Why so many speakers!?

We have moved this content to and added more content on our new website:

www.cga-integration.co.uk

“Why do we need so many speakers?”

This is one of the most regular questions we get asked by clients.  The answer is

that the number of speakers we use in a sound system design depends on both

the acoustics and the layout of a venue, and here at CGA we will only recommend

the optimum number required to deliver the best possible audio experience; no

more and no less.

Sound should be like great design and should envelop and surround you from the

moment you enter a room. Visually, great interior design flows through a venue

and demonstrates the careful thought put into creating a flawless experience for

your guests.  Audibly, a well-installed quality sound system will do the same. With

the right number of speakers it will not be too loud or have audio ‘blackspots’, but

the audio will be present equally across all areas and will be a key component of

the overall sensory experience in your venue.

“But why does my venue appear to have more speakers than others?”

Calculating the number of speakers needed by comparing venues of a similar size

will not always work, as acoustics play a key role in determining speaker numbers.

For example, ceiling height has an impact. Counterintuitively, high ceilings often

require fewer speakers than low ceilings, because as a ceiling is lowered, speakers

become closer to a listener’s ears.  So two identically sized rooms with different

ceiling heights will require different numbers of speakers.

“How does that work?”

Each speaker works by emitting waves of sound, these start at the centre of the

speaker cone and radiate outwards towards the floor.  Ideally, to avoid any sound

black-spots, the waves of sound from adjacent speakers should cross just above

a listener’s ear height, but with low ceilings, unless you use a speaker with a much

wider dispersion than normal, the number of speakers you need to achieve this

significantly increases.

“But having lots of speakers makes my ceilings look ugly!”

How many of your guests enter your venue and look up at the ceiling?

Unless you have wonderous artwork or lighting features on the ceiling,

most guests gaze at their eyeline or just above or below this point.

If however, you are concerned about this, CGA can now finish speakers

to any RAL or Pantone colour to ensure that your speaker grills

seamlessly blend into the ceiling whatever its colour.

So the key question to ask is not how can I reduce the number of

ceiling speakers I need, but how many speakers do I need to get the

best possible audio experience for my guests.

CGA Integration … Making hospitality sound great!

Design Led Sound Solutions from CGA Integration

We have moved this content to and added more content on our new website:

www.cga-integration.co.uk

Holistic visual design
Have you ever been frustrated that your interior design is being compromised by the functional requirements of services? Do you have an eyesore of a white grill on a coloured ceiling, black boxes on white walls or maybe too many controls on the walls, with staff unable to get the consistency you planned and designed for?

If this sounds like an experience you are all too familiar with, CGA Integration can help you to address these aesthetic issues, whilst still enabling you to deliver the functional design that your client’s venue demands.

CGA can deliver speakers and grills resprayed to any RAL colour to ensure the integrity demands of your design, even after the services have been installed. With this available from CGA for all services, not just for sound equipment, we can help you to deliver a truly holistic visual design.

In addition, the control systems that CGA deploy not only deliver great sound but can also control; lighting, video, blinds, air conditioning and a whole range of other services. This enables you, the designer, to deliver a control platform for the whole environment, rather than creating a wall full of buttons to control varying parts of it!

So rather than planning how to layout a wall of switches, let us help you to change the conversation to talk about integration in the plant rooms and colours and fonts for the iPad control screens.

Addressing the soundscape
Taking things one step further, designs that encompass all the senses create a truly holistic guest experience. Although the visual design creates a wonderful first impression, hearing is one of our primary fight and flight senses; get the sound wrong in a venue and guests may never be comfortable in the space, no matter how wonderful it looks!

To generate the best sound, you need to ensure that the correct speakers and reproductive equipment are installed for the space. Not every sound system will deliver the right sound. How you hear sound in a space changes considerably with decorative finishes and also once it is occupied. CGA can help by creating the best sound system for your space, choosing and fitting the right equipment to deliver what your client needs it to do, throughout the day, every day.

Designed for the future 
Once you know that your design will both look and sound how you envisaged, how do you ensure that it stays that way, whilst still allowing flexibility and future proofing for your client?

