London Finds out How Microflex Advance Brings Clarity to AV Conference Sound

"Hello? Is that you? Can you hear me? I can barely hear you."

Sound familiar? We often forget that sound is the most important element of a meeting, and that poor sound quality hinders effective communication, distracts the participants and stops the message from being delivered.

Video conferencing has become an essential tool for business communication, but it's easy to forget that the majority of the content is actually carried by the audio, not the video. If the camera fails during a video conference, the meeting can go on virtually unimpeded; if the audio fails, the meeting stops. Futhermore, exposure to poor sound quality during a conference call causes listener fatigue, inhibits collaboration and halts productivity.

We believe that good sound directly contributes to the well being, productivity, creativity, and connectedness of people in the workplace – and that room designers do not have to choose between sound and style. 

Shure's new MicroflexAdvance networked array conferencing microphones make communication effortless by delivering consistent voice clarity for each person in a meeting, regardless of where they are sitting in the room. More importantly, Microflex Advance enables the best possible experience for the person on the other end of the call by providing more engaging and fluid communication. Whether sitting upright, leaning back, using a laptop or talking at the display, they will still be clearly heard and, more importantly, understood.

"Microflex Advance significantly improves the sound quality experienced by employees in the workplace, making offices and businesses better places to work, and creating a more creative and productive workforce." - Jim Evans, Lighting & Sound International.

Microflex Advance enables the meeting space to be configured before the conversation begins. The patented Steerable Coverage™ technology provides clear and intelligible speech sound to be captured automatically from every location in a conference room, boardroom, huddle space or other flexible work space. 

You no longer have to schedule time before the meeting to ensure the sound is working properly. Creating a natural, comfortable and productive meeting environment means effective communication is brought to the forefront and the technology hides in the background. Meeting spaces are elevated by unobtrusive technology that blends in with modern design aesthetics.

Hear It For Yourself

The Shure UK Systems group brought the new Microflex Advance range of networkable AV conferencing microphones to London and Manchester to let the UK's leading integrators and their clients experience first-hand how Microflex Advance brings a new level of clarity to AV conference sound. 

"I entered the demo having a skeptical view of ceiling mic solutions and left with a new perspective." - Alex Venus, Senior Consultant Worksmart Technology.

Award Recognition

Thousands of visitors experienced a live demo of Microflex Advance at ISE 2016 and it proved to be the star of event by winning a Best of Show award from Installation Magazine, who praised the range for its ability to create more efficient and productive meeting environments by enhancing speech intelligibility and improving AV conference space aesthetics. Gary Kayye of rAVe Publications also recognised its ability to elevate meeting spaces by naming it Best New Meeting Room Audio Product.

Microflex Advance MXA910 Ceiling Array

The MXA910 Ceiling Array is designed for meeting spaces where no visible microphones on the work surface is preferred. Using Steerable Coverage technology, the microphones in the array automatically find and capture the talker's voice. This selective technology eliminates background noise and provides the highest level of voice clarity. You no longer have to worry about HVAC or laptop noise, microphone placement or paperwork on the table blocking the sound of their voice. The software allows you to configure the room based on the number of meeting participants and where they are sitting. It requires only a single data cable to transmit audio signals, power (PoE), control and network connection.

Benefits

• Enhances speech clarity to ensure that every meeting participant is clearly heard
• Delivers consistent audio coverage and volume, even when the speakers move around the room
• Eliminates bad meeting behaviour and poor microphone technique by requiring less interaction with technology
• Captures sound from up to 11 chairs (8 coverage zones) with consistent sound quality throughout the room
• Alleviates listener fatigue by providing the best possible speech intelligibility

   "The ceiling array microphones can be disguised as ceiling tiles or hung easily several inches below the ceiling, in a similar place a ceiling projector might be." Chelsea Cafiero – CE Pro

Microphones disguised as ceiling tiles... Genius. Thanks for the demo @Shure. #ISE2016 #liveinstall @commintegrator pic.twitter.com/9PjLIqd09v

— Chelsea Cafiero (@ChelseaCafiero) February 9, 2016

Microflex Advance MXA310 Table Array

The MXA310 Table Array is perfect for meeting rooms or smaller huddle spaces. One table array captures six people in discrete listening areas, which reduces clutter from multiple mics placed on the table. It also rejects overhead noise from projectors or other sources and optimises voice clarity and volume via a new Toroid polar pattern. This is the perfect solution for corporate standardisation, as it can be configured for any room or table set-up. A single data cable carries audio signals, power (PoE), control and network connection.

Modern microphone technology is essentially passive and cannot distinguish between wanted audio and unwanted noise and will reproduce everything indiscriminately, to the detriment of intelligibility. Microflex Advance tackles these issues with Shure's proprietary Steerable Coverage technology." - Erica Basnicki, Pro Sound News Europe

Benefits

• Decreases clutter by providing coverage of six people with one microphone
• Eliminates bad meeting behaviour by requiring less interaction with technology
• Optimises voice clarity and volume
• Rejects overhead noise from projectors or other sources

Click here to learn more and watch the Microflex Advance demo videos.