In Broadcast - December 2015 - 32


32

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 12 | December 2015

InReply

Setting The Intercom
Technology Standard
Simon Browne, Clear-Com's Director of Product Management
discusses the direction of intercom technology...
InBroadcast: How is ClearCom adapting to meet customer
demands?
Simon Browne: The traditional
intercom system, where user panels
connect in a hub and spoke audio/
data cabling scheme, is required today
to adapt to IT infrastructure, in order
to connect remote intercom users on
mobile devices such as smartphones
and tablets, or hardware control
panels over the internet or Wide Area
Networks.
The driving demand is that
production intercom opens itself,
cheaply and effectively, to include
remote peripheral operational staff,
who do not necessarily require multikey display panels.

Clear-Com's Agent-IC offers mobile access

The exciting use of intercom mobile
clients such as Clear-Com's Agent-IC
helps make this possible. Agent-IC can
be used by anyone who selectively and
occasionally needs to connect with
any of the users on the Eclipse matrix
network. Virtual keys are centrally
assigned by an administrator to keep
the system secure.
InB:
What
criteria
are
broadcasters using to select
intercom products?
SB: Every broadcaster will tell
you that they only require standard
features, but in reality each
broadcaster has a different set of
definitions of what 'standard' includes.
So the challenge for Clear-Com is to
provide a very broad spectrum of
functionality that is essential to meet
selection criteria: from partyline
call connectivity, to telephone IFB
handling, to highly nuanced Master
Control Grouping with and without
conditional logic.
Clear-Com's
Eclipse-HX
more
than meets this challenge with a

sophistication built on years of
meeting customer expectations and
adding incremental functionality as
demanded by the market. Building
the intercom based on new technology
is not enough if it can't meet the
customers 'standard requirements'.
We are also seeing more work
practice flexibility since users tend
to be more mobile, and so wireless
intercom is very much in demand.
Our FreeSpeak II provides a simple
user interface built on a sophisticated
cellular roaming technology, and
allows multi-channel high audio quality
intercom over a wide-ranging coverage
area. It is also ideal for addressing the
interest in live TV where the 'studio'
space is more complex and requires
wireless connectivity in corridors and
ante-rooms.
InB: Which territories are showing
particular activity?
SB: In terms of pushing for new
technologies based on IT, we are
seeing this more from emerging
markets where the traditional

FreeSpeak II
provides a simple user interface

intercom workflow has not made its
mark. The desire to mimic VoIP and
chat Smartphone apps, and place
these into professional intercom, is
exciting these emerging markets.
InB: Can you describe some of
your recent deployments?
SB: In broadcast, we had installed
large-scale intercom systems at
BBC Northern Ireland, ITV Regions,
France TV, TeleSUR, SET-TV, and
TV2 Denmark, just to name a few. In
addition, Clear-Com solutions were
also used at a various international
sports events this year, such as the
11th African Games Opening and
Closing Ceremonies, and the first
European Games in Baku.
InB: Thank you for taking time to
answer our questions.

Clear-Com Update Enhances Eclipse HX
And V-Series Panel Features
C

lear-Com recently updated the
Eclipse HX matrix intercom
platform. The Eclipse HX Version
8.5 software delivers a completely
revamped interactive and dynamic
IFB management capability within
Production Maestro, and extends
V-Series panels connectivity options
to their host Eclipse HX system over
MADI.
As part of the Eclipse HX v8.5
configuration
software
updates,
V-Series panels can now be connected
to their host Eclipse HX system over
MADI-based routing. This enables
operators to take advantage of
third-party audio routers and audio
networking devices that support the
routing of MADI audio streams to
AES3 end devices. Using a generic

MADI infrastructure, operators have a
new option for system operator panel
interconnection that can support
both high-quality audio channels and
connections to operator panels.
In
addition,
Clear-Com's
ProGrid low-latency, high-quality
infrastructure can be more tightly
integrated with Eclipse HX, so that
MADI can carry multiple audio
channels and operator panel data via
ProGrid. By combining Eclipse HX,
V-Series panels and ProGrid, users
can connect consoles, routers, and
stage boxes over a resilient ProGrid
backbone, simplifying cabling, while
delivering high-quality end-to-end
digital audio distribution.
The new Eclipse HX IFB management
facility can support installations from

a few IFBs to hundreds of lines from a
single central view, making it suitable
for small studios, large events,Q and
geographically distributed intercom
infrastructures.
All IFB parameters are easy
to
change
dynamically
and
independently from one or more work
surfaces.
The user interface represents a
significant innovation, as it has been
specifically designed to elegantly scale
up to large touchscreen monitor size
and down to ergonomically fit into iOS
tablet devices.
At this level of interaction, IFB users
gain major operational efficiencies
with the convenience of managing
IFBs straight from a portable device,
from anywhere in the studio.

Clear-Com's Eclipse HX
intercom matrices
http://www.inbroadcast.com https://youtu.be/3BkO1ptP0dM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_QPEROIsO4 https://youtu.be/3BkO1ptP0dM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - December 2015