Here at CGA we always plan for the future. With every sound system we create, we ensure spare cable runs to allow for changes to systems without the need for rewiring and we install digital control platforms which allow equipment to be monitored and tested by us remotely, (in real time), to ensure that all hardware is at it’s best at all times. These same digital control systems also allow systems to be reconfigured and reprogrammed easily with no hardware changes to repurpose or refresh a space for added peace of mind.

Why not talk to us about getting the sound system right for the space you are designing for. This might just add that final edge to your design; keeping your client’s guest’s spending and your client coming back to you for more great designs.

CGA Integration … Making hospitality sound great!

Why do I need PPL and PRS and what do they do?

We have moved this content to and added more content on our new website:

www.cga-integration.co.uk

PPL and PRS for Music are the UK's two music licensing societies.

PPL represents performers and record companies. PRS for Music is

a society of songwriters, composers and music publishers. Both

organisations ensure that the creators and performers of music are

paid when their music is used in public.

PPL PRS Ltd is a new joint venture between PPL and PRS for Music.

They have recently joined forces to make it easier for their customers

to obtain a music licence for the playing or performance of music in public.  

The purpose of PPL PRS Ltd is to ensure that writers and performers are

fairly rewarded for their talent, but also to support those who use music

on a daily basis.

What is TheMusicLicence?

TheMusicLicence allows you to legally play and perform music in your

business, whether through the radio, TV, other devices and or through

live performances.

If you play or perform music in your business or organisation in the UK,

you will usually need TheMusicLicence. It will cover you, with one licence

and one invoice, for the use of virtually all commercially released music

available; millions of songs and recordings, including the most popular

and well-loved music not just from the UK but also from around the world.

Can I play Spotify or Apple Music in my Business?

The simple answer is no. In business terms, music streaming services

come in two forms; B2C (Business to Consumer) and B2B (Business to

Business). The core music streaming services offered by companies like

Spotify and Apple Music are B2C built for consumers, not businesses.

This means they are licensed for private, non-commercial use (perfect

to use at home with your friends & family). You need to purchase

TheMusicLicence to play music in public places, including to your

customers and employees.

But I have purchased iTunes Music so surely I can play this?

It is common in our digital age to be confused as to whether we own our

digital content. When you pay to download music or even movies for

that matter, you are essentially purchasing a license; you are leasing the content. Furthermore, you may only play this music in a non-commercial setting. You can listen to the songs yourself as much as you like, but it is illegal to play them in public. iTunes music on your iPod, iPad, iPhone, CDs, MP3s or digital files can not be used for background music in a commercial environment. Playing the downloaded music in your business violates copyright law because the act is now considered a public performance.

Public performances require TheMusicLicence.

What are Professional Creative Music Agencies?

Professional Creative Music Agencies create playlists of tracks to create

unique atmospheres and distinct brand identities for their clients.  All

music chosen by these agencies is covered by TheMusicLicence.

CGA Integration always recommends using this service, as you have

the peace of mind that when you purchase TheMusicLicence, all of your playlist will be covered. You also have the added benefit that the perfect playlist has been created specifically for your business.

Making Sound Improvements; Reviewing your AV for maximum impact

We have moved this content to and added more content on our new website:

www.cga-integration.co.uk

When was the last time you reviewed your AV?  Does it always creep down the agenda as budget gets allocated to other projects?  

Making sure you are getting the most from your AV doesn’t have to mean a full scale refurbishment project.  By appointing a specialist AV consultant to carry out a review, quick fixes can be identified to help you to get the most from the AV you currently have, both for your clients and staff alike.  An AV review will also identify how things can be improved further with more investment over the longer term, to really make a difference to your venue and the customer experience that you offer.

Do I really need to review my AV?

Ask yourself a few simple questions;

• Is your current AV problem free?  
• Do you know what AV systems you currently have?  
• Do you still talk with the contractor who installed your AV system?
• Do your staff have the correct training to get the best from your current AV system?  
• Are you fully embracing new technology in your conference and meeting rooms?  
• Is your AV giving you the edge on your local competition?

