The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is the Rocky Mountain region’s leading resource for informal science education. A variety of exhibitions, programs and activities help the Museum’s visitors experience the natural wonders of Colorado, our planet, and the universe. The Museum aspires to create a community of critical thinkers who understand the lessons of the past and act as responsible stewards of the future. Over the course of its 112-year history, the Museum has never had a facility-wide paging system. Currently under construction for their largest expansion to date, it was clear in the early planning stages that each gallery, and the building in general, was in need of a comprehensive technology face-lift.
The Challenge
The biggest challenge to the implementation of the project was the installation itself. With the advanced age of the Museum’s facilities, it was important for them to invest in the network infrastructure necessary to support the digital equipment required to meet their needs, while simultaneously maintaining the integrity of the building. With the addition of over 126,000 square feet and five new levels, the entire museum and each exhibit gallery needed audio/ video technology upgrades in order to continue serving their patrons.
Tim Nicholson is the Technology Manager and Senior Systems Developer at the Denver Museum. His relationship with Biamp Systems began when their Planetarium was being renovated in 2007. At the time, they were using a 16-channel audio system controlled by a unit. The unit was failing frequently and Tim was tasked with finding a replacement. That’s what led him to Biamp Systems and the successful implementation of a frontend AudiaFLEX system in the Planetarium.
Immediately following the Planetarium project, construction on a new permanent exhibition gallery was concluding. This gallery contained an open space impromptu theater that needed acoustic design, as well as gallery-wide audio for music, pre-recorded messages, and general paging. The Museum staff also knew that they would eventually need a museum-wide paging system. While the Planetarium project was originally intended to be a standalone system, Tim and his colleagues realized the potential with Biamp products, and decided to expand by installing AudiaFLEX systems in all of their exhibit halls and live event spaces.
As soon as the Vocia® Networked Public Address and Vocia Evacuation System was available, the Museum decided to take advantage of its decentralized, network architecture for their museum-wide public address system. Instead of using the Vocia system for voice evacuation, it was integrated with the existing Audia® system for live pages and the automatic playback of prerecorded messages for daily announcements and event notifications throughout the day.
It wasn’t possible to achieve all their goals with an Audia system alone, so the Museum installed a Vocia system and simply dropped VO-4 output devices into every location where paging capabilities were needed. Together, the two product families created one integrated system and were able to use the same speakers and CobraNet® LAN, saving the Museum time on the installation and money on the overall equipment costs.
While completing final construction at the time of this publication, the Museum is currently prototyping and exploring a handful of Tesira® products. When the remaining Tesira equipment is purchased, installed and programmed, the final phase of the system will go live in December 2013. Working effortlessly together, the implementation of these three systems is expected to continue to offer more flexibility in how each of the exhibit and event spaces are utilized and controlled.
Integrating Sound Improves Functionality
The greatest strength of the installation is the combination of Audia and Vocia to create an integrated audio solution. The current and future goals of the Museum could not have costeffectively been achieved with a single product, but through the combination of AudiaFLEX and Vocia, they work seamlessly.
After using a system with consistent failings and needs for repair and maintenance, the Museum staff are delighted by how easily they were able to change the scale of their systems, and adjust them to their unique needs. Tim programmed an AMX control device for the system so all of the Museum’s users have some level of control. Whether it is controlling the volume of microphones or adjusting EQ’s for a live event, all the users are relieved at how simple the system is to operate and maintain.
System Specs
Components:
Audia: 14 FLEX, 52 IP-2 and 52 OP-2e cards, 5 EXPI, 3 EXPO, 2 EXPI-D, 1 EXPI/O-2
Vocia: 8 VO-4 Output device, 1 VI-6 Input device, 3 VA-8600 amplifier, 1 VA2060, 1 DS-10 Desk Station microphones, 1 MS-1 Message Server
Tesira: 1 Server, 2 Server-IO, 8 EX-MOD, 12 EX-OUT
The Museum had 12 spaces to upgrade including an IMAX® Theater, large and small exhibition galleries, hallways and administrative offices. The AudiaFLEX system was installed in nine of the spaces where localized audio control and additional processing was needed, such as in the IMAX Theater and Planetarium. In the security office, cafeteria and atrium spaces where audio control and additional processing was not a primary necessity, VO-4 devices were installed. Since the Vocia system communicates remotely over the CobraNet LAN to any space and plays over the local speakers without additional software or hardware, this setup is both convenient for the Museum users and decreases the costs and space requirements for equipment storage.
The use of Tesira products in the Museum will be critical to their ability to support all routing of audio and various media throughout the facility. The Tesira Server-IO allows for up to 48 channels of audio input and output, while the EXMOD and EX-OUT exponentially expands the available channels of audio I/O. This scalability enables the Museum to continue to meet their growing needs, and the needs of their patrons, for AV scalability and flexibility.
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
