Temple University Dives into Hybrid Learning with ClearOne

From classrooms to event spaces and conference rooms, Microphone ClearOne BMA 360 and the Converge Pro DSP Mixer 2 offer high audio pickup and ease of use.

The Fox School of Business of the Temple University is harnessing the power of the BMA microphone 360 ClearOne and the Converge Pro DSP Switcher 2 to empower educators with systems that improve remote learner usage and experiences.

“We decided that ClearOne's solutions offered the most user-friendly and flexible system that could be adapted to different types and sizes of rooms. The first room was a space for events of about 914 square meters with ceilings of 6 metre, which previously used wireless handheld and lavalier microphones for voice pickup. Add three BMA ceiling plate microphones 360 throughout the room simplified use and increased efficiency, as it can pick up the voice accurately and clearly from anywhere in the room, eliminating the need to hand out microphones for questions from the audience", Says Vikram Singh, School IT Director.

In combination with the two cameras and the two laser projection screens in the room, the BMA audio solution 360 (Beamforming Microphone Array) It offered great audio quality and reliability without the need for daily configuration.

This solution highlights the simplicity of the system and its ability to work with various collaboration platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, as well as its compatibility with the main operating systems, including Windows and MacOS.

After the result obtained, the school expanded the project to other spaces with the same three-BMA solution 360, including the adjacent large classroom and an auditorium.

The main advantages of BMA 360 are its scope of capture of 182 square meters and its ability to automatically direct microphone arrays toward the speaker. These features allow the three-microphone system to pick up audio from all points, with greater clarity than previous designs that relied on microphones with lower coverage.

“The replacement of the existing pendant microphones at the Fox School of Business with ClearOne's almost invisible ceiling plate microphones has improved the appearance of these rooms, with fewer distractions and visual clutter”, Says Jason DiCampello, CTS Regional Sales Manager at ClearOne.

“In addition, Once each room is installed and programmed, No complicated settings to tinker with or options to choose from, so staff can focus on the class and the students instead of wasting time fiddling with technology.", DiCampello adds.

Standardizing ClearOne is an important goal for Singh, as it simplifies all aspects of daily use, including educator and student experiences, system maintenance and room scheduling.

With 40 Classrooms, five event spaces and some 25 Conference rooms, Implementing small variations in a standard solution helps minimize setup time and avoids the frustration and delays that often arise when using disparate systems.

As smaller rooms may not need several BMAs 360 or your own Converge Pro DSPs 2, they can instead use other ClearOne devices specially designed for smaller spaces.

The Converge Pro DSP 2 Provides enhanced signal processing to improve audio clarity, as well as to manage input signals from multiple microphone units.

Other articles about ClearOne, Temple University