The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland – MXCW from Shure for hybrid conferences with camera tracking

Customer Profile

With around 2.4 million members, the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland is the second largest of the 20 regional branches of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). The German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Saarland all belong to its catchment area. In times of social distancing, churches are also looking for solutions on how to organize meetings and congresses according to mandatory protection measures.

Challenge

The church's conference room needed to function for both face-to-face meetings and hybrid meetings. So church officials wanted a high-quality system that could be used flexibly and intuitively and could be expanded in the future. In addition, smart cameras were required so participants from outside could better follow the speakers on site.

PCS Vertriebs- und Service GmbH was responsible for the consulting, planning, product demonstration and installation on site.

Solution

To meet these objectives, PCS installed Shure's Microflex Complete Wireless (MXCW) audio solution for the meeting room. Each of the 14 seats at the conference table received its own conference unit (MXCW640) including a gooseneck microphone (MXC420). The system can operate without complex installation and wired restrictions and provides a comfortable meeting experience for both the participants in the room and at home. The installed technology can be easily expanded later and changed flexibly at any time.

The challenge of installing cameras to focus on those speaking during the conference was solved with an Extron media control system and Panasonic PTZ cameras. The cameras automatically pan to the active talkers, can focus on faces and switch between intelligent image sections or pre-programmed presets such as a wide shot or focus on a specific person in the room. The cameras and all other control elements are inconspicuously integrated into the media cube designed by PCS, which is located in the center of the round conference table. All cable ducts also remain concealed.

Advantages

The uncomplicated set-up, easy handling and high speech intelligibility of the audio solution ensure distraction-free and productive meetings in the conference room of the regional church. As with the initial set-up, the operation of the microphone systems is simple and intuitive. As the voices are slightly amplified, participants can speak more quietly and preserve their voices. Intelligent camera tracking makes it easy to follow what's happening in the room, even from outside the room.

Another advantage is the 10-hour battery life of the microphones. After a long conference, you can simply remove the batteries, recharge them and reinsert them before the next meeting.