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 'Is this mic on?'
'Can I turn it
off myself?'
'How do I know
if it's on or off?'
And (at the conference
far end), 'Hear that? Now we've got 'em!'
A
microphone looks the same whether it's on or off, a worrisome thing
to users around a corporate conference table, who need to be absolutely
sure their side comments aren't heard by the other end of an audio-
or videoconference.
And
a user wanting to mute his/her mic for whatever reason--a side consultation,
a celphone call, a sneeze--has until now been out of luck.
Harry
Joseph and Associates ride to the rescue with Hushbutton, a handsome
lighted switch that fits around a table microphone, leaving no doubt
as to the state of the mic (see photos).
Hushbutton
is a translucent plastic assembly containing four microswitches and
a multitude (16 each) of red and green LED's. It can be programmed to
do darn near anything, since it sends a simple contact closure when
clicked, and lights up red, green or orange in response to commands
from a control system, so it can indicate darn near anything, too.
Most
audio-visual system integrators will stick with its primary purpose,
providing user control of each microphone, impossible until now.
A
common arrangement is for Hushbutton to light green when the mic
is live during a conference and red when muted, with 'white' (actually
unlit) the default condition when there is no conference.
Users
can easily understand (for instance) that one click mutes their own
mic and two clicks mute all mics. To escape the muted state, one click
can unmute just that mic and two clicks all the mics.
Or
vice versa, since the actual procedure will depend on how the control
system is programmed, limited only by the imagination and skills of
the system programmer, and the connections to the system--five clicks
can summon sushi, if that's the plan.
Though
each Hushbuttonis made to wrap around a microphone, Hushbutton
itself is not an audio device. Rather, it's a control/display device,
sending contact closures to a control system, and lighting to show a
color as commanded by the control system. It's a lighted switch with
a mission.
Therefore,
Hushbutton will work with any standard cylindrical table microphone
with a body .79" (20mm) in diameter. This includes mics by Audio-Technica,
beyerdynamic, Clock Audio, Crown and others.
WHAT DOES THE USER
SEE?
The
translucent white plastic ring has three or four visual states: off,
red, green and orange (see photos for off, red and green).
Hushbutton's
control output has two states, normally off and momentary on. Pressing
anywhere on the ring produces a satisfying tactile click caused by the
operation of one or more of the four micro-switches; with properly-set gain structure the click is below the system noise-floor so can’t be heard.
INSTALLATION
Hushbutton
requires a 15/16" hole, a bit larger than the 13/16" hole
normally required by table microphones, permitting passage of Hushbutton's
ribbon cable through the tabletop next to the mic.
Under
the table, standard RJ-12 cable (furnished by the integrator) connects
each Hushbutton to its custom interface board, one board per eight
Hushbuttons. Each interface board accepts a plug-in board (also
furnished by the integrator), which varies depending on the control
system in use--for AMX systems the plug-in is an AMX AXP-CPI-16; for
Crestron it's a Crestron CNPI-16B. The system-specific plug-in then
connects and communicates normally with its system controller.
The
Hushbutton interface board mounts to the underside of the table
with a furnished piece of SnapTrack.
WHAT
ABOUT ORANGE?
A surprisingly good orange color can be achieved by lighting red and green LED's at once. And a recent revision of the Hushbutton™ ring itself eliminates the need to derate each interface from eight to four rings.
NOT
FOR AMATEURS
Hushbutton
is far from a stand-alone device. It requires the installation skills
of an AV integrator and the software know-how of a skilled programmer.
Thus it is sold only to integrators, never to end-users. Inquiries
from end-users are referred to the customer's existing vendor or nearby
integrators.
For
more information contact Harry Joseph, 212-244-5900,
harry@hja.com.
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