Cambridge-based Brähler ICS has provided a new microphone system for the courtrooms of the Patent Office in London, as part of a sound system overhaul. Two main areas had to be addressed: firstly, a modern microphone management system was required to make proceedings run more smoothly; secondly, it was vital that this system was integrated with an element that made it highly versatile. Both these needs were met by the supply and installation of Brähler’s Automic system and their Congress Data System Virtual Audio Network, CDS-VAN for short. The former provides the overall infrastructure. The latter endows it with great flexibility and eliminates much of the peripheral hardware normally associated with such projects. Installation also included replacing the existing PA system.A carefully concealed and fixed cabling network was put into each courtroom for the microphones. And Brähler’s technology meant that cabling was minimal. However, a high degree of portability was conferred by the integrated CDS-VAN system which is software based. Therefore, moving from room to room along with the sound processing is no problem. (Simply loading whatever file is appropriate to a particular courtroom means that rapid set-up and take-down are possible. Very handy, not least because room layouts are frequently changed to suit different requirements.)
