Aalborg University AALBORG, DENMARK

CASE STUDY Aalborg University AALBORG, DENMARK

Challenge The University of Aalborg com- plained about an insufficient supply of spare parts of one of their previ- ous microphone supplier. Further- more, the operation of the equipment was inconsistent, they had often problems with the operation.

Solution All 60 lecture halls and 20 auditoriums of The Aalborg University will be standardized equipped with Sennheiser products. The strategy: For larger rooms SpeechLine Dig- ital Wireless Microphone Systems will be implemented. In smaller rooms analog Microphone systems from the EW range.

This will revolutionise our support

“Pick and speak, is Aalborg University has opted for a pure Sennheiser-based strategy in its pro- the motto: that which gramme to standardise 350 class rooms. High quality, simple-to-use and above all ongoing product further development are among the reasons why previously took hours the Danish university has adopted this strategy. Aalborg is also very much now takes just a few looking forward to its new network-based chargers from the SpeechLine Digi- tal Wireless series. Using the IP network for equipment management will radi- minutes.” cally simplify support - and cut costs.

A clear strategy: In 2015 Aalborg University (AAU) decided to standardise all of its 350 classrooms in 37 buildings. "The same equipment everywhere, the same buttons everywhere," says Per Mouritzen, AV director at the university, which is spread between three locations (Aalborg, Copenhagen and Esbjerg). Also in Per Mouritzen terms of microphone technology: the same manufacturer, everywhere. In the past, the university used not only Sennheiser products but also two other suppliers. Getting hold of spare parts for these products was not always easy, Mr Mouritzen reports; apart from which, having different systems also frequently created operational problems. "One headset has a mute button where the other has its off-switch." Per Mouritzen thinks that teaching staff should have things as easy as possible, which is why he and his colleague, Flemming Nielsen, decided to expand the current approx. 70 % standardisation into a pure Sennhe- iser environment. 60 smaller lecture halls and all 20 auditoriums (80 to 300 seats) will in the future have exclusively Sennheiser-based audio transmission equipment. CASE STUDY AALBORG UNIVERSITY

One interesting thing: the universi- Mouritzen, he has "had 20 years of CUSTOMER ty, which counts 21,000 students, has good experience with Sennheiser", Aalborg University not gone only for the digital prod- and the university's two Danish inte- ucts of the new SpeechLine Digital grators and suppliers also proposed Wireless series; it will continue to use Sennheiser products. The universi- PRODUCTS INSTALLED tried-and-trusted analogue micro- ty was guaranteed that Sennheiser 115 channels of evolution Wireless phone products like the EW series. didn't need several weeks to deliver 152 G3 Headmic Sets (EW 152 G3) 56 links of Sennheiser SpeechLine Digital Wireless (SLDW)

WEBSITE www.aau.dk

COUNTRY Denmark

INDUSTRY University

PROFILE Aalborg University (AAU) has been providing students with academ- ic excellence, cultural engagement and personal development since its inception in 1974. It offers educa- Around 115 EW 152 G3 headsets - the a spare part. "If necessary, I just go tion and research within the fields AAU has a preference for headsets to the next music shop and I've got of natural sciences, social scienc- - will be used in the smaller rooms, it an hour later," Mouritzen says. The es, humanities, technical and health whereas the larger halls will use digi- two AV technicians also checked out sciences. tal SpeechLine products. This is a de- a Sennheiser reference installation cision driven by economics: Mr Mou- during their decision making process ritzen reports that his university lec- and realised that the manufacturer turers can live well with the transmis- had "lots of experience in the installa- sion quality of the analogue systems. tion of a whole range of systems and And whenever an analogue headset antennas in large spaces." hits the ground or someone treads on it, the replacement costs are less The university people also appreciat- than for a similar digital product. ed that the two local AV integrators Mouritzen: "Having both analogue as well as the managers of Sennheis- and digital is a very successful com- er's Danish subsidiary were offering bination. It is basically the same sys- creative proposals from the word go tem with different designs. Users feel on ways to solve AAU's AV challeng- very much at home." es. One example being the table top CHG2 chargers, which guarantee that When Mouritzen and Nielsen began at least one headset is ready-to-use looking for a microphone supplier even if the other was not charged by for the new standardisation concept, mistake. Per Mouritzen and Flem- they actually had Sennheiser in mind ming Nielsen also liked Sennheiser's from the beginning. According to Per suggestion to have a look at the new CASE STUDY AALBORG UNIVERSITY

port staff at Aalborg University will a few minutes," says a pleased Per in the future be able to look at their Mouritzen. screens to know whether a microphone is switched to mute or not, The popularity curve of the two they will know whether it is connect- AV managers is definitely climb- ed to the charger, they can search ing amongst users at the university. for it if it has not been on the charger "Sennheiser technology is very easy for a longer period and can also see to use and very reliable," Mouritzen if the charge status is too low for an says. The promised battery capaci- upcoming event. "This will obvious- ties are actually true, there have been ly improve the work of our support no malfunctions so far and frequen- organisation because trips and jour- cy problems or transmission break- neys to the systems can be avoided ups are a thing of the past, especially and many things dealt with online or in the larger lecture halls. "Users are on the phone," says Mouritzen about happy with the microphone technol- the new chargers, which are to be ogy because it is reliable," says Mr set up during 2017. In particular he Mouritzen. likes the statistical functions offered AWM4 antenna distribution system. by Control Cockpit: "If microphones He and his AV colleague are also This gives AAU the option of connect- in the charger indicate that they are making teaching staff and students ing up to 8 channels to one AWM4 being heavily used, then we can de- at Aalborg University happy in oth- unit and significantly reducing the cide whether or not it makes sense to er ways. They were fed up with the number of antennas in the lecture have more microphones available in complicated passing around of mi- theatres. This system is scheduled to that room." crophones in the halls and so they deploy in 2018. tested the new Catchbox product - Aalborg doesn't intend sticking with a foam cube into which a microphone The University of Aalborg has also its current 20 SpeeLine Digital- can be packed and thrown around gone for the new SpeechLine char- Wireless channels. It will be up to 56 the hall. Catchbox is so successful gers with four charging bays plus by the end of 2017. Mouritzen and that each auditorium now has one. network connection (CHG 4N). This Nielsen are also planning to equip The take-away: Sennheiser's hand- option means the chargers are in- four auditori-ums with Sennheiser's held microphones in the SpeechLine dependent of the power supply but digital system. To date, this series survive their Catchbox flights also transmit important information microphone technolo-gy had to be without any problems at all. Per Mou- via the IP network which is then pro- rented, for example for a specific ritzen says: "This combination works." cessed in the Sennheiser Control event. In the future, Speech-Line sets Cockpit software. "This will revolutio- will be available for users in a nise our support," enthuses Mourit- separate locked wall box. "Pick and zen about the new technology. Sup- speak," is the motto: that which previously took hours now takes just

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