The Federal Road Agency (Rosavtodor) provides public services and manages state property in the field of road transport and road facilities.
The Board’s meeting room was equipped as part of upgrading of the existing video conferencing system in the basic segment of Rosavtodor’s distributed network to provide high-quality video conferencing and enable real-time information exchange between employees of the basic segment of the distributed network of the Federal Highway Agency, subordinate federal state institutions and other government authorities.
For Rosavtodor, Avilex built an audiovisual system for the Board’s meeting room, which includes the following basic technical solutions:
- Large screen display
- Video wall;
- Duplicate motorized monitors on the meeting table;
- Interactive speaker’s stand;
- Discussion microphone system;
- Video conferencing equipment set;
- Video conferencing system;
- Hall sound equipment set;
- Set of equipment for the system of audio and video recording, content storage and records streaming;
- Set of equipment for an operator workstation in the room;
- Set of equipment for the system of central audio and video switching and facility control system.
The large screen display consists of eight Mitsubishi 62WEF projection modules with a 62-inch screen and a LED light source that can operate on a 24х7х365 basis. The physical dimensions of the large screen display are 5.3 x 1.7 meters and its overall resolution is 7,680 x 2,400 pixels. The projection modules used have frontal access for maintenance, thereby reducing the screen space as much as possible and saving space in the room.
A high-performance multi-channel image processor is used to form an image on the video wall, creating a single information space with a resolution equal to the overall resolution of the video wall modules. The video processor can display arbitrary graphic and video content (presentations, video conferencing sessions, photos, video materials, etc.) on the large screen display in the full-screen mode or multi-window mode with the possibility of dynamic change of layouts on the screen.
The room can accommodate 17 people around the meeting table, including the central seat of the chairperson, plus 45 invitees along the walls. All seats around the table are provided with Bosch DCN Next Generation discussion system microphone consoles and Arthur Holm’s DYNAMIC X2 retractable (motorized) monitors with a diagonal of 15.6 inches.
The discussion system is intended to amplify the speaker’s speech, set the time limits for presentations with the chairperson’s priority function (where all microphones are automatically switched off when the chairperson speaks), and automatically point video conferencing cameras at the speaker.
By using motorized monitors, the working space becomes free — when folded, the monitors are fully inserted into the table. At the same time, it is always possible to use (rise) only one, several or all of the monitors as and when necessary.
Three external connection blocks are integrated into the table surface. These are AMX HydraPort connection ports with audio and video interfaces for connecting brought-in devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.). Moreover, the HydraPorts have power outlets and network connection interfaces. A similar unit for external connections is provided on the operator table. Audio and video content from the devices connected to HydraPorts can be either played in the room itself or used as a presentation during video conferences.
In addition, to enable continuous recording of meetings, the table has five Beyerdynamic MPC-series surface layer microphones. A set of equipment comprised of a SonicFoundry Mediasite recording unit and a Denon network audio recorder is used for audio and video recording, content storage and streaming of event records.
A speaker’s stand is installed to the left of the video wall and provided with an interactive Sharp Full HD display with a diagonal of 19.5 inches and a Bosch DCN NG discussion system microphone console. Thanks to the use of the interactive display, the speaker can manage presentations from the stand and make graphic comments on the presentation materials.
In addition, the room was provided with an Avaya video conferencing system. Three PTZ cameras are used that can capture any point within the room: one camera is installed above the video wall and two cameras are installed in niches along the side walls of the room.
Video conferencing sessions can be point-to-point or multi-point with the possibility to display more than 80 images of the active participants on the large screen display of the Board’s room. The Avaya SCOPIA ELITE 6140 multi-point video conferencing server provides up to 40 continuous presence ports supporting full high definition (Full HD) (1080p) inputs and up to 160 continuous presence ports supporting standard definition (SD) (480p) inputs.
The existing Polycom HDX 4002 personal terminals installed at the workstations of the executive officers of Rosavtodor are connected to the video conferencing system. In addition, the video conferencing system includes a server for connecting software clients managed by Windows/Mac OS and mobile clients on iOS/Android devices.
A Peavey MediaMatrix digital audio processing system and MeyerSound active broadband loudspeaker systems built-in into the ceiling of the Board’s meeting room provide high-level support of voice and media content playback (speech intelligibility, uniform sound field, no echo and sound masking).
The operator workstation is installed to the left of the video wall and is separated from the room by a partition with a one side tinted glass so that the operator area cannot be seen from the room.
To prepare the room for operation and to support the Board meetings, the operator workstation is equipped with two 21.5-inch HP control monitors and a 10-inch AMX touch control panel. An intuitive graphical user interface was developed for the control panel to ensure convenient centralized management of the entire functionality of the audiovisual system. Three presentation workstations are available to prepare and present reference and information content. These are installed in a server room and controlled by an Adder KVM switch. Beyerdynamic over-ear studio headphones are available to enable the operator to control audio sources.
The set of equipment for the central audio and video switching system and the facility control system features redundant, scalable architecture, modular design and digital paths for the switching and transmission of audio, video and control signals via fiber-optic lines; therefore, it was possible to install the core switching equipment in a specially designated server room.
The upgrading project has provided the following:
- Point-to-point and multi-point video conferencing sessions with the possibility to display images on the large screen display in the Rosavtodor Board’s room;
- Display of arbitrary graphic and video content (presentations, video conferencing sessions, photos, video materials, etc.) on the large screen display in the single-window or multi-window mode with the possibility of dynamic change of layouts on the screen during meetings;
- The possibility to display presentation materials during meetings and video conferencing to participants around the table;
- An interactive speaker’s stand with the possibility to manage presentations and make graphic comments on the presentation materials;
- Amplification of speakers’ speech, setting the time limits for presentations with the chairperson’s priority function (where all microphones are automatically switched off when the chairperson speaks), and automatic pointing video conferencing cameras at the speaker;
- A high-level support of voice and media content playback (speech intelligibility, uniform sound field, no echo and sound masking);
- A single operator workstation with the possibility to control the functionality of the audiovisual system in a centralized manner;
- Integration of an audio, video and graphics recording module with the possibility to store and view content using a standard web-browser.