Shy Kadmon, Chief Technical Officer of integrator Barkai, Ramat Gan, Israel.
What we use it for:
AV Signal management, in corporate boardrooms, auditoriums, training facilities ans conference rooms.
What we like about it:
The Crestron Media Manager range of products gives us the option to provide our customers with the most innovative solution that can handle most of the functions in their new or upgraded room. Since the solution is based on one unified platform, from the wall or table panel, through signal management and routing, and up to the control and the user interface we can save a lot of time in the different stages of the project: design, installation, programming, commissioning.
One of the big advantages of the system is using CAT5 cabling for all the different signals (Audio, Video and Control). This is easier to handle, requires a minimum of conduits (can be an issue sometimes with existing boardrooms, especially with the main table cabling) and of course it saves some costs as well.
We have found out that the system can take care of long cable running in large venues, and it is even exceeding the manufacture’s specifications.
In some cases, we take advantage of the RJ45 connectors in the back of the input panels. This has allowed us to have a "multi functional portable" unit, with a quick and easy connection, in places like stage boxes or walls, where there wasn’t a way, or room, to install any full size connection panel or any kind of electronics.
One of the selling tools of this solution is the option to use the Room View software from Crestron, for remote help desk service, and in this case monitoring the entire system, from to the AV signals that go from to input connectors, up to the display unit.
What would we change:
There is really not a lot, but we would like to see more new products in that family, like larger matrix switchers (we do know a 16x16 units will soon be available), more versatile input panels that can be integrated in different table boxes and the ability to have more Media Manager Devices in a chain between the input signal (source unit) to the output signal (display unit).
Where we recently installed it:
Besides a few jobs we have done in the past with this equipment, we have just finished a large project (Beit Avi Chai - Jerusalem), which is a complex of board rooms, classes, and an auditorium. Each one of them has a full, stand-alone Crestron Media Manager system to handle and control all the AV equipment and signals. The system also has the option to distribute signals from any room to any combination of rooms (through a central Quick Media matrix router in the main AV equipment room), and also it allows a central video conference codec to be routed to any of the rooms. One of the main matrix outputs is dedicated to send out audio and video signals to be broadcasted over the internet, the source is easily selected by the main control room touch panel.