Closer Community Contact - ADECIA Brings Us Government Agencies And Communities Together

By broadcasting federal, state and local meetings, Nevada-based SoSu.TV helps to bring US government and communities closer together. To facilitate this, the company is using Yamaha ADECIA intelligent collaboration and conferencing solutions, which offer many advantages for officials and citizens alike.

Based in Reno, SoSu.TV specializes in streaming and broadcasting public meetings for government agencies, covering everything from hyper-local to state and federal issues. This is a vital service for transparency and good communication between officials and the public, making SoSu.TV a vital link in improving community engagement.

Previously, the business primarily focused on its streaming and broadcasting services, leaving AV systems to third parties. But with the Covid-19 pandemic restricting in-person attendance, the sudden shift to virtual meetings meant SoSu.TV had to get more involved in AV integration.

This brought several challenges in supporting clients who had little AV knowledge and were often manually patching together and configuring equipment by various different manufacturers. Poor audio quality in virtual meetings, such as open microphones and background noise, could and often would disrupt the essential communication between officials and the public.

As SoSu.TV expanded its services to more rural, smaller government agencies, the need for a scalable, user-friendly AV system became obvious.

Many of these agencies lacked dedicated AV teams, so an audio solution was needed which was easy to install, configure and able to be managed remotely. This would allow SoSu.TV to support local government agencies from its offices, without having to send technicians on site to set up a system for every new meeting.

Yamaha ADECIA delivers fully-integrated solutions which solve the issues of both audio quality and ease of installation. SoSu.TV chose ADECIA Wireless solutions which include RM-WGL,12" wireless gooseneck microphones.

These are ideal for government meeting rooms, where clear, real-time audio is essential, while the wireless setup allows clerks to easily position the microphones before each meeting.

Because ADECIA systems are easy to install, SoSu.TV can ship them to agencies where IT staff can manage and set up the installation with minimal support. The RM-CR processor is the brain of the system, integrating audio processing and control. This is connected to the system's VLX series slimline array speakers via a single POE Cat5 cable, simplifying installation for users who may not have any AV expertise.

SoSu.TV also developed an easy-to-use, custom iPad touch panel, using Yamaha's ProVisionaire software, which allows staff to easily and intuitively manage key functions, such as adjusting the levels of microphones, speakers and muting them after a certain time limit. Custom legends were created in the software, so users would know exactly where to place each microphone for optimum use.

Further significant advantages of the Yamaha ADECIA system are its scalability and remote management capabilities.

Once installed, SoSu.TV can manage the system, troubleshoot, provide configuration and updates remotely, without needing to send personnel to site. This reduces service requests and frees up time, allowing the SoSu.TV team to focus on other tasks.

For government agencies, the remote management capabilities make ADECIA very cost-effective, reducing the need for internal AV staff and allowing them to focus on their primary responsibilities, such as information sharing and improving engagement.

ADECIA has also allowed SoSu.TV to reduce the equipment footprint, moving from large tworack systems to compact half-rack configurations, which saves energy and cost. By reducing the amount of hardware, scaling down site visits and offering an easy-to-use, remotely managed system, the company can deliver more services without a proportional increase in resources. These cost savings are passed on to the client, making it an attractive option for smaller government agencies which may not have large AV budgets.

Meanwhile, for meetings which offer public participation, SoSu.TV's nindeo platform integrates easily with ADECIAsupported web conferencing solutions like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. These allow seamless engagement between citizens and officials.

Yamaha's advanced audio technology is helping SoSu.TV to successfully enhance the broadcast quality, with clients reporting increased satisfaction and citizens appreciating the improved audio clarity. The partnership not only improves the technical aspects of the broadcasts, it strengthens the trust and engagement between government agencies and their communities.

"The meetings we service are treated with a level of care and commitment similar to the Super Bowl - they are equally as important to the government as they are to the citizens," notes SoSu.TV co-founder Mark Hatjakes.

"Working with Yamaha is unique because, despite being a massive company with vastresources, it operates like a boutique start-up. Yamaha actively listens to end users, even touring our facilities to see installations first hand.

"The openness and responsiveness to feedback means you get the best of both worlds; the support and resources of a large company combined with the personalized attention of a smaller one."