Technology Tested and Updated in Classrooms

Thank you to our full-time and student staff for getting AV systems ready for the fall semester!

Much of our campus community slows down a bit over the summer session while students are working, interning, or at home with family and friends. For the Audio-Visual (AV) teams, the summer is the busiest time of the year because classrooms are available for upgrades!

In preparation for the fall semester, the Operations and Design & Engineering teams completed several major projects, including comprehensive classroom evaluations, new system installations and programming, and upgrades to existing technology. 

Comprehensive System Evaluation 

The AV Operations team meticulously checked 203 technology-enabled classrooms throughout the summer session. Once rooms were checked, the team repaired or replaced any aging or broken equipment, completed firmware updates, and did a final operational check before the fall semester began. This involved assessing various components of each AV system across:

·        91 Registrar Scheduled Classrooms and Lecture Halls

·        36 Departmental Classrooms

·        76 Webex Conference Rooms

This proactive initiative aims to enhance the experience for students, faculty, and staff as they return to campus. Key systems that underwent scrutiny included the review of Fall 23 - Spring 24 Request Tracker (RT) tickets for potential issues, full operational tests of AV systems, testing of lecture capture and HyFlex systems, firmware updates, and the repair or replacement of non-functional items. 

Additionally, remote AV system monitoring has been implemented in 142 locations, encompassing a total of 967 devices. This capability enables staff to identify offline systems swiftly and investigate proactively ahead of reported issues.

Wifi-based Assistive Listening in Lecture Halls

This summer also saw the introduction of Wifi-based Assistive Listening in all lecture halls, allowing users to receive room audio directly on their personal devices via the Listen Everywhere application. Radio-frequency (RF) receivers have been available for some time in large classrooms and lecture halls, but the new advantages do not require users to retrieve and return earbuds and receivers for every lecture hall they visit.

Design & Engineering 

The AV Design & Engineering team works through the fall and spring semesters completing new system designs for Registrar classrooms, departmental classrooms and lab spaces, and conference rooms. The majority of these new systems are installed, configured, and programmed by full-time staff and the student installation team through the summer semester. 

New Systems Installed in Summer 2024 include:

• Full Classroom Technology Upgrades in 4 Registrar locations, including:

• Lecture Hall 1, PUP206, PAHB132, PAHB234

• Army ROTC House

• Smokeless Range, video conferencing systems, and wireless collaboration systems

• 4 Visual Arts Classrooms

• 3 Biology laboratory spaces

• Physics Astronomy laboratory space

• CAHSS classroom space in Fine Arts

• UMBC Training Center for CNMS 

• Admissions classroom/conference room 

• Parking Services Conference Room & Digital Signage for new location in 900 Walker

• Webex Room Kit Systems for Geography & Environmental Systems and CAHSS

• Digital Signage for the AOK Library and Computer Science & Electrical Engineering (CSEE)