If the answer to any of these questions is ‘No’, then you could definitely benefit from an AV review.

For example, if you offer meeting and conference facilities you will realise that modern delegates are very technologically savvy and have a lot of AV requirements.  Are your conference and meeting rooms offering the facilities to enable;

• BYOD capability
• HDMI connectivity
• HD resolution projection
• Interactive presentation facilities
• Collaborative meeting spaces
• Audio for conferencing from both phones and mobile devices
• Projection bright enough to view without dimming the lights, enabling delegates to still view their note pad
• Loud, even and clear sound and vocal reinforcement throughout a room to hide external sound sources and create the emotional impact required by the speaker or presenter?

An AV review can help you to determine how to offer all of these facilities effectively to business guests, helping to ensure that they continue to choose your hospitality venue.

What can I expect from an AV Review?

CGA Integration are specialists in sound.  We can attend your venue, survey, test and quantify the AV systems and review the hardware you currently have. We specialise in AV for restaurants, bars, spas and hotels, where we design, install and maintain AV systems across all hospitality areas from conference and meeting rooms through to lobbies and ballrooms.

As experienced installation and service engineers, CGA Integration will look holistically at your AV systems and review them, not just as a stand alone systems, but also as part of your overall trading system and how it currently sits with market requirements.  We will consider all aspects of AV requirements including those that affect both your staff and your customers relaxation and business needs.

An AV review by CGA Integration will ensure that;

1. Your AV systems are working as you expect
2. You are offered best options and paths for upgrades to maximise your AV effectiveness
3. You are offered the best and increased levels of support

Here at CGA Integration, we have often found that all some AV systems need is a little TLC.  With a few minor changes to facilitate new and additional functionality, existing AV systems can often offer our customers key differentiators to really help them to sell and upsell their hospitality venues.

So why wait?  Please get in touch to release the full potential of your AV systems and make a sound investment for your hospitality venue.
Info@cga-integration.co.uk

The benefits of improving your TV system

We have moved this content to and added more content on our new website:

www.cga-integration.co.uk

Background
With the digital switchover, the way in which we receive and process TV signals has changed. This means that changes have to be made to hotel TV systems in order to continue watching terrestrial television.
Different options are available and which you choose will depend on the needs of your guests and how you want to use technology to position and help deliver your Brand.

So what has changed?
The TV signals now travel through the airways in a digital rather than analogue format which means that they either need to be ‘decoded’ back to analogue information using a ‘digi box’ to view them on existing TVs or new digital TVs need to be purchased which can read digital code.
RF (radio frequency) is the normal way of wiring and distributing TV signals within most buildings; signals travel through the airways and are detected by an aerial and pass via coaxial cable through amplifiers and splitters to your TVs.
With the digital change over, RF distribution can still be used to carry the new digital signals, but as stated above, either free view boxes or decoders are required for each television set, or new digital televisions need to be purchased which can interpret the digital information directly.
The digital signal carries more information than the old analogue system so it passes down the coax in groups or ‘muxes’, typically you would have five to six muxes to receive all the standard UK free view signals, but again no cabling changes are required to enable this to happen.
The other option for delivering TV to guest rooms is via IPTV (internet protocol). Here the signal travels over very cheap CAT5 cable in the style of a computer network. This in turn creates a platform from which you can deliver all previous forms of television and radio through one coherent TV channel list, (analogue, digital, free view, satellite, international, FM DAB & internet), whilst still supporting on demand films to your guests. IP technology can be customised by room and also enables you to market to your guests through the television and can be linked to your hotel’s website, PMS and booking facilities.
Hybrids of IPTV and RF distribution are also available where IPTV can either be delivered over coaxial cable or your guests can use their wi fi to deliver the interactive content and the coaxial cable can be used to deliver basic channels and terrestrial TV.

What about Satellite TV?
Satellite TV and Sky is normally just an input into an RF or IPTV system, it is not a system in its own right unless you budget to wire and place a sky decoder in every guestroom. The use of Sky+ boxes in each guestroom also has to be considered very carefully as Sky+ does not delete content between guest stays so this system can breech copyright laws.

