30 01732 759725 AV Hybrid meetings on tap Mid Ulster District Council has updated its chamber and five meeting spaces with a fully integrated Kramer control and AVoIP ecosystem offering professional-quality streaming, recording and secure remote participation for enhanced transparency and accountability Mid Ulster District Council in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland has modernised its council chamber and five associated meeting rooms with a fully integrated Kramer AV ecosystem controlled and managed via Kramer’s centralised, cloudbased Panta Rhei platform. The council’s previous chamber conference system had become outdated and unreliable. It was prone to failure during critical meetings, lacked the ability to support hybrid or remote participation and had to be manually reconfigured for different meeting types, significantly increasing staff workload. In line with the Northern Ireland government’s aim to encourage digital accessibility and improve remote capabilities across the public sector, Mid Ulster District Council commissioned system integrator Rea Sound to modernise its meeting infrastructure with professionalquality streaming, recording and secure remote participation, while preserving the integrity of in-chamber proceedings and the architectural heritage of the building – all within a strict 90-day timeline. Delivering convenient flexibility The Council’s core requirements were the ability to support traditional, hybrid and fully remote meetings with a single-touch setup process that eliminates manual system configuration and to give councillors attending remotely the same speaking and voting rights as those present in the chamber. The core of the installation is a Kramer control system with a customprogrammed Kramer KT-2010 touch panel. This acts as the operational command centre for the entire AV environment, unifying multiple technologies into a single intuitive interface, including a Bosch wireless conference system, Allen & Heath digital matrix audio, Panasonic and Samsung displays, LED lighting and Kramer’s AVoIP distribution platform. “The most exciting aspect of this project is the innovative way in which all AV equipment has been brought together under one intelligent, centralised control system,” said Roger McMullan, Director of Rea Sound. “And at the heart of this integration is the Kramer control system.” Staff can now select the desired meeting format (traditional, hybrid or fully online) with a single touch of the control panel, prompting the system to automatically configure the required technologies, activate cameras, route audio, adjust display settings and control lighting without the need for technical support. Video distribution is handled by Kramer AVoIP encoders and decoders, including the KDS-17 and KDS-100, which provide flexible, networkbased signal routing. The IP-based architecture ensures high-quality video delivery to displays within the chamber while simultaneously supporting streaming and recording for remote participants. Enterprise-level management Working alongside the control system, Kramer’s Panta Rhei platform enables unified meeting initiation, content management, third-party application launching, wireless presentation, secure access to collaboration tools and conferencing environments, and advanced infrastructure oversight and remote system management. The ability of IT teams to monitor device status, system health and performance in real-time through a centralised interface enables potential issues to be identified and resolved before they affect meetings. In addition to the main chamber, five additional meeting rooms were upgraded with hybrid meeting capabilities and integrated into the same Panta Rhei ecosystem, giving users a consistent user interface across all spaces and simpler training requirements. A change for the better The modernised AV infrastructure has transformed how Mid Ulster District Council manages meetings and public engagement. Automated setup through Kramer control has virtually eliminated preparation time and the need for technical expertise during meeting configuration. Processes that previously required extensive manual intervention can now be completed instantly through a single touch, allowing staff to focus on higher-value operational tasks. Remote diagnostics via Panta Rhei allows IT teams to maintain system reliability across all six meeting spaces while identifying potential issues proactively. To add to the cost-saving in man hours, automated shutdown functions reduce energy consumption. Importantly, the system preserves the full integrity of democratic processes. Councillors joining meetings remotely retain complete participation rights, including managed speaking requests and secure voting capabilities, ensuring governance procedures remain consistent regardless of how participants attend. The installation has also improved transparency and accountability as citizens can now follow meetings via live streaming or access recorded sessions on-demand. kramerav.com
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