Audio Conferencing Companies

In the last three years many audio conferencing companies have aroused with their respective products. Some of this are follows:

Precision Components

The PC-50B is a portable speakerphone/conferencing setup. The basic unit functions as a hands free telephone, using Precision's type 4B speakerphone circuitry with advanced voice-switching capabilities. Three microphones are also included for group participation.

The system can be used as a telephone only, loudspeaker only, or can be connected to a PA system for listening to both sides of a conversation. Installation is into a standard telephone jack and 110 VAC outlets.

The PC-50B is ordered as a complete unit, but individual components may be ordered separately.

Shure

With Shure's ST3000, you can conduct interactive audio conferences in virtually any room, without the use of special acoustic equipment. The system's components, an audio module and control console, fit neatly into a heavy-duty carrying case, so your teleconferencing capabilities can travel with you.

The round audio module contains three microphones and a loudspeaker. Participants can engage in normal, interruptive conversation. Voices are clear, easily understandable and lack the "tinny" quality associated with long distance conferencing.

The ST3000 also automatically adjusts for different sound levels in remote locations, as well as for different voice levels and varying positions of participants. Once the volume is set, no readjustment is required.

The ST3000 control console gives you mastery of all the audio elements. To activate a conference, you telephone the desired location, push "Conference" on the console and you're on the air. To disconnect, you just hang up the phone and push "Telephone" on the console.

Other features include "Mute," which turns off the microphones on all audio modules in use. "Listen Only" locks all microphones in mute, and is ideal for long distance training sessions where actual conversation is at a minimum. "Talk Only" suppresses incoming sounds so that a presentation can be made without interruption.

The control console also contains an auxiliary input, for bringing an outside audio program into the conference, and an auxiliary output for tape recording.

The system works with standard single-line phones. Just place the audio module at the approximate center of conversation, plug it into the control console, connect the phone to the control console and that's the extent of system installation.

For larger conferences, the system can be expanded to 200 microphones and 75 loudspeakers. It's priced at $ 5,660.

TSI

Teleconferencing Systems International says that their "Conferencer" audio conferencing system is superior to competition because, for one thing, it's the only wireless teleconferencing product on the market. And it's portable so you can conference just about anywhere.

The system consists of a control unit and three microphones that are mounted in a hexagon module. This configuration makes the most out of the reflective surface of the conference table and the omni-directional microphone pickups.

The Conferencer will operate over any telephone system, including your standard single-line phone with a RJ-11 jack. It can be used in any room where AC power and a telephone jack are available. No special acoustic treatment is necessary.

When setting up your conference, the actual control unit doesn't have to be in the conference room. You can stash it in a closet or cabinet, as long as the material between the wireless microphone and the control unit is nonmetallic.

The system has been used and tested on all major bridge services. One wireless system per building satisfies most applications and is priced under $ 5,000.