Why Beamforming Technology with Adaptive Steering?

Why remain seated?

Let’s face it, when it comes to most meetings, conferencing etiquette is not a top priority. No matter how much everyone tries, most attendees can’t sit with perfect posture while speaking up; and some may even be a little shy. While there are many ceiling-style microphone solutions to choose from; they are all very different and far from equal.

Here are a few bullet points to think about when you are about to choose a ceiling microphone solution:

  • Do I need microphone coverage across the entire meeting space?
  • Are there members who speak extremely quietly most times?
  • Is my room multipurpose and will the furniture need to be moved around depending on the meeting style? 

Despite the large variety of ceiling-style microphones available; today's most popular are beamforming arrays such as the ClearOne's Beamforming Mic Arrays. Beamforming technology has been around for quite a long time; however, ClearOne was the first to innovate this technology into a conferencing environment with powerful echo cancellation. 

One of the most important features— still not to be found anywhere else—is the incorporation of adaptive steering (thinks of it as "smart beam selection") into the ClearOne Beamforming Mic solution. This important feature truly makes the array very different from any other offerings. It's very important to note this feature, and how it moves far beyond static beams that are simply focused in any one area. 

 

Beamforming Microphone Array table mountBeamforming Microphone Array table mount coverage.

 

 

Beamforming Microphone Array ceiling mount coverageBeamforming Microphone Array ceiling mount coverage

 

 

Beamforming Microphone Array wall mountBeamforming Microphone Array wall-mount coverage

 

The Beamforming Array's adaptive steering allows the microphone’s beams to adapt to attendees in a meeting in real-time, as they move around the room, without ever being lost. Despite speakers who may be on their feet, moving around as they speak, they are never "out" of the pickup pattern of the microphone. Arrays that do not have this technology certainly work well; but they only pick up the static, given area which has been pre-programmed for coverage. There may be scenarios in which these static coverage areas may be desired; but certainly not ideal for most audio or video conferencing environments. 

It seems that the point of using a Beamforming Mic Array in a conferencing environment is to know your participants' audio will be picked up no matter where they are or how softly they talk. Using a ClearOne Beamforming Mic Array gives you piece of mind knowing that you won’t miss a word during that all important conference call. 

If you are thinking of using a beamforming style microphone array please take a moment and review ClearOne’s innovative offerings and don’t hesitate to ask for a demo!

Related Stories View More

Camera Control for the ClearOne BMA 360 Beamforming Microphone Array Ceiling Tile

ClearOne today announced the availability of a new camera control module for Crestron control systems that is designed to work with ClearOne’s ground-breaking BMA 360 Beamforming Microphone Array Ceiling Tile and ClearOne’s UNITE® 200, or any other Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) camera

Designing Small and Medium Meeting Rooms? Don’t Overlook These 4 Tips.

In today’s fast-paced work environment, the next meeting starts now—in whatever room is available. Scheduling in advance is a nice-to-have. Decisions get made every day in small impromptu meetings, pull asides, or quick scrums. Someone not in the office? No problem. Get them on

Searching for the Perfect Conference Room Mic? Meet ClearOne's BMA CT

Looking for a conference room microphone solution that simplifies system design and installation—while providing precise, all-over audio coverage? Meet the Beamforming Microphone Array Ceiling Tile—or BMA CT. Here are five key facts about ClearOne’s newest beamforming mic