EM Systems Creates “Superior Conference Room” With Realistic Audio Even Online

Customer Profile

EM Systems was established in 1980 as a vendor selling office computers for medical office processing. Since then, the Japanese company has provided a broad range of systems for healthcare, caregiving, and welfare businesses, such as pharmacy support systems, medical accounting systems, electronic patient chart systems, medical and nursing care collaboration systems. The company advocates the use of advanced technology to enable better information sharing to contribute to better national health.
 

Challenge

The healthcare industry has a high need for online conferencing. Even after retiring, many physicians in Japan seek to continue communication and collaboration with healthcare institutions. After his own retirement, EM Systems’ founder Mr. Kunimitsu initiated the development of the “Superior Conference Room” – a rental space at the company’s headquarters, available for meetings of doctors and executives, press events, streaming of online seminars and a variety of other applications.

The aim was to establish a high-quality conference space where users can concentrate on conversations. The room furnishings and décor, video, audio, and ICT all had to be of the highest quality and contain the latest equipment. The challenge was to build a room that anyone can easily set up and use and to make even online meetings feel like everyone is on-site.

In terms of audio, an overhead solution was the preferred choice, for several reasons: The Superior Conference Room features a wide table for users to place papers and PCs. Typical tabletop microphone solutions would have been in the way. Users also tend to become conscious of microphones when they are right in front of them, which makes it harder for them to speak. EM Systems also wanted to avoid equipment that would look old over time and clash with the luxurious interior of the room.

Solution

The core of the audio solution included three MXA910 Ceiling Array Microphones integrated with a camera tracking system. Recommended by integrator Eizo System, it was the best option to clearly pick up voices of people speaking anywhere in the room. The coverage areas of the MXA910 were fine-tuned to be able to accurately identify the location of the person talking, making it advantageous for camera tracking. Even with online meetings, it is easy to tell who is speaking.

Advantages

Technology in the Superior Conference Room is mostly automated. When someone enters the space, motion sensors detect the presence of a person and the environment comes online, so anyone can start the meeting right away. During a conference, speakers can be clearly heard and converse smoothly with online meeting participants. The MXA910 capture uniform, high quality and realistic audio throughout the space, which creates an “in-person” experience even for online participants.

Unfamiliar with the concept of ceiling-mounted microphones, some clients don’t know which direction to face when speaking, but they have no problems speaking normally and quickly get used to it.

The original project was completed in late 2020. EM Systems has continued to collaborate closely with Shure and system integrator Eizo System to propose and provide superior conference room services utilizing the latest technology.

A conference room should be a place where you can concentrate and talk. With Shure's advanced technology, voices come through clearly even online, so we were able to realize a conference room where we can talk stress- free.

Mr. Hirokazu Tokuchi, General Manager, EM Systems Co., Ltd.