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.

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

Run a Meeting by Touching 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. Dim the room lights, lower the screen, turn on the projector and microphone, and display a powerpoint from your laptop, all by touching one button on a touch panel.  Custom touch panel wiring and programming to simplify meetings, teleconferencing, video conferencing, and online discussions.

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 their choice.  If you are holding a traditional meeting where everyone is in the room with you and needs to look at the same document, you 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.

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

Additional Services

• Upgrades, Renovations, Relocation:
  Replace broken or obsolete equipment.  Enable existing components to work together.  Add touch-panel control systems. Rewire to allow additional equipment.
  
  
• Maintenance and Service Plans:
  Remote and onsite user assistance for your audio-visual equipment. Scheduled maintenance to prevent downtime and costly repairs.  Emergency repair service.  Modifications to existing systems.
  
  
• Consulting:
  Assistance in determing what technologies and hardware best meet current needs and can expand to meet future needs.  Selection of the equipment vendors and products to meet your requirements and budget. Expert review of specifications or equipment lists provided by outside vendors. General contracting and management of installations.
  
  
• Training:
  Once your room is ready for use, we can train your personnel on how to use it and provide documentation.