UCC was originally established to provide access to higher education in the Irish province of Munster. With just 178 students in 1900, UCC has grown exponentially, now offering a research-led curriculum through 120 degree programmes. Now with 20,000 students, UCC is dedicated to providing an outstanding teaching and learning experience, and forging unrivalled links with business and the public sector. Amongst other rankings and awards, it has been named Irish University of the Year by the Sunday Times on five occasions – most recently in 2017.
The number of students isn’t the only thing to have increased at UCC and it has gone from having just one building to dozens, and from less than 20 staff to more than 1,600. “As the university has evolved we have tried to ensure that we utilise technology that enhances how information is imparted and received. UCC has a wide number of lecture theatres across its campus and ensuring that those speaking can be heard clearly has been a significant challenge,” said Brian Bugler, UCC’s senior technical officer and head of audiovisual (AV) media services.
Like many other educational establishments UCC had utilised a combination of wired gooseneck microphones that were sited on the top of lecterns and podiums, as well as wireless radio systems with lapel microphones to enable a lecturer to move around the teaching space.
Although reasonably effective, both variants have limitations. For instance, a gooseneck microphone has a very limited range when it comes to capturing and transmitting a voice clearly – an individual must speak directly into it in order to be heard. Not only does this greatly restrict a lecturer’s movement, these devices they can also be prone to breakages due to the need for regular repositioning. Although wireless microphones address these particular issues, batteries have to be replaced every day, plus lecturers have a habit of wandering off while they are still wearing them, which can be expensive and logistically problematic.
For a while Bugler and his team installed hand held and goose neck microphones which had rechargeable docking stations, hoping that they would solve these issues, but users didn’t reposition them correctly in the docking stations after use, so they couldn’t recharge. Also, even when the mic was correctly positioned there was often not enough time between lectures for recharging to take place.
“I decided to look around and see what was available that could better suit our needs,’ said Bugler. ‘I had always been impressed with the AV equipment that we had purchased from TOA Corporation UK in the past and have been acquainted with Malcolm Crummey, the company’s sales manager UK and Ireland, for a number of years. Therefore, I decided to invite him in to see what he could recommend.”
TOA Corporation UK has worked closely in the education sector for many years and its public address and voice alarm (PA/VA) systems, digital mixers, amplifiers, speakers and conference systems, as well as microphone technology, have been extensively adopted.
Malcolm Crummey welcomed the opportunity to visit UCC, commenting: ‘The problem that Brian outlined was one that I had heard many times before from others in the education sector. It’s why we developed the robust and reliable AM-1 real time steering array device mic, which simply allows the user to talk to their audience, not to their microphone, and eliminates the use of batteries.’
With dimensions of 484mm(w) x 22mm(h) x 65mm(d) AM-1 is equipped with a built-in sensor to detect and track sound sources, and captures voices clearly and continuously from either side, above or below. This frees the lecturers to move back and forth in the vicinity of the podium or lectern, turn or tilt their heads to address different sections of the audience, or gesture naturally without concern for the location of the microphone.
AM-1’s voice tracking microphone completely eliminates the interference and inconvenience of gooseneck or wireless microphones. It enables voice capture from up to 3m, tracking range angles up to 180° and, if required, multiple devices can be used in tandem to cover a wider area.
“Removal of the barrier between speaker and audience
has benefits for all parties,” said Crummey. “AM-1 has been designed to be highly flexible and enable trouble-free setting and monitoring, which can be conveniently carried out using an Apple iPad that has a dedicated app or relevant firmware installed. What’s more, it has a number of intelligent functions built in, such as an automatic gain control feature that compensates for reduced volume variations, allowing sound levels to be consistent.’
After witnessing a demonstration of AM-1, Brian Bugler was instantly impressed and arranged to trial it in one of the lecture theatres at UCC in order to assess suitability and obtain user feedback.
‘I was instantly impressed with how easy it was to set-up,’ said Bugler. The app was incredibly intuitive and it didn’t take long before we were able to experience a sound quality that far exceeded what we had been used to previously. Just as importantly, the lecturers all enjoyed the ability to be able to move freely, communicate clearly and feel totally unencumbered by the audio technology they were using. Just as importantly, we will save a considerable amount of money by not having to buy batteries, which adds to the return on investment.”