Latin America. Miguel Paucar, is an experienced engineer who works as a Market Development Specialist at Shure, focused on the area of integrated systems. With studies in Audio Engineering and Music Production at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Miguel has a solid career in the audio industry, the result of his time in companies such as Bose, MOTU, IK Multimedia, among others. We spoke with him during the InfoComm Colombia 2019 fair and he shared his ideas about the important role that a microphone represents in the integration of a videoconferencing solution.
Miguel explains that both audio equipment manufacturers and AV integrators face different challenges when presenting a videoconferencing solution to customers. One of them is the greater weight that, due to ignorance, is given to the quality of video systems, over audio systems. Many of the customers are more visual, receive ideas better through their eyes, and that can tilt investments towards cameras, lighting, projectors and screens.
"We must not forget that, in a videoconference, the most important thing is communication between people. If the video fails, we can continue the meeting using only the audio, but if the audio does not work, communication will be practically impossible," says Miguel Paucar. Hence the importance of having a system appropriate to the needs of the user, from the acoustic design of the room, materials, sound reinforcement equipment and the correct microphone that ensures the capture of the voice and intelligibility of the words.
Having under his responsibility the regions of South America, Central America and the Caribbean, the Shure expert has a clear idea of the most common problems that arise in videoconferencing projects. "When you don't take audio into account, you usually invest in cheap microphones of dubious quality," says Miguel. "The main complaints of customers are that their interlocutors do not listen to them well, that there is too much ambient noise and that a lot of reverberation is perceived. In those cases, the use of better acoustic treatment in the room may be recommended, but experience tells us that regularly the problem lies in the poor performance of the microphone."
To prevent the customer from investing twice to get the necessary audio quality, Miguel suggests that manufacturers and integrators take the time to guide and educate their customers on the importance of all the elements of a video conference. To do this, professionals in the AV world must be trained, study and know the multiple product options. "At Shure we have an online education platform, the Shure Audio Institute, available to customers, integrators, commercial teams and installation technicians. And we also do face-to-face training and certifications in the different countries of Latin America," he explains. "For example, while easy to operate, our innovative Microflex Advanced line of microphones demands certain technical know-how for proper installation, so we focus on all integrators receiving the necessary training to achieve the corresponding certification."
In this sense, Miguel highlights the relationship that Shure has with AVIXA, as it allows them to take advantage of activities such as the InfoComm fair to get in touch with other members of the industry and publicize their initiatives. "In addition, we have access to tools such as CTS certification, one of my goals, because I plan to get mine very soon," says Miguel.
When such work of training, user education and product selection is done correctly, the results are always positive. With pleasure, Miguel shares that one of the satisfied users of Shure is none other than the office in Chile of the Delegation of the European Union. Its members use the microphone line both for their local meetings, and for videoconference sessions in which they communicate with the european Union headquarters in other countries. "In a video conference, participants express their ideas, opinions and feelings, so it is very important that their words arrive with the best definition from one point to another," he adds. And certainly, the members of the Delegation understood very well the value of words.
According to Miguel, the markets in which there is a greater demand for collaboration solutions are corporate, government and higher education, with significant growth in online education applications. "My job is to help the customer or integrator find the best product for the required audio application and then provide technical support. That's Shure's approach, developing and offering solutions for specific needs. The company has more than 90 years in the market, which means extensive experience in audio that is put at the service of communication, "explains the interviewee.
To conclude, Miguel Paucar makes a suggestion to his fellow manufacturers in the AV industry. "We must seek that the implementation of a solution is simple, not only for the end user, but also for the integrator. Systems must meet the standards of collaboration environments, they must be stable and reliable, so that the next call of the integrator is to review a new project, and not because, after a few months, their client complains about failures and requires a solution that will not only cost money, but confidence in our work."
We hope that our interviewee will get his CTS certification very soon to join the more than 12 thousand professionals who already hold it. If you are interested in learning more about the CTS program and discovering its benefits, we invite you to visit this link.
