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PROJECTS

BOARDROOM ACOUSTIC TREATMENT (AND CONFERENCING UPDATE)

One of Australia’s leading energy providers had a big problem in their Perth Boardroom. The room hadn't originally been conceived to support video conferencing, and was in desperate need of an acoustic upgrade. Suffering from the twin issues of sound transmission and suboptimal Reverberation Time (RT60), The company turned to Converged Technology to elevate their boardroom experience, both acoustically and through the delivery of a significant video conferencing upgrade.

Acoustic performance is often overlooked when designing Audiovisual solutions, but is a critical consideration in ensuring the equipment performs to the best of it's abilities. Sound transmission issues manifested as audio leaking between the Boardroom and the adjoining room and exterior hallway, a significant problem for any Boardroom where critical business is discussed. Issues with reverberation (RT60) resulted in a poor experience for remote video conferencing participants. 

Together with IComm, our video conferencing partner, we looked to deliver a single solution that encompassed both an acoustic upgrade and an Audiovisual solution that would maximise the customer's investment. 

Our primary goal was to eliminate sound transmission and reduce RT60 values down to an acceptable range as defined in the standard (AS/NZS 2107:2016 Section 2 - Video/Audio Conferencing Rooms). In addition, the solution had to be both functional and visually pleasing and encompass a technology uplift that included a video conferencing upgrade to Microsoft Teams, and a significant audio and video uplift within the Boardroom. It should be mentioned we only had 2 weeks onsite to complete the job, but we were up for the challenge!

OUR AIM:

Acoustic performance is often overlooked when designing Audiovisual solutions, but is a critical consideration in ensuring the equipment performs to the best of it's abilities. Sound transmission issues manifested as audio leaking between the Boardroom and the adjoining room and exterior hallway, a significant problem for any Boardroom where critical business is discussed. Issues with reverberation (RT60) resulted in a poor experience for remote video conferencing participants. 

Before a problem can be solved, it must first be defined and measured. We understood the customer was suffering from sound transmission between their Boardroom and adjacent meeting rooms; creating privacy issues. Another main focus was far-end audio quality due to high reverberation within the space; making speech intelligibility to the far-end when video conferencing a major cause for concern.

To quantify the acoustic properties of the Boardroom, our engineers performed an acoustic assessment, a process whereby the following is undertaken: 

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  • Noise floor measurements, how unwanted noise is impacting conferencing audio quality: HVAC, outside interference from adjacent meeting spaces, etc. 

  • Investigating door seals, air gaps, operable walls, and the physical construction of the fit-out to determine which properties of the space were most contributing to sound transmission outside the room 

  • Reverberation times (RT60), measuring the impact of reflected versus direct sound to the conferencing microphones - impacting far-end audio intelligibility 

  • 3D modelling of the space, and working with the customer to provide an aesthetically pleasing treatment solution, while keeping acoustic performance as a tier one priority

This process provided some empirical data around current RT60 values and allowed us to identify inherent limitations in the room's current design (such as leaking door seals, poor door design etc.) that were contributing to the sound transmission problems. Armed with the data, our engineers were then able to design an acoustic performance solution that would address these fundamental shortcomings.

OUR SOLUTION:

The graph below illustrates before and after effects of the agreed upon solution as it pertains to room reverberation. Bringing performance in this area to within values as stated by the AS/NZS 2107:2016 Section 2 - Video/Audio Conferencing Rooms’. 

Our acoustic solution was based upon the deployment of the following products: 

  1. To address the intricate challenge of sound transmission, we integrated Megasorber B8 Barrier material within the walls and ceiling structure of the Boardroom, adjoining rooms and hallway. ​

  2. To address reverberation and improve RT60 performance, we deployed InStyle ecoustic Velour panels at 50mm thickness in opulent shades of chrome and opal, complemented by natural anodised aluminium edging and T-trim sections where panels joined. These panels were placed on all wall surfaces including around columns. To address the problem of the large untreated ceiling area, we designed a streamlined ceiling feature InStyle ecoustic Banners and a sophisticated suspension kit. ​

  3. From a technology perspective, we upgraded to a Crestron Flex Microsoft Teams Room (MTR) solution, with Crestron control. Sennheiser TCC2 ceiling microphones provided a significant audio improvement, and we combined them with a QSC DSP for a considerable audio upgrade. Automatic Camera Preset Recall (ACPR) integration between QSC and Sennheiser was enabled to provide speaker tracking in what was a very large Boardroom. Video matrix switching and distribution was provided by Blustream.

This process provided some empirical data around current RT60 values and allowed us to identify inherent limitations in the room's current design (such as leaking door seals, poor door design etc.) that were contributing to the sound transmission problems. Armed with the data, our engineers were then able to design an acoustic performance solution that would address these fundamental shortcomings.

THE SCOPE:

The graph below illustrates before and after effects of the agreed upon solution as it pertains to room reverberation. Bringing performance in this area to within values as stated by the AS/NZS 2107:2016 Section 2 - Video/Audio Conferencing Rooms’. 

A complex initial design stage followed by a mammoth installation effort was ultimately realised in the finished product. Whilst fantastic in it's overall aesthetic, most importantly the completed Boardroom now meets and surpasses AS/NZS acoustic standards for video conferencing having addressed the twin issues of sound transmission and reverberation (RT60). 

All of this combined, means the Leading Energy provider was able to fully utilise the significant Audiovisual upgrade that Converged Technology had deployed, without any compromise.

THE RESULTS: