Crestron Tour at UCF

The Rosen College of Hospitality at the University of Central Florida and Crestron, held an event today to show the Crestron systems in action! I met interesting people and learned some good "nuggets" of information.

1. The lecterns in the new College of Medicine will have.....cup holders. Yes - CUP HOLDERS!!! Is that customer service or what? We were told that the professors requested that feature.
2. No chalk boards are allowed on the 16 campuses of University of Central Florida. Yep - no chalk. The health risks of the chalk is the main reason - chalk is not good for people with asthma. The chalk not only infiltrates the classroom technology but is spread through the air ducts. The answer - whiteboards. But wait, the chemicals used to clean the whiteboards isn't healthy either. When selecting a whiteboard, one must keep in mind the chemical that is required to clean the board. UCF recommended the Egan whiteboard because the cleaner is less chemically demanding.
3. Digital Signage - UCF uses digital signage extensively. Apparently Crestron has a product they are using. I didn't get all the info on this - yet Digital Signage is something I am seeing as a need on our campus.
4. PC's in Lectern stay on 24/7 - Three universities I talked to do this. When the system shuts down or there is no activity for 60 minutes, the pc automatically logs out. UCF, Wharton College of Business were 2 of the 3 that keep pc's on. Something to think about-
5. Wireless Receiver frequencies - UCF keeps a spreadsheet of the different frequencies of the wireless mic receiver. However, the wireless mics are provided to each room and therefore, informing users of the different frequencies isn't an issue for them. UCF's audio engineer was very nice, offered some suggestions on what he would recommend for building deployment.
6. Projector Sync with Lectern - UCF "locks out" the users upon starting and shutting down the system - just like what MSU does. With the extron system, the projector getting out of sync with the lectern was a BIG problem for them.
7. Pinnacle Video Transfer - UCF uses the Pinnacle product to capture audio/video directly to USB. They mount it directly to the lectern desktop with a "casing" around it for security. For $99. Interesting
   

The tour at UCF was very informative and enjoyable. Met very nice people too.

Take a look at some pictures taken at UCF.