University of Strathclyde transforms campus audio with Dante

This Glasgow educational center has migrated from an infrastructure with autonomous sound systems, based on analog solutions, to a new Dante audio network, providing flexibility and efficiency. For its management and monitoring, it has been installed Audinate Domain Manager.

The University of Strathclyde and Glasgow (Scotland) has embraced technology to provide an optimal learning experience and has now installed an audio network Dante throughout the campus managed by software Audinate Domain Manager.

This is a public research center with founding roots dating back to 1796. It is the second oldest in the area and the third in Scotland, more than 24.000 students. Its mission is to provide a place of useful learning for the good of humanity and the improvement of science..

Campbell Jamieson, Learning Support Manager at the University of Strathclyde, explains how in recent years “it has been ambitiously transforming and improving its campus. Taking seriously the creation and maintenance of a world-class environment, The investment for the transformation will reach 1.000 million pounds sterling by 2025”.

In 2018, Jamieson and his team were looking for a way to bring a unified audio experience to campus and make the system easier and faster to set up and use. Fortunately for them, a Dante audio networking platform was able to bring everything together and as soon as the pandemic hit in 2020, took on even greater practical importance when the need for hybrid and remote learning significantly accelerated the use of its Dante network around the world. facilities.

"Originally, we started migrating to a Dante network to speed up our workflow and make our team more efficient; some of our large conference rooms had pre-installed AV systems with analog wiring, But they were isolated.", Jamieson clarifies.. “We had smaller conference spaces that didn't have AV systems or cabling installed, so we had to spend at least a day setting up those systems and then another taking them down, rendering spaces unusable during transitions. Fortunately, “All these spaces have network ports that we can take advantage of with Dante”.

The Dante platform is a complete solution OFF over IP which allows transporting audio data, video and control over standard Ethernet networks 1 GB. Compatible with more than 3.000 Dante-enabled products from over 500 manufacturers, replaces analog and digital point-to-point connections with software-based routing, effortlessly sending AV channels to any part of the network with great digital fidelity.

“As part of our response to COVID, we use our Dante network to link conference rooms with our remote video communications and to connect rooms to each other to help maintain social distancing by distributing students into multiple rooms as overflow spaces, with products such as ceiling-mounted microphones Sennheiser. to easily capture and reinforce the audio needed in rooms”. Jamieson says.. “And with Dante, The system can scale and devices can be added easily. Our new sports facility, For example, needed additional audio coverage and, in a matter of minutes, We were able to add some Dante enabled PoE speakers to cover what was needed. Being able to enter and exit the network and make changes in real time is a great benefit for us”.

“One of the key trends we have seen in recent years is that more and more universities are adopting the use of Dante as an audio transport standard”, says Inesh Patel, business development manager at Sennheiser. “This is due, largely, to the adoption of Dante in the AV industry, the guarantee of interoperability and the variety of this type of products available. TeamConnect Ceiling 2 the Sennheiser, with its full suite of audio features, Integrated Dante and Domain Manager support, has helped many universities improve their sound reinforcement and distance learning delivery”.

As the Dante network continued to grow, The Strathclyde Learning Support team needed a way to view and monitor the entire system through a single interface. And with more users operating the system, security and global control were also becoming essential requirements.

“Our AV team wanted a single screen to show the status of the installation at a glance without the need to check each device individually to see how things were working.”, which is what Dante Domain Manager offers”, Jamieson adds.. “The software also provides benefits with its historical logging that tracks issues and its ability to control devices across campus without a team member needing to be physically there.”. It has really helped optimize our operations”.

Dante Domain Manager is a server-based solution that provides a complete, centralized view of an entire networked Dante deployment.. Software allows AV and IT administrators to define separate, non-interfering groups of devices that can only be accessed by authorized users.

At the same time, Support staff can stay on top of issues with a system-wide dashboard and a comprehensive set of alerts and audit logs that help speed problem resolution. What is more important, offers campus-wide AV network monitoring and management to deliver better remote educational experiences, hybrid and in-person.

“Four years ago, all of our audio systems were locally connected stand-alone analog systems, that were cumbersome to modify or expand. “We didn’t have an overview of how things worked on campus.”, Jamieson continues.. “Hoy, We can configure systems and equipment as needed and can monitor and troubleshoot the entire system in real time from virtually anywhere. We now have new buildings online, and our Dante audio network with Dante Domain Manager are key parts of the new infrastructure”.