University of Denver Case Study

Revolabs Case Study: University of Denver Modernization Project
Conferencing Needs Addressed by Innovative, Transportable Solution

The University of Denver, the oldest and largest independent university in the Rocky Mountain region, is in the throes of a series of major improvements to its campus.  New academic, residential and administrative buildings are being built along with significant improvements to several existing DU facilities; notably the conference center located in Mary Reed Hall.

Known as the DuPont Room, the space is used for a wide range of meetings involving the university’s administration and senior faculty, business executives from Denver-area companies and gatherings of international experts on topics running from the economy to energy to the environment.  Interestingly, enrolled DU students hail from 78 countries, making the campus an epicenter for global meetings of various types.

The DuPont Room’s modernization project centered on improvements to its structure, décor and other matters but not video conferencing technology of any sort.  The need for this capability was evident, given the purpose of the meeting room.

While work was well-underway on the room itself, DU’s Network Services unit put out requests for bids and design proposals to provide video conferencing for the DuPont Room.  What they got was a series of $100,000+ bids, appreciably beyond what was envisioned let alone what the overall budget would allow.

Solution:
The DU Network Services team saw that the factor driving up the cost for video conferencing was the impact installing a system into a room where significant work had already done completed.  Ripping up flooring and carpeting to run cables, cutting into the in-place conference table and more was out of the question.

True to the expression “necessity is the mother of invention,” DU Network Services devised a solution-on-wheels.  It consisted of a movable cart with contained a 52-inch LCD panel display, an HD room system and an eight-channel Revolabs Wireless Fusion Audio System.

DU opted for the mutable Revolabs Boundary microphones for the conference tables and wearable Revolabs Solo microphones for individuals making presentations or desiring to walk about the room while participating in the discussion without any worry about his/her words not being heard with utter clarity.

Results:
The transportable solution proved to be a more versatile system for less money.  Performance was superb and ease of use was significant, even for first-time users of the system, particularly the Revolabs Fusion system.  DU personnel reported that the microphone system’s simplicity of operation reduced the need for technical staff to be on hand for audio-only teleconferences.

The audio quality delivered by the Revolabs microphones is such that those on the far end of conference calls have yet to ask for a statement or phrase to be repeated because it wasn’t clearly understood.

The modular aspect of the transportable solution allows use of the Fusion system to be used in other meeting rooms within Mary Reed Hall, making the cost-effectiveness and productivity-enhancing elements of the Revolabs’ product that much better.

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