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SAIT Paramedicine – CALGARY, ALBERTA
CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
EDUCATION CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
Education Technology
The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) is a post-secondary institution that was first established in Calgary, Alberta in 1916. It is a polytechnic institute that provides three baccalaureate degrees, three applies degrees, 73 diploma and certificate programs, 37 apprenticeships, and over 1,000 continuing education and training courses through eight different schools. SAIT offers students education in a real-world context, helping them transfer smoothly from a school setting into work.
THE CHALLENGE
The existing system was difficult to use, difficult to train new professors to control. It also offered little to no expandability or feature additions. It was based on a security system which had many security focused features that simply added to complexity without creating value.
THE SOLUTION
The system was designed around a philosophy. Easy to use, high power, high expandability, and flexibility. This led us down the path of an enterprise network connected solution based around the NDI and Dante. With Panasonic cameras; QSC sound processor; Shure microphones and speakers; NewTek video distribution; and client managed enterprise Aruba switches we were able to design a system that is 100% network connected and network powered with POE (power over ethernet). All devices can communicate, deliver audio, video, and control over the network. Even the speakers were directly connected to the network switches thanks to Shure’s Dante enabled ceiling speaker. This solution is as expandable as any enterprise network and offers the flexibility of being able to send any signal to any destination.
The user interface is based around Q-SYS UCI (by QSC) and NDI studio monitor (by NewTek). Q-SYS for controlling all audio levels and routed through a fully customized interface gave us the ability to give exactly the controls the user needed without anything extra. Video controlled via NDI studio monitor creates one of the easiest to use simple interfaces to provide both camera selection, viewing, PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom), and camera presets for the users.
With the ability to send any camera; any mic; any speaker to any location it gave us the ability to dynamically change how the rooms can being used. If the size of the labs or observers change so can the way we route the signals. The best part is all of this can be done without any overly complex user controls.
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We worked closely to consult with SAIT ITS and SFM to ensure that the SAIT network was configured in a way that provided both the functionality for us and security for them. Ensuring only the computers/ports that needed access to AV equipment or signals receive it. With all video and audio set up as multicast we needed to ensure IGMP, DHCP, and inter-VLAN routing were all set up in a way to ensure high availability for all users and devices.
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CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
As mentioned above, Matrix is SAIT’s preferred vendor for everything audiovisual related. We have held this role for the past few years, and they are extremely satisfied with the work we have provided.
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