Ohio University College of Business Uses Acoustic Magic's Array Microphones for Distance Learning and Large Group Teleconferencing

Finding a microphone that can pick up all the talkers in a large group meeting or distance learning class, while suppressing background room noise so the conversation can be heard at the far end, is a challenge. Ohio University has found a solution in the Voice Tracker™ array desktop microphone, and has used it successfully with Adobe Macromedia Breeze™, Skype™, WebEx™ and Windows Media Encoder™ for web casts and conferences.

Sudbury, MA (PRWEB) June 20, 2006 -- Finding a microphone that can pick up all the talkers in a large group meeting or distance learning class, while suppressing background room noise so the conversation can be heard at the far end, is a challenge. Often, individual headset microphones are used, but they are not practical when large numbers are required. Conventional conferencing microphones are also expensive, and have limited range for large audiences.

Ohio University has found a solution in the Voice Tracker™ array desktop microphone, and has used it successfully with Adobe Macromedia Breeze™, Skype™, WebEx™ and Windows Media Encoder™ for web casts and conferences.

David Underwood of the College of Business at Ohio University (Athens, Ohio), reports: “The Voice Tracker is great for 15-20 person seminars and meetings, at ranges up to 20 feet. Although I could put lavaliere mics on the professors, the Voice Tracker gives him or her freedom to not worry about microphone placement and drop out; and the Voice Tracker does a great job picking up the questions from the back of the room. We have been configuring it with an audio mixer in our international and regional graduate programs for Adobe Macromedia Breeze and SKYPE conferences since December. With some bottom EQ added to the output, it makes the Internet sound really good.”

According to Bob Feingold, founder of Acoustic Magic, Inc., the Voice Tracker is the first desktop microphone that is effective in large group conferencing applications because it combines two levels of noise reduction with a wide field of view.

It locates a talker and electronically steers a “listening beam,” like an acoustic searchlight, in that direction. This creates spatial filtering; sounds from other parts of the room are not picked up. In addition, the Voice Tracker removes “stationary” background noise with digital noise reduction algorithms. This two-stage noise reduction, coupled with increased sensitivity since the Voice Tracker’s eight microphone elements are used continuously and constructively, give the Voice Tracker tm outstanding range and sound quality.

The Voice Tracker can be connected to a PC through the sound card, or through a USB port using the optional USB adapter.

About Acoustic Magic, Inc.
Acoustic Magic, Inc., located near Boston, manufactures the Voice TrackerTM desktop microphone that has found application in speech recognition, meeting and transcription recording, VoIP and conventional teleconferencing, distance learning, voice control for home automation, and security surveillance. Dragon, iListen, and ViaVoice (speech recognition), HomeSeer, One Voice and HAL (Home Automation), Adobe Macromedia Breeze (web conferencing) as well as WinScribe and SoniClear (meeting recording) have certified the Voice Tracker array microphone. For additional information, contact Bob Feingold (978 440 9384).

About Ohio University College of Business
The College of Business at Ohio University prepares graduates for business success in Ohio and globally. Ohio University has offered business courses since 1893. Today the College of Business offers 10 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration (MBA), and enrolls about 1,800 undergraduate and 60 full-time resident graduate students annually. It was originally accredited by the Assembly to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in 1950. MBA programs currently exist in India and Brazil and customized Corporate MBAs are offered world-wide.

International programs for undergraduates, such as the Global Competitiveness Program (GCP), develop consulting skills as the students work in teams with business students from a foreign university on projects for real client companies in another country.

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