What kind of TV system do I need?
In order to answer this question you will need to understand who your customers are and what they want from your technology offering.
Each hotel has different customers with different requirements and it is very hard to design a TV system until these are quantified and the management have agreed what they want to supply to their customers to satisfy, exceed or change their technology expectations.
The requirements of a venue with predominantly single male business clients will be very different from a family hotel with lots of child guests, which will in turn differ from a gastro hotel where the main attraction is the restaurant and food, where little time is spent in the rooms.
In a recent online survey carried out by CGA Integration, guests said they would expect to have more TV channels on their hotel TV than they have at home and many had in excess of 100 there. Having said this, it is probably better to offer less (say 20) well picked channels targeted at your specific customers, rather than expected them to wade through reams of irrelevant channels to find something suitable to watch.
If you want to offer your customers movies on demand (adult or otherwise), you will probably need CAT5 cabling or wi fi to stream or supply the movies to the guest rooms and provide a mechanism for billing these. This will in turn determine which kind of TV system you will require as either IPTV or a hybrid system will be needed to enable this to happen. However, if your customers do not require this kind of service, you may be able to improve your current TV offering by just to tidying up your TV systems rack or ‘Head End’.

Refurbishment vs. Refit
If you are managing a new build or a complete refurbishment of a venue it is advisable to take this opportunity to run CAT5 and good quality coaxial cable to each TV location. By doing this, all options are open to you and if you wish to change your offering moving forward all the hardware is in place to enable you to do this easily.
If, however you are refitting a trading venue you are more likely to be limited to TV options you can deliver over existing coaxial cable, either with or without the inclusion of wi fi. However it is prudent to include the addition of CAT5 cabling to all TV locations as part of your room refit programme, as this will open up future options for your venue.

What are the benefits of tidying up my Head End?
The ‘Head End’ is the term used to describe your TV system rack where your aerials, sky boxes, amplifiers and controllers all join up and then send signals out to your rooms or to sub distribution points in certain wings, floors or areas of your hotel.
A well designed head end will take in all of the inputs from these different sources and set them up so that you can define what is visible to your customers in their rooms and what will not be available e.g. you may choose to remove adult or shopping channels that might not be appropriate for your customer profile. It should also allow you to group and rename inputs such that similar channels can appear together e.g. all sport channels or all news channels appear in one location.
If the Head End has been set up properly all you will need to do in your guest rooms is put your TV into ‘auto tune’ and the TV will put all the channels exactly where you want them.
You may also want to add your own channels to your TV system; this might be a promotional video of your venue’s facilities or a marketing video to promote a sister hotel. This is very easy to do with IPTV as most will allow you to record or transfer footage onto the hard drives for playback. Even with an RF and Free view system you can still insert channels created on video playback devices or DVD players and fed them into your Head End.

Do I need a special TV?
Generally the answer to this question is no. IPTV generally uses your in room TV as a monitor so no special functionality is required if you decide on this route and equally if you carry out all the channel selection and tuning in the Head End of your RF and free view system, this in turn can be played through your existing guest room TVs as well.
If you are choosing new TVs it is always prudent to choose models with hospitality functionality; a special remote or button press sequence which will allow you to:

1. Lock out the setup menus,
2. Set the maximum volume
3. Preset the ‘turn on ‘ channel

Models that carry this feature do not need to be expensive; most Samsung TVs for example have this
functionality built in, even if you buy them on the high street. You may just need to ask the engineer who sets up your Head End to show you how to operate this function or purchase a remote from them to enable you to carry this out for yourself.

Next Steps
Once you have identified what you want to offer your customers, contact CGA Integration and we can discuss how we can best deliver the options available for your venue and your budget.

Phone: (0845) 058 4650
info@cga-integration.co.uk
www.cga-integration.co.uk

Speaker Location; A Sound Delivery

We have moved this content to and added more content on our new website:

www.cga-integration.co.uk

Speaker Location; A Sound Delivery

Listen … what can you hear?  Very rarely will it be silence; there will always be a ticking clock, the rain pouring down, or the clicking of a computer keyboard.  Sound is everywhere; we are subjected to it continuously from the monument we wake up until the moment we fall asleep.

