As a Fortune 125 competitive energy company based in Baltimore, Maryland, Constellation Energy is the leading supplier of competitive electricity to large commercial and industrial customers and is one of the nation’s largest wholesale power sellers. The company’s revenue grew to $19.3 billion in 2006.
The U.S.-based company is expanding and building its field offices internationally; so when the London field office of Constellation Energy needed state-of-the-art AV systems, they turned to MA Solutions in Staines, Middlesex, United Kingdom. “We were recommended to the project by the architect,” says Tim Smoker, project designer at MA Solutions. “It was a new floor in a new office. We provided the AV design and installation services.”
The design and install project consisted of six rooms – three outfitted for video- and audio conferencing, and the other three for meetings and laptop presentations. Smoker adds, “Previously the client had portable AV and audio conferencing phones. This time, they wanted a more professional look with hidden but permanent AV.”
The conferencing rooms feature HD-quality video, as well as intelligent lighting and an AMX control system. The backbone of the audio conferencing and processing system consists of three ClearOne Converge Pro 880s to handle conferencing and sound reinforcement, one ClearOne Converge Pro 840T which includes a built-in telephone interface and power amplifier, and two ClearOne Converge Pro TH20 telephone interfaces.
MA Solutions worked with the table manufacturer to embed beyerdynamic boundary microphones into the table. Audio signal from the table is routed to the ClearOne system for audio conferencing and sound reinforcement processing. FOH and ceiling speakers are controlled by ClearOne’s automixer function with input mixed across the entire system. FOH speakers are used for 5.1 surround sound for DVD presentations.
MA Solutions configured the Converge Pro units to use presets for meetings, presentations and conferencing, which are displayed and controlled by the AMX touch panel for the end user. Automatic window covering control and lighting control are also on the touch panel. “Per the architect, we could have no light switches in the glass walls. So using easy menu controls, the end user can automatically turn on the lights, draw the shades and have the system prepared for a conferencing session,” says Smoker.
The rear-projection system features a Barco projector that includes picture-in-picture capability so end users can facilitate multiple presentations, especially for web meetings with U.S. offices. “The client had previously used plasma displays but we convinced them to use projectors. We took them to other install sites to show them projector setups,” says Smoker. “Now they have increased functionality like videoconferencing over a 2.6m screen with picture-in-picture.”
