The bedrock of modern business communications, both internally and externally, is audiovisual technology. A simplified experience for users inside an organisation is just as important as when companies reach out and communicate with third parties, partners, customers, and potential customers. A meeting in 2022 is just as likely to be held virtually as it is to be held in-person. Arguably, physical, face-to-face meetings have now become the exception rather than the norm.
Most businesses will have some form of basic audiovisual capabilities installed in-house, but this technology is typically confined to the boardroom or to a handful of large meeting rooms. The events of the last two years have triggered a change in business practices across the globe. A shift in operational priorities has required businesses to rethink and reassess their utilisation of audiovisual communication technology. In 2022, it’s become expected that organisations can connect seamlessly and can provide immediate access to facilities for presentations, interviews, webinars, board meetings, and so much more.
The underpinning technologies powering this new type of facility are complex – at least to the layperson. From the everyday user’s perspective, what’s important is how easy it is to connect a laptop or tablet to a large-screen TV or projector, and doing it reliably, every time. Satisfying the need for reliability and security while balancing image and sound quality against ease of installation and maintenance has historically been the job of the audiovisual professional. In 2022 a new generation of audiovisual technology has emerged capable of satisfying all criteria.
The evolution of HDMI over IP networks has been taking place over the last ten years or so as a natural evolution of analogue KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) solutions found in data centres’ computer racks. The widespread adoption of HDBaseT™ protocols means point to point connections can carry uncompressed video and audio at 4k resolutions with low latency and medium latency options – perfect for the fast-paced business environment. Achieving high image, and sound quality at a reasonable price has been a challenge until quite recently.
Although it’s still advisable to use a professional AV installation service to help with a business’s initial infrastructure needs, the Blustream AMF41W is a device that is ideal for end-users on a day-to-day basis. Meeting attendees can connect wirelessly to the device (it can act as a VLAN-ed WiFi hotspot) to pass 4K media to connected devices. It even supports Apple AirPlay and Miracast for consumer-focused hardware sources. For wireless presentations or demos, the AMF41W can be connected and operational within seconds to provide high quality picture and audio that has won Blustream multiple industry awards.
With over 30 years’ of experience with the company, its AV engineers have dedicated chipsets for the HDBaseT™ hardware that maximise quality and emphasise usability.
There’s no sign-up or log-in required by users, no licensing restrictions, and therefore, no waiting around as colleagues search for cables, adapters, dongles, or driver downloads.
Wireless connectivity is complemented by four physical inputs for permanent device installations, and there is a range of control options (including RS232) plus upgradable microphones, speakers, and cameras.
Power is supplied to the AMF41W via PoE (48v) on existing Cat5e or better, and cable runs can be up to 100m without repeaters. Even at that distance, latency is measured in µ-seconds – arguably, the hardware is over-engineered for 2022; Blustream is clearly confident that this is future-proof hardware. When companies decide to invest in beam tracking microphones or facial recognition cameras, the AMF41W is not only capable of handling this upgrade but designed to.
Like all the best AV systems, the AMF41W works quietly and unnoticeably in the background, freeing users from cable concerns, scaling easily to 4k, and providing reliable, day-in, day-out service. Businesses needing the air of effortless professionalism need look no further. They get the bonus of no meeting time lost as people look under desks for cables, USB memory sticks, or spare laptops with different ports on their sides.
Source: techwireasia