The effect of sound is often subliminal and as such, getting the audio right for your venue is a key factor in creating the ambience and mood you want to achieve for your guests. Deliver poor quality, inappropriate sound and people will always complain, get it right and it enhances the décor, service and experience of a venue, and customers will rarely remark.

So how do I deliver quality sound?

Delivering quality sound is down to what you play and how you play it.  The most carefully selected play list is useless unless the music is of the right quality, delivered through the correct hardware, which in turn needs to be expertly installed in the right position.

We have spoken about sound quality in other articles; ‘A sound decision’ http://www.cga-integration.co.uk/downloads/product_information/A%20sound%20decision%20music%20vs%20silence.pdf and ‘Using sound to differentiate your spa’  http://www.cga-integration.co.uk/downloads/product_information/Using%20Sound%20to%20Differentiate%20Your%20Spa.pdf so here we turn to sound positioning; where should the speakers go and why does this matter?

Getting the positioning right; the proximity effect

Obviously, the closer you are to a speaker, the louder any transmitted audio becomes.  However, a well designed sound system can help to balance how sound is delivered throughout a room, to minimise or completely avoid any ‘proximity effects’. 

Historically sound was delivered through speakers which were screwed onto the outside of walls in a room.  Not only was this often unsightly, but as sound was ‘squirted’ into the room, it remained loud in the immediate proximity of any speakers and quieter in the centre of the room.  In addition to this, as the sound waves converged in the centre of the room they worked against each other, and as such the quality of the sound here become ‘muddy’; unclear and undefined, creating a less than desirable experience for those in that area.

Ceiling Speakers

At CGA Integration we try, wherever possible, to use ceiling speakers in our designs and installation.  This enables us to create a grid of speakers to offer an even coverage of sound throughout a room.  As customer’s ears are always a constant distance from the ceiling and therefore from the speakers, (no matter how tall they are!), they will receive a consistent sound as they move throughout the room. In addition to this, mounting speakers on the same level within a ceiling gives you the hidden advantage of the speaker cones coupling, which gives greater efficiency and a theoretical large driver area which allows for increased bottom end sound throughout the room.

Speaker design
Although speaker technology as a whole has not evolved greatly in recent years, ceiling speaker design has been refined and it is now possible to generate a good quality, full warm sound from a ceiling speaker, without the need for a separate bass bin.  This will satisfy audio needs in most situations, but there are still areas where separate bass bins are required;

‘Party Level’ Audio

In bars and function rooms which demand ‘party level’ audio, separate bass bins are still required to deliver the sound level needed in these environments.  Bass may be ‘omni- directional, but bass bins need to be positioned to generate an even balance of sound throughout a room; otherwise they will generate the same proximity effect as badly positioned wall mounted speakers.  Ceiling mounted bass bins are now available which enables the bass to dissipate above the guests rather than be focused in one point at floor level, again minimising ‘proximity effects’.

Design led small speakers

Many designers request that we use tiny ceiling speakers which look chic and compact.  If this is the case, a ceiling mounted bass bin will also have to be factored into the audio design to ensure a full and warm sound.

Speakers need to be a certain size or diameter to enable all frequencies of sound to be projected into the room at a balanced usable volume.  If the size of the speakers is greatly reduced, separate bass bins are required to enable lower frequency sound waves to be amplified and transmitted.  Small speakers are great for personal use; one person listening to their headphones hears well balanced audio, but these same speakers can not be used to fill a room with well balanced sound, the result would be a very thin and tinny noise.

‘Invisible’ speakers

Speakers are now available to deliver sound in challenging areas.  CGA has designed and installed sound systems with invisible drive units which deliver quality sound through the following media;

• Plaster in plasterboard ceilings
• Wood panelling in wooden ceilings and walls
• Glass
• Sheet metal.

This enables superior sound to be delivered in areas such as spas, lift cars or highly design lead environments.

Again, due to the specialist nature of these units, separate bass bins will need to be factored into the audio design in these areas to generate a fully balanced audio.

