Commercial Integrator May 2023 - 36

MARKETS: HIGHER ED
AVoIP Systems on the Technology Fast Track
Increasingly, education institutions are realizing the potential of AVoIP. These solutions,
however, demand a higher level of integrator expertise. By Alyssa Borelli
A SENIOR LECTURER can hold class
anywhere on a college campus while,
simultaneously, sending the live content
anywhere in the world, all in real time. A
band director can host practice without
having all of the wind ensemble and brass
performers in the same room - or even
in the same building! Musicians can play
along from their living rooms, following
each of the conductor's hand movements.
Applications for real-time collaboration
are truly endless. However, for any of this
to happen, education institutions need a
strong network infrastructure to support it.
Lessons From the Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the
way that many learning institutions look
at education. For example, at Vanderbilt
University, an education institution where
the majority of students live on campus,
school leaders proved during the pandemic
that it was possible to keep learning
going remotely.
" [We] can bring guest speakers -
subject-matter experts from all over the
world - into an equipped classroom
where, previously, that wasn't possible
because we hadn't embraced that remote
model before, " BC Hatchett, associate
director, classroom technology, at Vanderbilt
University, says. Hatchett is also
co-founder and board member emeritus
of the Higher Education Technology
Managers Alliance (HETMA).
Today's technology managers want sustainable,
supportable and scalable solutions.
" We don't want one-offs, " Hatchett
declares. " We don't want something that's
going to be a Band-Aid. Whenever we
make a technology investment, we want to
make sure that we're getting our money's
worth out of it. " Continuing the thought,
he adds, " We want to make sure that we're
still able to use it and modify it and upkeep
it three to five years down the road. "
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Commercial Integrator MAY 2023
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama (above), a conservatoire and drama
school located in the city of London, which offers undergraduate and postgraduate
training in all aspects of classical music and jazz, along with drama and
production arts, was able to bring music back to campus safely with a strong
network-based foothold. Performances were constructed across four separate
rooms and performed synchronously with one another using Audinate's Dante.
What's more, higher-ed technology
managers aren't looking for the big,
podium-tethered boxes of yesteryear,
which were only capable of doing one or
two things. When room peripherals like
microphones and speakers are moved
onto the network, it opens more possibilities
for quick and easy room configuration.
Thus, higher-education institutions have
begun to realize the potential associated
with AV-over-IP systems and leveraging
network-based architecture. Technology
managers like Hatchett plan to do as much
as possible of that going forward.
AVoIP Campus
Having an AVoIP campus makes things a lot
more user friendly, Hatchett confirms. " The
more items that are on the network - especially
with some of the monitoring, metrics
and software we use - we can tell in real
time when something is not working. " That
empowers either the technology manager
or the integrator to reboot the system or
diagnose the issue remotely, without necessarily
having to send somebody to the site.
Although many academic institutions
are embracing AVoIP, we must acknowledge
that, yes, a learning curve still exists
from a traditional AV standpoint. " It's
not Cresnet or HDBaseT or whatever the
traditional connections are, " Hatchett
concedes. " It is a true network delivery
method. You've got to retool a bit. You've
got to have some network knowledge,
networking skills or at least a good
relationship with your campus network operations
team. " He also acknowledges the
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