Barco, QSC and Sennheiser create advanced AV solution for SACCNY

The innovation center of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce (SACCNY) has promoted the integration of technologies Barco, LLC y Sennheiser to create a state-of-the-art AV and video conferencing facility.

on the floor 29 of 900 Third Avenue, in the heart of Manhattan (New York – EU), is located Gateway, a space for collaboration and innovation that is part of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce (SACCNY), the oldest in this country, whose purpose is to help Scandinavian companies achieve a strategic position and be more successful in the North American market.

Recently, leading technological manufacturers such as Sennheiser, Barco y LLC, among other brands, collaborated to create a fully integrated equipment demo environment and video conferencing spaces, with an area of more than 1.800 m2, which was implemented during 2020 and has been completed in 2021.

Gateway opened its doors as a 'launch pad’ for Scandinavian companies, giving your professionals everything they need to help accelerate their success, from establishing business contacts, to service-oriented associations, to administrative configuration and events.

Anna Throne-Holst, president of SACCNY since 2017 and previously dedicated to public service as a municipal supervisor on Long Island, explains how Gateway got started.

“Much of my work in my public life was supporting small businesses. When I arrived at this chamber of commerce, the objective was to create a model that offered both services and support to the innovation and startup sectors., while facilitating synergies with corporate members. Now, Gateway is a co-working platform, meetings and innovation aimed mainly at companies of all types and sectors”.

The collaboration between Sennheiser, Barco and QSC emerged when Throne-Holst began looking for advanced technologies to carry out a renovation of the facility: “I wanted to create a cutting-edge meeting and conference space”, remember.

Room with view

Named Room with a view, the videoconference room developed in Gateway, with capacity for up to twelve people, is equipped with a microphone Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 (TCC2), with beamforming technology.

This system is connected to a room controller Q-SYS Core 110f de QSC which supports up to 256 network audio and VoIP channels, and three auto tracking cameras.

Added to this is a videowall Led Barco XT 1.2 mm, with image processor E2 Gen 2 from this manufacturer, with sixteen 4K inputs and eight 4K outputs, and your wireless conference system ClickShare.

“We have a QSC touch panel, so guests can come into the room and say: 'I want to have a meeting with Teams, o con Zoom, or simply bring your own laptop with the solution you prefer”, they explain from Gateway.

Since ClickShare is installed and ubiquitous throughout the space, Users can connect and present wirelessly, no matter where they are in the facility. Meanwhile, Incoming audio in the video conferencing room is played through two pairs of QSC speakers: two in the front and two in the back.

While this room offers stunning views of New York City, The abundance of glass and wood and a hard roof presented several acoustic challenges. Fortunately, Sennheiser TCC2 helped mitigate undesirable sound reflections, since the microphone is designed to pick up the subject rather than the room itself.

Modular meeting room

With capacity for eighteen people, Gateway's boardroom features multiple tables that can be moved seamlessly to accommodate different types of meetings, such as seminars or smaller events.

This space also has a videowall Unisee by boat, as well as two Sennheiser TCC2 microphones, all also connected to a QSC Core 110f processor, which serves as the main interface, and with its ClickShare system.

In the boardroom, The Sennheiser TCC2 are used to drive a system Beyond Autotracker, with seven integrated cameras, and track and switch devices based on audio source location.

“Sennheiser TCC2 has data XYZ which are very precise, so it can detect if someone is standing or sitting. Once these data are extrapolated, The system can automatically direct the camera where it is needed among hundreds of possible locations”.

Adjacent spaces

Gateway has smaller spaces, like the media lab, a storage room equipped with a similar combination of technology to the previous ones.

Finally, The event room has sixty seats or up to one hundred standing. Although this space could not be used during the pandemic, although numerous online seminars were held, now he returns to his activity. ”

“Our collaboration with Barco, QSC and SACCNY truly demonstrate the power of combining our respective communications technologies, the best in its class - he assures Charlie Jones, Sennheiser Global Business Development Manager. In this case, Our TCC2 ceiling microphone was able to deliver audio clarity and intelligibility while working in a highly reflective and acoustically challenging environment., and its interoperability with Barco's Led video wall and QSC processing has resulted in a cutting-edge video conferencing solution”.

The same way, David Fitzgerald, vp. Barco's global alliances, underlines the success of “this unique cooperation to offer SACCNY optimal meeting experiences with Byom in an exceptional audio environment, with best-in-class monitoring and control cameras and our high-end visualization and collaboration technology”.