FirstService Residential chooses State of the Art Extron Pro Series Control

FirstService Residential in Irvine, California is an industry-leading HOA and community management company. In 2012, FirstService decided to merge two of its offices and create a new California headquarters that would act as the corporate office for the Western region. Facilities Manager, Karyn Flores is in charge of logistics, relocation, as well as deciding the AV needs for the meeting rooms and the one, large presentation room. The new headquarters gave her an opportunity to start fresh with all new AV, and she was ready for a change. “The old AV was so frustrating to use,” says Flores. “It must have been 20 years old and required constant maintenance. Every day we had to manually power on several individual systems and components and hope that everything worked.”

We are so pleased with how simple this TouchLink touchpanel is to use.

Karyn Flores, Facilities Manager, FirstService Residential

Choosing Extron

Flores spoke to Christina De Bono from ClearTech Media in Pasadena, CA, and chose them as the AV integrator. “FirstService was looking for a reputable AV systems integrator that could provide easy-to-use AV systems that were relatively self-service from an operations standpoint,” says Flores. Once partnered with ClearTech Media, De Bono introduced Flores to Extron equipment. “We knew from the start that Extron would be a perfect fit for this project,” says De Bono. “We had just finished a project at a local university wherein we installed Extron products in 23 classrooms, and were able to give Karyn a tour of the distance learning center there and let her demo some Extron control systems.” Flores was impressed, and the choice to use Extron was set.

Client Needs and Challenges

Flores expressed FirstService’s three main AV needs. “We wanted our new presentation room to have state-of-the art AV, at a reasonable price, and be very easy to use.” De Bono assured her that the days of babysitting their AV and keeping their fingers crossed would soon be over. “I knew Extron TouchLink Pro touchpanels could give Karyn and FirstService the easy control they wanted at the right price,” says De Bono, “The new Pro Series touchpanel and control processor would also provide bullet-proof dependability and allow for easy expansion as their AV needs grow.” In addition to this presentation room, FirstService has two meeting rooms that required MediaLink MLC 104 IP Plus button controllers for single-projector and source selection.

Extron Pro Series Control System

The presentation room is a large space, 26 feet by 62 feet, with configurable seating and table arrangements to accommodate the various activities within the room, such as training sessions, webinars, vendor fairs, and all-company meetings. An Extron TLP Pro 720C Cable Cubby TouchLink Pro Touchpanel is built into the custom lectern at the front of the room. “We are so pleased with how simple this TouchLink touchpanel is to use,” says Flores, “Even guest speakers, who haven’t used a touchpanel before can control the room’s AV without asking us for help.” The touchpanel gives the presenter full control over source selection, microphone and program audio, projection screen, and also includes a teleconference phone dialer with microphone and audio level out control. When not in use, the TLP Pro 720C neatly tucks away into its enclosure. This Pro Series touchpanel works with any Extron Pro Series control processor, and ClearTech chose the IPCP Pro 350 , which is well-suited for this mid-sized application. Aside from being more powerful than its predecessors, the IPCP Pro series features advanced security standards and Gigabit Ethernet. It is also configured with Global Configurator in either the Plus or Professional mode, depending on the size and complexity of the system.

Pro Specs with Extron Audio

In the main equipment rack, two Shure SLX4 wireless microphone receivers work in tandem off of the existing DSP that feeds into the Extron XPA 4002-70V . The convection-cooled XPA 4002-70V is about half the size of comparable amplifiers, weighing in at only 9 lbs (4 kg) and is only 1U high. Its compact design belies its power, as it is capable of delivering two channels of 400 watts rms with only 0.1% THD+N. Six pairs of 70 volt, plenum-rated Extron SI 26CT ceiling speakers provide full-room sound coverage while delivering accurate voice and music reproduction.

IN1608 Switching and Distribution

The main AV equipment rack also houses the Extron IN1608 , a scaling presentation switcher with DTP extension. “We’ve used several Extron presentation switchers for previous integrations and knew the IN1608 would be a great fit for the needs of this room,” says De Bono. “It has everything we need for our signal distribution needs, and, as this system grows, it will be ready to handle additional scaling and extended distance HDMI signal routing via twisted pair.” The IN1608 provides the convenience of supporting local and remote sources and displays, with fast and reliable source switching, and a high performance scaling engine for HDMI and analog sources. Two DTP HDMI 4K 230 transmitters, the IPCP Pro 350 control processor, and the XPA 4002 amplifier round out the Extron equipment in this rack.

Conclusion

FirstService Residential had very clear goals in mind when it came to selecting AV for their new presentation room, and ClearTech found Extron solutions to be a perfect fit. “After several months of using this presentation room, we’re still amazed at the simplicity and powerful features in this AV system.” Flores explains. “Extron equipment here has made a huge difference, and it’s so great to have our AV work reliably every single time we use it. We couldn’t be happier.”