American University of Beirut
Touchless mic solution for hybrid learning at American University of Beirut
The client
Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut is a teaching-centered research university based on the American liberal arts model of higher education. AUB has over 8,000 students and 800 faculty members. The university encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to graduate men and women committed to creative and critical thinking, lifelong learning, personal integrity, civic responsibility, and leadership.
The challenge
The American University of Beirut (AUB) was looking for a microphone solution for hybrid learning that allows both students and instructors to communicate effortlessly with a remote party over a web conferencing platform such as WebEx. With the lavalier microphones used until then, instructors had to repeat every student question so that the remote party could hear them properly. With the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was also a hygiene concern so that AUB wanted a touchless solution where users do not need to share microphones.
The solution
Coming from Sennheiser as a brand that AUB already trusted, TeamConnect Ceiling 2 was the right product for the university. The size of the microphone (60x60cm) fitted perfectly in the false ceilings. Teaching staff like the fact that they do not need to carry a microphone or worry about the change of batteries. They can move freely around the room and concentrate fully on their teaching.
“Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 was absolutely the right choice for video conferencing in our meeting rooms. With its speaker position detection, it’s a money saving, excellent part of my new designs. I am choosing it for our classrooms instead of individual student microphones to prepare for the hybrid learning, COVID-19 recovery period.”
As AUB was looking for a ceiling microphone solution that does not need a complicated re-configuration when the room layout changes, TeamConnect Ceiling 2 was the perfect fit. The microphone blends flawlessly into the existing ceiling design. The unobtrusive status LED lights indicate its presence and operation without distracting teachers and students.
AUB decided to use TeamConnect Ceiling 2 (TCC2) for online meetings and lecture recording in hybrid learning settings because of its patented automatic dynamic beamforming technology. It allows the flexible usage of the complete teaching space and efficient collaboration with remote participants. Instructors using the mic solution can be sure that the audio is transmitted perfectly without worrying about setting up or configuring a microphone. “Sometimes they would ask about the microphone that is doing all the work and I’d point to that square in the ceiling. Being satisfied about a solution without knowing that it is even there is a huge sign of success”, says Joseph Azar, IT Manager Audio Video & Multimedia at American University of Beirut. Like former Sennheiser installations at AUB, the integration of TCC2 was smooth. Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) makes integration of the ceiling microphone super easy. An open media control protocol (API) allows to make individual adjustments.
With the integration of TCC2, the AUB team worked closely with Systech Middle East, the local Sennheiser distributor. “They completed the installation, testing and commissioning and made sure any concern or question we had was attended to in a timely manner”, says Joseph Azar. AUB is very satisfied with the TeamConnect Ceiling 2 microphones and is planning to use them for further conference rooms and high-end classrooms.
Learn more about the benefits of the TeamConnect Ceiling 2 touchless microphone solution, such as easy installation, freedom of movement and high speech intelligibility that create unprecedented learning and teaching experiences.
