 – Better Audio
Considering nobody sits around talking towards the ceiling, you might think that any audio picked up by a ceiling mic would be muffled or muted in comparison to a typical speakerphone. Contrary to common sense, the unique design of ceiling microphones can actually significantly improve the audio quality of your videoconferencing calls.
Ceiling mics usually use microphone arrays rather than the small number of directional microphones used by other audio devices. These arrays use dozens of microphones to create a conical zone of audio coverage, which lets the device easily pick up conversations within the zone while eliminating noises coming from outside of it.
Some ceiling microphone arrays go a step further in ensuring better audio quality. Stem Ceiling’s unique design and software let users adjust the width of their zone of coverage through the Stem Ecosystem Platform, letting them choose a wide, medium, or narrow beam depending on the number of participants in the room. Ceiling also can turn on audio ‘fencing’, which further isolates the sound to a narrow band of coverage right below the device. This highly focused audio pickup helps eliminate distractions from within or without the room.
Benefit 2 – Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
Despite advances in microphone technology, most mics still need to be placed near or around speakers to keep the call audio clear. This means audio devices are usually highly visible during videoconferencing calls and can be easily accessed by those in the room. While many organizations have no problem showing off their conferencing tech, there are some who prefer to have a spotless, tidy space being presented during video calls or need their devices to be out of reach from rambunctious users.
Using ceiling-mounted microphones in your conferencing space gives you a sizeable zone of audio coverage while simultaneously keeping your technology out of sight and reach. Most conference room ceiling microphones are designed to fit in a standard-size ceiling tile used in most office spaces and schools, which helps keep them inconspicuous but may cause pickup problems if the ceiling is too high. Stem Ceiling solves this issue by providing two different mounting options: low profile, which uses the standard ceiling mount method, and chandelier mode, which allows you to suspend the device from an adjustable length wire to accommodate higher ceilings.
Benefit 3 – Your Best Option For Unique Use Cases
Videoconferencing is a flexible technology that allows for any number of uses outside of the usual back-and-forth conversation. Conference calls allow for anything from sales presentations to artist collaborations to World of Warcraft guild meetings – the only real limitations of this revolution in communications being an internet connection and the hardware available to the user.
Ceiling-mounted microphones give users a highly adaptable solution that can fit both general use and more specific situations. Westcliff University, for example, utilized a couple of Stem Ceilings to outfit their specially designed mock trial classrooms. With a Ceiling positioned above each team, the device’s audio fencing option lets the remote judges focus on the speakers from each team while leaving them the full use of the desk space at the podium.
Conference room ceiling microphones are dynamic, capable, and simple to use, which makes them an ideal choice when designing your room’s videoconferencing system. Stem Ceiling builds on top of these benefits by being able to seamlessly integrates with the rest of the Stem Ecosystem’s roster of audio devices. With the Stem Ecosystem, you can combine Ceiling with Table, Wall, Speaker, and Control to create a custom-fit audio solution for any sized room.
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