High-end AV furniture is a necessity if you aim to set up a proper AV room. Learn what quality audio-visual furniture should be.
Miniature Huddle rooms are well-known to be extremely effective in the bloated corporate workflows. They allow the staff to have quick meetings, and to focus on specific tasks with small groups to increase the work efficiency.
And as with every other advanced thing that improves something, Huddle Rooms require corresponding investment, namely – specialized AV furniture. Indeed, if you plan to conduct an audio-visual integration in your AV room, furniture that allows this is of utmost importance. Learn in this article what the requirements for functional AV furniture are.
Main feature of furniture for AV integration
- The ability to withstand a sufficiently large weight of the equipment;
- The ability to provide a consistent big ventilation flow to prevent the overheating of the electronic components;
- Isolation of cases of equipment from each other to exclude the mutual influence of electromagnetic fields;
- High-quality acoustic isolation;
- Convenient switching;
- The capability to hide the cables and wires of the AV equipment.
Overall conference table tips
The conference table is a subject of a dedicated design work. Its form, as a rule for Huddle Rooms, is not simply rectangular, but at least has rounded corners or oval outlines. The tabletop is thickened, the supports (pedestal) of the table are recessed, and there is a large free space for the legs (large enough even to allow the possibility of straightening them). Depending on the number of seats at the table, it is either solid or sectional.
Commutator (switch hatch)
A special lockable module (switch hatch) for external connections can be integrated into the table, to which a common desktop omnidirectional microphone (or two microphones), a portable laptop or other signal sources of meeting participants are connected. On the table there is a wireless keyboard and mouse for working with a desktop computer, as well as a wireless touch-sensitive automated control panel (often an iPad), which can be transferred from one user to another.
The seating arrangement variants
Camera and display setup – on the end side
The seating arrangement of the participants and, accordingly, the form of the table are designed taking into account the location of the screens for the collective display and the camera of the videoconferencing system. The most common option is for the participants to sit along the long sides of the table opposite of each other, and the screen is opposite of one of the ends of the table. This option is simple and obvious, but if video conferencing is used frequently, then it is difficult to organize a “telepresence” scheme in it.
Camera and display setup – on the longitudinal side
Another scheme is that the staff members are located along the three sides of the table (one longitudinal and two end), and the display systems and the videoconferencing camera are installed along the free longitudinal side. Hereby the rotary camera will be able to qualitatively show any of the participants, and if the camera is stationary with a wide-angle lens, then all participants will be immediately visible. This option is great for up to 5-6 conference participants.
Other rarer options
There are also options with, for example, individual tilting computer monitors built into the table with not very large screens – so that they do not block the visibility of the faces of the participants sitting opposite. Alternatively – a scheme with two large-diagonal displays hanging on the walls or ceiling opposite each other behind the backs of the negotiators. In this case, the participants will have to look upon the screen over the heads of their opposite partners.
The dimensions and size of the table
The overall dimensions of the table are selected based on the fact that all the participants in business conversations will unconditionally sit in a movable chairs. Also, they must have a significant private section of the table top so that they can work with papers. With such requirements, the table does turn out to be large – the width of the zone per participant is assumed to be around 670-750 mm or more, the depth of the tabletop is at least 600-650 mm per side. If individual monitors are furthermore built into the table, its dimensions may increase even more. The level of the tabletop is usually taken equal to approximately 750-760 mm.
Operator-assistant console
The operator-assistant console is used in meeting rooms with a large amount of equipment and wide switching capabilities. It can be a table in which absolutely all the equipment is installed (on shelves or in a built-in rack) and on which there is a monitor (monitors), a document camera, an operator’s keyboard and mouse, a mixing console and much more.
Operator-assistant’s place
The assistant’s place can be “hidden” in a niche in the room or be something like a lockable closet. After all, not all negotiations will be widely using hardware, where the technical support of a dedicated assistant is required. Since the assistant is located not far away, all requests or commands by the head of the meeting are given simply by voice.
Separate mounting rack for AV equipment
In Huddle Rooms where an operator’s position is not required because there is a developed automated control system, the AV equipment – computer, signal sources, switches, an amplifier – are placed in a separate mounting rack. Then, a computer monitor is also installed on the top of the rack (if the height of the rack allows, that is) and a pull-out shelf for the keyboard and mouse is also provided. This way, it is convenient even if one uses a wireless keyboard and mouse (and stands while working). Beneath the main conference table itself, no equipment, except for that mentioned above, should be hidden.