Buying Guide・2021-01-27

How to Choose the Right Conference System? Understand the Definition, Technology, Trends, and Application Scenarios in One Article (Part 1)

Industry Insights

What is a conference system? Literally defined, a conference system

is composed of a complete set of audio equipment, which can help meeting participants communicate comfortably while allowing every attendee to "hear" more clearly and "speak" more understandably. In a conference system, the most eye-catching equipment is the microphone, which is why many people refer to a conference system as a "conference microphone system."

However, is a conference system absolutely necessary for holding a meeting? Is it impossible to have a meeting without a conference system?

Why do we need a conference system? In what scenarios is a conference system needed?

Indeed, meetings, the most common scenario for human-to-human communication, do not always require a conference system to take place.

But imagine a scenario where a panel of more than 10 experts is sitting around a large table discussing a municipal meeting, with nearly 100 citizen spectators watching on the side. In this scenario, passing a single wireless microphone among the 10 experts is impractical and would likely throw the meeting into chaos. This is exactly where a conference microphone system delivers immense value.

Common scenarios for conference microphone systems include: municipal councils and government agencies, classrooms and educational seminars, international conference events, press conference centers, boardrooms, and expert meetings.

The common characteristic of these meeting scenarios is:

Multi-person participation in major issue discussions and information dissemination.

This category

In a meeting scenario, there are usually two types of key figures: Chairman: The person who hosts the meeting, can identify speakers, and remind participants or conduct meeting voting when the set time is reached (usually one person, with a vice-chairman role in special circumstances).

Delegate: Also known as representative, usually multiple delegates or representatives participate in discussions and speak during a meeting.

In these meeting scenarios, if a conference microphone system is set up, each participant will have a personal or gooseneck desktop microphone (collectively referred to as a microphone unit / delegate unit). This way, they can speak and discuss smoothly with other participants and clearly hear others through the speakers. The conference chairman usually has a special unit, which is a chairman unit with functions such as volume control, mute, speaker identification, speaking time control, speaking order control, or voting.

What are the benefits of using a conference system?

When a conference room is equipped with a conference microphone system, participants can enjoy several benefits: Saving meeting time: Since everyone has a microphone unit on their desk, it avoids wasting unnecessary time passing microphones around. Meanwhile, when a microphone is turned on, its light ring illuminates, making it very clear who is speaking and saving time identifying the speaker. During a meeting, every minute saved, multiplied by the number of participants, results in highly significant time savings.

Optimize Meeting Processes: The conference microphone system features functions such as mute, volume, speaking time control, and voting control. This allows the chairman to carefully control the meeting, identify speakers, and smoothly proceed according to the scheduled agenda.

Expanding Participation: The conference microphone system helps participants easily join discussions. Meanwhile, through sound reinforcement equipment such as amplifiers and speakers, it allows a larger audience to follow or participate in the meeting content, which is particularly important in municipal meeting applications.

Integrating Simultaneous Interpretation: In large international conferences, multilingual speeches and simultaneous interpretation are highly important. Using the conference microphone system together with simultaneous interpretation equipment makes it easier to send live speeches directly to interpreters, providing clear audio signals for translation.

Aesthetics and Sense of Importance: Every attendee has a professional-grade gooseneck or desktop microphone on their desk. In addition to functional benefits, this makes the entire setting appear professional and significant, symbolizing the importance attached to the meeting topics and respect for all participants. Attendees can also clearly express their voices and determination through each microphone unit.

In general, the ultimate goal of a conference microphone system is to maximize meeting efficiency and exert greater impact.

What equipment does a complete conference system include?

Below is a list of the equipment and main functions included in a complete conference system:

1. Chairman Unit Microphone (Chairman Unit): The meeting host can identify speakers and remind them when their speaking time is up; they can also organize voting. Therefore, the chairman has a special microphone called the "chairman unit," which has more functions, such as muting speakers and setting speaking priority. These button functions help the meeting run smoothly and maintain focus.

2. Delegate Unit Microphone (Delegate Unit): Microphones other than the chairman's are called delegate units. These units usually have a one-touch speaking button and light up when active for identification. Depending on the product, some units may feature volume control, voting buttons, etc.

3. Central Control Unit (CCU): This device controls all microphone units. It integrates microphone audio input, audio signal transmission, mute and speaking order mode settings, advanced voting functions, and more, and determines the capacity of chairman/delegate units. It can be said

is the most important core brain in the conference microphone system (Learn more about BXB Electronics conference systems

)。

The above three are the basic components of a conference microphone system. Depending on different meeting scenarios, more peripheral equipment can be added to integrate with the conference system: speakers and amplifiers, simultaneous interpretation equipment, audio and video recording equipment, and conference system graphical control management software.

In the next article, we will further classify and introduce microphone systems from four aspects: technology, type, sound pickup, and design. Please click here to read

。

For more information regarding conference systems

questions, wish to consult on customized solutions for your meeting needs, or want to learn more about BXB conference microphone system quotes, please leave your contact information and requirements, and we will provide you with professional services immediately.

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