Designing Conference Rooms for an Interactive World

Once upon a time, conference rooms were simply places large enough for the entire group to meet. The speaker stood at a podium and attendees strained to hear over the shuffling of paper handouts. But changes in technology have redefined meetings, and conference rooms need to evolve also. Now you might need to:

•	Hold a group meeting even though people are stationed in three different buildings on two different campuses;
•	Meet with a group in California, without buying plane tickets;
•	Conduct a public forum without renting a hotel ballroom.

The Room Design team of CIT’s Collaborative Technology Innovation and Video Services (CTIVS) can design, equip, and build a conference room that supports these or any other events your mission requires. While an initial investment is required, a modern conference room allows you to take full advantage of new technologies and will ultimately save your organization both time and money.

Run a meeting at the touch of a button

Never again walk into your conference room faced with the hassle of rerouting cables, the annoyance of remembering which buttons to press, or the frustration of finally finding the correct remote only to discover that the battery is dead.

Instead, access the room functions with a touch panel specially designed to meet your requirements.

The sample touch panel shown here allows users to choose between an audio conference, an in-room presentation, or a video teleconference, simply by touching a choice. If you are holding a traditional meeting where everyone is in the room with you and needs to look at the same document, simply select “In-Room Presentation.” The system then automatically dims the room lights, closes the window shades, turns on the projector, lowers the projection screen, and displays the contents of your laptop screen onto the projection screen — all of this set in motion simply with one touch of the touch panel.

Of course your touch panel allows you to override the default settings to fit your needs. If you are video conferencing with remote attendees and want to simultaneously show a presentation slide you can use the touch panel to shift from displaying the remote attendees in full-screen mode to showing them in a small “picture-in-picture” window overlaying your PowerPoint presentation.

Meanwhile, all the equipment and cables that make your multimedia system operate are neatly tucked away in cabinets.

[Image Caption: This room has twin wall-mounted plasma screens above the hardware cabinets. The touch-panel is on the counter at the far right.]

Getting your own custom multimedia conference room

Every step can be handled for you, from demolition of an existing space, to specifications, new construction, equipment installation, automation, and training.

In order to implement a system that truly meets your needs, your objectives must be clearly defined. A project leader will work with you to determine what you want the room to do. Will the room be used for in-person meetings, video teleconferencing, online meetings, or combinations of these? Will the meeting be conducted by administrators showing PowerPoint presentations or researchers discussing high-resolution medical images?

Together, we will develop specific requirements to ensure that your new conference room will meet your objectives. For example, you may want a user-friendly touch panel that enables anyone on your staff to hold a Video Teleconferencing (VTC) call, while another group prefers to lock the controls so that only authorized personnel can initiate a call. Your space may have large windows that require a brighter projector or room darkening shades, while another room needs sound barriers and special audio equipment because it is located between a high-traffic street and a noisy office break-room.

During the engineering stage, the project leader will determine what components will be necessary and how they will work together to meet your requirements. Typically, a multimedia room will include a projector that displays files from a laptop or a dedicated room computer onto a screen. The projector shown here is mounted on the ceiling where it is unlikely to be obscured by someone walking in front of it. This placement also discourages people from adjusting the settings.

Rooms usually include at least one digital video camera to capture video images of the people at the conference room table or the speaker at the podium. The video is sent to a group you are conferring with in a distant conference room, which is sending their own video back to your room. Thus, both groups can see each other and hold a much more natural conversation whether they are separated by miles or continents.

[A Pan/Tilt/Zoom capable digital video camera mounted in the corner sends video of the in-room attendees to remote attendees via VideoTeleconferencing. Both groups can see each other on screen.]

There is no limit to what can be created. If there is a way to make your meeting more productive, we can help you. Other options include:

•	Multiple microphones on the table or suspended from the ceiling to pick up sound from everyone in the room and transmit it to the remote attendees;
•	Ceiling speakers to allow you to hear the remote attendees;
•	DVD players that automatically record your meeting to a disc;
•	“Smart boards,” or electronic whiteboards, that allow you to save the information written on them as digital files.

Finally, with all the planning, specifications, and ordering complete, the physical installation of your new conference room can proceed. Once your room is ready for use, we can train your personnel on how to use it, and provide ongoing maintenance so your room will always be ready for the next meeting.

For more information

With CTIVS acting as your consultant and general contractor, you can reap the benefits of new communication technology with minimal effort on your part.

We look forward to discussing how your group can acquire a user-friendly, multimedia conference room that allows you to share knowledge without wasting time or money traveling.

Contact us directly:
CTIVS Room Design and Support Team
(301) 594-8433
Email: CITVideoRoomDesignSupport@mail.nih.gov
Website: http://video.nih.gov

Or contact us through the NIH Help Desk at:
(301) 496-4357 (6 HELP) (local)
(866) 319-4357 (toll free)
(301) 496-8294 (TTY)
http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov

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