Big Picture A/V
Facility-wide systems need to be part of the master plan
As published in Worship Facilities, Nov/Dec 2006
As audiovisual systems — and the companies that install them — are increasingly linked to networking and IT, what was once a small player in an overall construction or renovation project has become more significant. These days, churches must not only consider the needs of the sanctuary, but the requirements for the fellowship hall, classrooms, performance spaces and ancillary multi-purpose rooms as well.
John Fuqua, director of engineering at All Pro Sound in Pensacola, Florida, notes that today, all systems should be integrated with one another. To do this properly, churches must draw up a large-scale master plan. "If they are in a 500-seat sanctuary, the next phase of their construction project may involve a family life center, and then the next phase might be a 2,000-seat sanctuary," he describes. The infrastructure — such as conduit, power and grounding — should be put into place during the master planning stage so that the installation of equipment is cheaper and more seamless as the project progresses. "This facilitates the ability to get these signals throughout a facility very easily."
Donnie Haulk, president of Audio Ethics, Inc. headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, advises churches to adopt an architectural philosophy when planning a construction project. "The mentality that architects have been using for years works best: you need a master plan," he declares. "You need to set up five and ten-year goals and look at the overall big picture before you look at each individual factor. You need to examine the campus wide implementation of the technology before you look at just a single room." In doing this, rooms are integrated more seamlessly and campus-wide growth is more easily achieved.
Fuqua emphasizes the importance of consistency throughout the building, which minimizes issues associated with operator training. "The systems need to be designed in such a fashion that there are a lot of similarities in their operation," he says. "There are going to be different feature levels and different types of equipment in each area, but as long as the operation of them is relatively similar, it makes the technical staff's job a lot easier." If the youth room is configured differently than the children's space, using the systems becomes more difficult.
Above all, the technology should be user friendly. Fuqua cites on-campus classrooms as an example: "It follows the same concept that we get into with many technical systems for classrooms: if the lecturer can't get the system operational within a minute or two, they won't use it, because it becomes a distraction," he illustrates. "Adult education rooms in churches need to be functional, user-friendly and easy to set up."
Haulk maintains that automating systems with a number of pre-sets is the best way to install technology that is often used by people who have little experience in its operation. "Automation plays a big part when you are dealing with people who are not technicians," he says. "You need to label things clearly and give them the push-button options of a selectable pre-set, so that they can have their microphone on and the volume level is already set."
In devising a solid master plan, Haulk emphasizes, automated, networked systems can be installed properly. "With automation, the simplicity of the control is primary," he explains. "Even if it costs a little bit more to have the automation, the rooms are more useable and people will use the technology because it's not intimidating. They can walk up to a panel and turn on the system."
The selection of specific pieces of equipment should be entirely based on the application for which it is going to be used, Fuqua says. "We choose gear strictly based on the application. I may use a particular mixer in one church that I may not use in another because of the feature level," he explains. "That is why design and working with the facility, the general contractor and the electrician is what's involved in making sure that the whole plan will work."
Those who are slated to operate the equipment should be involved early on, so they can voice their needs and concerns before big purchases are made. "The worst thing is to get something that has been designed a year ago, where those that were actually going to use the systems didn't participate in the early stages of the project," Fuqua warns. "Problems develop when those that were going to use the systems were not, in some fashion, brought into the picture. The system may be great, but it might be too complex or not versatile enough for the operation." In most construction projects — whether a facility is being retrofitted or built from the ground-up — old equipment can be repurposed for a new application. "In many cases, if a church is moving, the building that they are moving out of might become something else," Fuqua explains. For example, the old sanctuary might become the youth room. "New systems may be installed, but the equipment that was there before might go into another part of the facility. Very rarely does old equipment get thrown away. We always look at the entire facility to see how the existing equipment can be re-purposed."
Fuqua estimates that approximately 75 percent of the church projects he is involved in implement some type of digital signage system. In the old days, these systems were comprised of televisions that displayed information on church events, announcements, and various other tidbits of information that contributed to the daily operation of the facility. Today, televisions have been replaced with sleeker fl at-screen plasmas, and updating the information that is displayed can be done from a desktop computer back in the office. When planning for digital signage, churches must decide what information they want up on the screens. In some facilities, these systems are equipped with a switcher that enables overflow spaces to receive a live feed from the sanctuary during services.
"Sometimes closed-loop systems are difficult to change out and maintain, because you have to walk around with a laptop to change your signage," Haulk cautions. "If you can have it network controlled so that someone in the office can change the information that is being displayed on the digital signage, that makes things easier."
Michael Pincus, senior consultant at Acentech Incorporated, suggests that churches pay attention to infrastructure at the outset — even if they don't have the funding to install the equipment it will serve. "My opinion is that churches should at least be installing infrastructure to support future equipment when they do get the money to install it. Power, conduit and electrical boxes support the installation of a video projector and cables later on down the road," he says. When it's time to purchase the actual equipment, Pincus advises churches to buy as high up the ladder as possible to minimize immediate obsolescence. "You need to install the best that you can afford now, and, with any luck, it will support what you want to do for a few years before it is considered outdated. If you go for a low end or middle-of-the-road system as far as equipment, it could become outdated very quickly," he warns. If you purchase equipment that is as state-of-the-art as you can afford, it's likely to last a little longer.
As churches grow into something more contemporary worship spaces, the need for master planning and facility-wide deployment of integrated systems is more prevalent. "There are educational, recreational and social events that are now based around the church," Fuqua observes. "It is much more of a gathering space that people are creating. This infrastructure in providing A/V that is integrated throughout the facility is another aspect of adding to that ‘gathering space' capability."
Q U I C K - L I N K S
Acentech Incorporated
(617) 499-8000
www.acentech.com
All Pro Sound
(850) 432-5780
www.allprosound.com
Audio Ethics, Inc.
(704) 394-7888
www.audioethics.com
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