Equipment for all needs

By: Duván Chaverra
However, in addition to these "small" details, these types of places must also have the best technical equipment to provide a good service, both to those who are holding a conference or exhibition, and to the audience that is present within the site.

This will be the topic of analysis of our article. We will delve into which are the equipment for conference rooms that best suit this type of facilities, we will learn more about technology and the main developments in equipment such as projection screens, mounts, sound and projectors for this class of exclusive places in hotels.

To do this, we invite some experts in the field who really know what the appropriate type of equipment is and that meets the needs of a meeting room within a hotel.

We have the participation of Elva Cárdenas, from the marketing department of Peerless Mexico; Walter Schoenleber, Sony's marketing representative in Latin America, Ariel Savransky, president of Loch; Sara Schiffler, Chief Marketing Manager; and Erik Wilson, sales manager for Latin America at Williams Sound.

Frames that adapt to technology
The challenge for frame manufacturers seems to be to create products that in addition to adapting to all types of surfaces and designs, must also be made thinking about the type of equipment that will be adjusted within the room.

Most of the frames must be conditioned to the needs of projection screens or flat televisions of the latest technology, so there are different products designed to locate this type of electronic equipment in the best way within a meeting or conference room.

Sara Schiffler, chief marketing manager, said that the products her company produces must adapt to the continuous novelties presented by electronic equipment day by day: "After the deployment of the new ultralight flat panel screens, frame manufacturers were presented with the challenge of designing products that kept these screens practically aligned with the wall. Chief responded to this challenge with the Thinstall Series, offering tilted and fixed models that are installed barely 0.39" and 0.75" from the wall."

Similar was his appreciation when mentioning the frames for the projectors: "It has also been a hot topic in 2009. At InfoComm 2009 (audio and video fair), Chief launched different mount solutions designed for these types of projectors, which can be used to solve the space problems that usually occur in small meeting rooms."

Regarding technological advances, Elva Cárdenas, of Peerless Mexico, said that these go hand in hand with the developments of electronic devices that come to market.
"Technological developments in this segment range from making assemblies less and less visible, to creating them electronically. In both cases, specialized engineering development is needed to give the user the security of the equipment they are testing for installation."

Elva also gave some guidelines on the type of adaptations that should be made when installing a mount in a meeting room for hotels.

"Mainly the selection of the place where the screen will be positioned must be the most appropriate for the visibility of those present since the success of a meeting room depends on this."

Projectors that adapt to the needs
This type of electronic equipment, responsible for projecting images at long or short range, depending on the distance or size, offers different kinds of systems that day by day are developed much more.

Our expert source on the subject, Walter Schoenleber, from Sony, told us about the trends of this market in Latin America and what can be adapted to meeting rooms for hotels: "In Latin America we are observing a growing trend in both high definition resolutions and WXGA (16:9 format) and an additional growth of 7% is estimated for WXGA in the next two years, as we are moving towards a world oriented towards the expansion of screens".

Walter said that today there are projectors that adapt to the needs of the client not only in space but also in price: "In these times of economic tightness, the hotel pro-consumer is not only interested in a solution that reduces their total costs of ownership during the service time of the product. Our installation projectors currently offer cost-of-ownership benefits through different features such as modes and designs for lower energy consumption."

Projection screens, in all sizes
For a projector to work it needs a screen, and regularly a hotel uses a standard model in these. The most used are manual or electronic, which allow to be deployed and collected easily as the case may be.

So that we know more about this topic, Ariel Savransky, from Loch, speaks to us from his experience and tells us what are the types of screens, their main novelties and what is the behavior of this market within the hotel sector.

For example, Ariel commented on the most used screens and their functions: "According to the budget, the most used screens are manual or electric, which allow to be deployed manually or electrically (remote control Wall Switch or automated when the projector is turned on), according to each case of the projection fabric. Only very high-end hotels use fixed-frame displays, i.e. the screen is displayed with a frame over the fixed wall."

On the other hand, the president of Loch, explained some types of screens most used in hotels and the novelties that are being presented in this regard: "The low cost of projectors made all hotels add this type of technology in their party and conference rooms."

Regarding the innovations, the executive said that "the new thing at the moment are the projectors 'short throw technology' that allow to be closer to the screen achieving large projection sizes and avoiding that the person who makes the presentation has to take care not to cover the beam of light. The Nano-Projectors are also the novelty weighing less than 1Kg being fully portable, with battery included and USB to LED or Laser readers".

Audio equipment is being designed to easily ally with other complementary systems, or even portable audio equipment has been designed, which can perhaps be more used by hotels, not only for meeting rooms, but also for different events elsewhere in the lodging sites.

One of the characteristics of this type of systems is that it does not require a highly qualified staff for its installation and execution, since a person with basic knowledge in audio equipment can control it. Perhaps the weak point of this system is that it sacrifices a little sound quality for comfort.

On the other hand, this market in Latin America seems to be growing, as he assured from the movement of his company, Erik Wilson, of Williams Sound, who assured that this region continues to show interest in this class of products.

"Business in Brazil looks strong compared to the rest of the region. Venezuela still faces its own political and economic challenges over importing products. Audio and Video companies in Mexico had projects canceled or delayed after the appearance of the AH1N1 influenza virus, but they are currently on the rise again and are returning to the pending projects. Companies in Argentina have learned how to continue doing business in an economic downturn and are working new projects, Wilson concluded.