A Revolution for AV Conferencing... and more

Revolabs Solo is one of the most exciting products to hit the AV industry in quite some time. We now have a small, wearable, wireless, encrypted microphone option that delivers the best far-end audio possible. Of course, you know by now that the Revolab models, now in 4, 8 and single channel configurations, were created with audio and videoconferencing applications as the main target, but we are finding many other uses for this wireless mic system. If you are only focusing on boardroom AV conferencing, you are leaving a lot of opportunities uncovered.

Dealers discovering new applications

Here are just a few examples of what some of my dealers are currently proposing in these applications.

Intercom Systems

Do you integrate nurse-call or AV for hospitals? One of my dealers in Chicago is working on a new surgery room where the doctors are required to wear protective headgear, which covers their entire head. In their previous room, they used a traditional wireless intercom system so the doctors could not only talk to each other, but also talk to their assistants outside of the surgery room.

My dealer has proposed the Revolabs system as a replacement to the wireless intercom system. The Revolabs transceivers are small enough where they will not get in the way and there are no body-packs, wires, or replacement batteries to worry about.

Another key selling point is the fact that the receiver has separate line outputs per mic. Many operating rooms only consist of a couple mics for recording everyone during surgery. It is critical with the new HIPAA requirements that they can trace who gave directives during a surgery in case something goes wrong. With the integration of the Revolabs system, the hospital can now identify each person by what mic they were using.

A hospital in New York was sued a few months ago because they could not prove in court who gave a fatal order in the surgery room where the patient died. Even though the doctor testified that it was indeed him, the hospital could not prove it and was sued for millions.

Panel Discussions

The Revolabs systems can also be a solution for school boards, city councils, and any other panel type meetings that amplified audio for the audience. Vernon Hills High School has been struggling with their school board meetings for years. They have two main issues with the way they currently conduct meetings.

First, the meetings are held in a number of different locations, so the system must be portable. This creates the issue of packing up all their wired mics and cables and making sure there is enough set-up time. The head of AV at the school says he wastes a lot of time running cables for each mic and then packing it all up when the meeting is over.

Second, they never get clear audio from the entire school board. Some people sit back in their chairs and will not get close to the mic. Some members will sometimes stand-up to use a whiteboard or another illustration and the audience cannot hear what they are saying.

Vernon Hills HS is looking at the Revolabs to solve booth issues. He sees the Revolabs system as a way to easily set-up the meeting in little time at any location. He also does not have to use any cabling for the mics, so it reduces what he has to pack. More importantly, the audience will now hear everyone clearly. Since each member is wearing a Solo mic, he no longer has to worry about people being tethered to their microphones.

Vernon Hills will not just be using the system for the school board. They will also be using the unit for podcasting applications.

Podcasting

Podcasting is now being used in many educational institutions and the corporate communications community for delivering audio messages to the students and workers to take with them. One of my dealers has an opportunity with a university who has a mock courtroom in their law school. Their goal is to mic up to 7 people in the room for mock trials. Once the trial is recorded, students can then get a copy to review.

The university has looked into several recording mics and is now looking at Revolabs as the solution. The Revolabs system allows the professor to easily mic certain participants and also has the control to record individual audio tracks to the podcast.

The Revolabs product line allows us to target all types of integrators, not just the AV conferencing integrators. If you are working on any other types of applications with Revolabs, please let me know so we can get word out to the rest of the reps. If you have any questions or feedback, please email me at Greg@starin.biz.