Bringing Brands to Life with the IntelliSHOT Professional Conferencing System from Vaddio

Challenge

With the increased use of video conferencing due to hybrid work arrangements, many meetings have become fully remote. There are many advantages to remote meetings, like saving time on travel and increasing accessibility through recordings and transcriptions. Even with many employees returning to the office, the benefits and use of video meetings have stuck around.

NPARALLEL is a Structural Agency located in Minneapolis, MN, that brings local and national brands to life through experiential marketing, trade shows, retail, corporate interiors, and agency partnerships.

Due to the collaborative nature of their work, NPARALLEL had to transition quickly when remote meetings became the new norm. NPARALLEL uses its main boardroom for team meetings, meeting with existing clients, and pitching to potential clients – where making a good first impression counts. They purchased a well-known, all-in-one Webcam and Speakerphone system from an online store. This system allowed them a simple connection to remote clients in a neat package. Still, the all-in-one nature of their system limited the video and audio quality and left them searching for a better conferencing experience.

“When sitting in the back of the boardroom, I felt like I had to shout towards the front to be heard,” said Jim Vylasek, Director of Technology at NPARALLEL.

NPARALLEL has been a partner of Vaddio and Legrand AV for over ten years, building their trade show booths and constructing a Roadshow Trailer that travels the nation. When NPARALLEL reached out to the Vaddio team to discuss outfitting their main boardroom with a professional system, Vaddio was inspired to create an immersive meeting experience.

A crucial factor to consider when designing a video conferencing system is audio. An all-in-one unit may work for small spaces, but the built-in mics and speakerphone don’t have the range and clarity needed to fill larger rooms. NPARALLEL’s boardroom features a long table in the center of the room, making it hard for those in the back to hear and be heard from an off-the-shelf desktop solution at the front of the room. Similarly, in large spaces, a webcam does a poor job of clearly capturing everyone in the room and doesn’t offer many options for customization.

Solution

After scoping out the space, the Vaddio team recommended their EasyUSB Mixer/AMP, which supports up to two CeilingMIC or TableMIC microphones and amplifies two external speakers while allowing a single USB cable to connect the devices to your video call. Due to the size and aesthetic of the space, Vaddio recommended two CeilingMIC microphones and two Vaddio Ceiling Speakers to provide full-room audio coverage and keep clutter off the tabletop.

When it came time to choose a camera for the space, considering room size and the various ways NPARALLEL’s employees would use the space was of utmost importance. A camera with a wide field of view would be suitable for showing the whole room, but if there were just a single employee using the room, they would seem small and get lost in the picture.

When Vaddio introduced the IntelliSHOT auto-framing camera to Jim on the NPARALLEL team, he was excited about the hands-free smarts and high-quality picture it produced. Still, he was unsure if their space with large walls of windows on either side would negatively impact its performance.

“That’s where IntelliSHOT’s custom integration features come in,” said Paul Unger, Applications Engineer at Vaddio. “We can limit the areas IntelliSHOT tracks, so anything happening outside of these four walls is excluded from framing.”

The IntelliSHOT camera perfectly frames participants in the room so everyone can be seen clearly without the need to adjust the camera angle or zoom level before starting a call.

Connecting to the system is a snap, thanks to Vaddio’s collaboration partner Barco’s Clickshare CSE 200. The wireless presentation system makes connecting to the IntelliSHOT and in-room audio system as simple as just a click. Connectivity was provided by Vaddio’s sister brand, C2G. Leveraging C2G’s availability of various colors and lengths in category cabling options helped make this install quick and easy.

vaddio videoconferencing camera mounted below display with touch screen controller on credenza

Results

“Now I’m excited to use this room for conferencing,” said Don Gonse, Partner at NPARALLEL. “Engagement in our hybrid meetings has increased and it’s so assuring that everyone can hear and see each other whether they are in the conference room or joining online. The way the camera automatically crops out the dead space in the room when there’s just a few of us has been a game changer.”

A key benefit for Jim was the system's ease of use and reliability. “I haven’t gotten any complaints about the system, which is always a win for IT,” said Jim. “Because the system’s settings were customized during the installation process, it’s like this was made for us.”

Vaddio’s IntelliSHOT camera and professional audio system have made collaboration between employees and clients more equitable by providing a high-quality AV experience.

“I can’t believe we were still using that speakerphone and webcam we got at the beginning of the pandemic. I’d recommend this system to anyone who regularly makes important video calls; you don’t know what you’re missing out on,” Don concluded.