Specifying a system always begins with a direct inspection of the site or a review of the floor plans and sections of the spaces. Alongside this analysis, a detailed list of the end user’s requirements is drawn up — for example, whether the audio system will be used solely for speech or also to play background music, or whether the video system will be used for corporate presentations or video projections.
Next we consider the sources, such as microphones, computers or media players, and whether they will be located in a single point or distributed across several locations.
It is also important to understand whether the systems should be divided into several zones, each able to distribute a different programme, and whether these zones will be controlled from a central station or remotely.
The more detailed the information available or obtainable, the more accurate and defined the system design can be: for example, speakers near a microphone can be excluded when it is active, thus avoiding feedback problems, or local volume controllers can be introduced to allow staff to adjust the volume to a suitable listening level.