Always start early

If you are refurbishing or building a new area within your venue it is always worth considering your audio needs early on within a project.  By factoring audio requirements in at the design stage, the best possible sound system can be designed for you, which will blend seamlessly with the rest of the décor within a room and create the best possible results for you and your guests.  With so many factors to consider we would be happy to advice you.  For more information or to discuss specific project requirements please contact CGA Integration; Specialist sound, light and video system integrators.

.

Are you a slave to technology or is your AV working for you?

I have recently had the pleasure of meeting many hoteliers and hotel developers at Hotel Summit; a meet the buyer event and I came away with the feeling that your AV is a burden and an expense and that the technology has not been set up to serve you, it is almost as if you are working for the technology.

In the internet/cat5/network age we have the ability to look at all areas of AV either remotely or across the network so that we can monitor it or it can be integrated with our other systems and then report to us when we need to interact or attend to it!

What is happening without network/remote support?
If you don’t have network / remote support you are unaware of the status of your hardware until if fails or worse still until a guest/delegate complains - leading to (avoidable) equipment failures and breakdowns causing disruption to events, your budgets and leaving your guests/delegates with a bad experience of your facility

What could happen if we added network/remote support?
With remote support or basic network settings your system could email you, you technical people or an external AV company to notify them that a unit is faulty, overheating or needs attention - thus ensuring issues are dealt with before the become a crisis.  With a little more investment systems can be centrally controlled and monitored by you, your technicians an external company - or all three. Customers can be supported, systems monitored in real time and usage & faults logged against each piece of hardware to give you useful metrics.

So what are the benefits?

Maximum up time - avoid preventable problems; lamps reaching the end of their life can be changed before they fail and new lamps ordered in good time. Works can be planned when rooms not in use or out of hours.
Minimise Carbon - minimum site visits as engineers can remotely check parts required. You’ll also have the ability to cross reference room usage/equipment status and bookings to turn off remotely/centrally equipment left on in unused rooms
Maximum Reliability - as faults are monitored and logged against hardware poorly performing hardware or software settings can be changed and evolved to get the best reliability and lowest running cost of all hardware
Improved Customer Experience - as all equipment will perform as expected within a brand standard and your guests will receive a better experience and go away happy!

What areas can be controlled this way?
TV systems - IPTV systems can be remotely diagnosed and supported down to each room's set top box - giving fully support.
IPTV video on demand content - this is now normally delivered and updated remotely - thus ensuring regular secure updates to your on site film and media library
Digital signage - each sign can be remotely managed and supported to ensure maximum up time
Background music systems - many basic amplifiers now have the ability to support Network cards to enable remote support or more advanced systems can support and report to sound processors that give AV support companies full visibility of all sound system hardware.
Hard drive music systems - all hard drive music systems can be supported remotely enabling music update and changes to be made at any time and hardware issues diagnosed and resolved
Video projectors - many video projectors are now capable of reporting back to you over a network to flag problems or with some more interactive systems full remote possibility is possible to allow customer support, fault finding and fault logging
Lighting systems - many of the larger lighting systems now have remote support ability to allow for programming tweaks and fault finding

What is possible?
Video projectors that email or report to you when overheating, filters blocked or the lamp is reaching the end of it's life cycle and will be needing replacement shortly
Sound equipment that can be monitored remotely or linked to your BMS so that its functionality can be monitored
Usage statistics on TV systems so you can increase or reduce certain typed of channel or change you charging structure
Engineers and support staff are able to remotely diagnose faults, restart units showing errors and help users on site for minimum down time.
Engineers who are able to diagnose faults remotely are able to order parts and attend site with the correct part first time to resolve problems in one efficient visit - minimum delay, down time and carbon footprint.
Faults can be logged against certain pieces of hardware so that the items that are not reliable or take a lot of support can be identified and either replaced or reconfigured to reduce cost and reduce the maintenance burden

All of these do affect you initial purchase cost – BUT all will help with your running costs and in turn keep your total cost of ownership lower by reducing calls and increasing the life span of products.  So get your AV working for you.

CGA Integration Ltd