With its new Meyer Sound ConstellationA® acoustic system, the headquarters of Denmark’s Jyske Bank has broken stereotypes in corporate meeting room design. This architectural and sonic showcase has seamlessly integrated Constellation into its everyday use, from board meetings, presentations, and open discussions to videoconferencing, all without the burden of hand-held or tabletop microphones. The system has also opened up abundant possibilities for future entertainment functions for bank staff.
Steen Mertz, director of communications technology at Jyske Bank, partnered with Anders JA¸rgensen, project manager for Copenhagen-based integrator Stouenborg, with the aim to create a welcoming space that encourages free-flowing conversations.
“Our goal was to optimize the space and improve communications within the bank, as well as with international business partners during videoconferences,” says Mertz. “With the adaptability and surprisingly natural acoustical qualities of Constellation, we have achieved this goal to a remarkable degree.”
The Constellation system has four presets customized for the bank’s range of business uses. These settings take advantage of Constellation’s voice lift feature, which generates precisely articulated and directed early reflections to greatly enhance intelligibility.
In Presentation mode, the system picks up the signals nearA theA presenter and reproduces them in theA audience area, while in Debate mode, the gain is raised throughout the room so all may participate in a discussion and be heard easily, with no need for microphones or raised voices. In Conference Table mode, theA system focuses on the sounds from the center of the room, and Small Groups mode uses subtle reverberation effects to provide acoustical isolation between adjacent groups.
For external videoconferencing, Constellation seamlessly picks up all voices, with no need for individual microphones. “We’ve already had compliments from other companies we work with,” reports Mertz. “They say it’s very easy to hear what everyone in the room is saying, and this is mainly due to Constellation.”
Constellation also avoids the communication hazards that individual tabletop microphones present in conference applications. “With tabletop mics, if you look up and down or side to side, the level changes,” says JA¸rgensen. “But with Constellation you can turn in any direction, even stand up and move around, and everyone in the room still hears you clearly.”
In addition, the system includes special presets with long reverberation times of up to four seconds for musical applications. These long settings are appreciated by the bank’s in-house choir, which now uses the space for weekly rehearsals.
“The system sounds completely natural, as if you were changing wall materials, or moving walls closer or further away on demand,” adds JA¸rgensen.
Measuring 23 by 9.5 meters, the Jyske Bank meeting room holds up to 75 people, and can be quickly configured for theatre-style presentations, board meetings around a table, or simultaneous small group sessions.
The Constellation system comprises 36 MM-4XPD and 22 MM-4XP self-powered loudspeakers, two UP-4XP 48 V loudspeakers, four Stella-8C installation loudspeakers, eight MM-10XP 48 V subwoofers, and 25 discreetly mounted miniature condenser microphones. A D-MitriA® digital audio platform running on Constellation’s patented VRASâ„¢ acoustical algorithm is at the core of the system.
Ranked by Bloomberg asA Denmark’sA second largest bank, Jyske Bank has offices or subsidiaries in six other countries. Inside Denmark, Jyske Bank is noted for its emphasis on a customer-friendly experience, including local branches that often look more like neighborhood cafés than financial institutions.
