At a glance
- Client: San Francisco Firefighters Local 798, the city's firefighters' union
- Location: The Local 798 union hall, 325 Newhall Street, San Francisco, California — Auditorium, Conference Room and event spaces
- Scope: Zoom Rooms video conferencing in the union hall's auditorium and a conference room, a Logitech Tap kit added to an existing video cart, and a portable sound rack with a JBL CSM28 mixer and two Shure QLXD24/SM58 microphones
- Platform: Zoom Rooms on a Crestron UC-C100-Z and Logitech Tap kits, with a Biamp TesiraFORTE DAN VT in the auditorium
The situation
San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 runs its union business out of its hall on Newhall Street. Meetings, elections and member communication all happen there. The same building hosts the union's toy program, so the rooms also serve as event space.
Members already met on Zoom. The union wanted that same experience built into the hall's rooms. It needed an auditorium for full union business and a conference room for smaller meetings. It also needed audio and video it could take to events held outside either room.
We knew the building. The auditorium already ran a Crestron control system with a wall touch panel and a Biamp Nexia PM digital signal processor from an earlier Creation Networks project. That system switched laptops and wall plates and could combine or separate rooms. It had no video conferencing.
This is one of our AV integration projects in San Francisco, delivered through our commercial and enterprise AV practice.
What made it hard
This was not one room. It was two fixed rooms of different sizes and two mobile systems, and each had to work on its own.
The auditorium is the biggest room in the building and doubles as a multipurpose room, with an existing system members already knew. Adding Zoom meant replacing the DSP, adding cameras and reworking the touch panel without throwing out the control system around it.
The equipment rack sits in a closet away from the auditorium. Cameras in the room had to reach a codec in that rack over a cable run longer than USB allows.
The union already owned a video cart with a display. The cart kit had to fit that frame rather than a new one. The sound system had to be set up by staff who are not AV technicians.
How we designed it
Our AV design team kept every space on Zoom Rooms, so members see the same interface in every room they walk into. The Zoom Rooms standard came from what the union already used, not from a new platform to learn.
Auditorium
The auditorium was the centerpiece of the project. It got a Crestron UC-C100-Z, Crestron's Flex integrator kit for Zoom Rooms. It mounts in the equipment rack. Two Logitech Rally cameras give the far end two views. One camera covers the presenter and one covers the audience. See our theater and auditorium AV solutions for rooms of this size.
A Biamp TesiraFORTE DAN VT replaced the Biamp Nexia PM. It has 12 analog inputs and 8 analog outputs, with acoustic echo cancellation on all 12 inputs. Browse our audio DSP range for the processor family.
We kept the existing Crestron touch panel and control system. Our Crestron programming team updated the panel so it carries video conferencing controls alongside the existing source switching.
Conference Room
The Conference Room runs a Logitech Tap kit for Zoom Rooms, TAPZOOMMEDIUM. A 65-inch Samsung QB65R display hangs on a Chief LSA1U fixed wall mount. The speaker and camera sit below the display. The Logitech Tap touch controller mounts on the wall away from the door, on a Logitech 939-001817 wall mount. Our video conferencing systems collection lists the Logitech and Crestron kits we supply.
Video cart and portable sound
We added a smaller Logitech Tap kit, TAPZOOMSMALL, to the union's existing Heckler video cart and display. The soundbar attaches to the top of the cart. A Heckler H709 control shelf below the screen holds the Tap touch controller. A Heckler H702 device panel and a T498 power strip complete the fit-out. We supplied an Ethernet cable for the cart's connection. See our AV carts and cases for the cart hardware.
The portable sound system is a separate rack on casters. A Middle Atlantic PTRK-14 portable rack holds a JBL CSM28 eight-channel mixer, two Shure QLXD24/SM58 handheld wireless systems, a Denon Pro DN-200BR Bluetooth receiver and a 3.5 mm analog input. It drives two QSC CP12 powered loudspeakers on Gator stands. It does not depend on either fixed room, so an event can run while the auditorium is in use. Our live and portable sound collection covers mixers and loudspeakers in this class.
The design went through a revision before the final equipment list was issued.
The same approach of adding Zoom to an existing Crestron system shows up in our Stitch Fix Crestron and Zoom upgrade. For another fire service client, see our work for the El Dorado Fire Department.
Equipment by space
| Space | Display | Platform | Camera | Audio | Control | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auditorium (1) | Existing, not in this scope | Zoom Rooms, Crestron UC-C100-Z | Two Logitech Rally cameras, presenter and audience | Biamp TesiraFORTE DAN VT | Existing Crestron touch panel, reprogrammed | Cameras reach the rack over Crestron USB-EXT-2 extenders |
| Conference Room (1) | Samsung QB65R 65-inch on Chief LSA1U | Zoom Rooms, Logitech TAPZOOMMEDIUM | From the Logitech kit, below the display | Speaker from the Logitech kit, below the display | Logitech Tap on a 939-001817 wall mount | Touch controller mounted away from the door |
| Video cart (1) | Owner-furnished | Zoom Rooms, Logitech TAPZOOMSMALL | From the Logitech kit | Soundbar on top of the cart | Logitech Tap on a Heckler control shelf | Existing Heckler cart |
| Portable sound (1) | — | — | — | JBL CSM28 mixer, two QSC CP12 loudspeakers | Mixer front panel | Two Shure QLXD24/SM58 handhelds, Bluetooth and 3.5 mm inputs |
| Function | Model | Qty |
|---|---|---|
| Auditorium Zoom Rooms system | Crestron UC-C100-Z | 1 |
| Auditorium cameras | Logitech Rally Camera 960-001226 | 2 |
| Camera USB extension | Crestron USB-EXT-2 | 2 |
| Auditorium DSP | Biamp TesiraFORTE DAN VT | 1 |
| Auditorium touch panel and control system | Existing Crestron, reused | — |
| Conference Room display | Samsung QB65R | 1 |
| Display mount | Chief LSA1U | 1 |
| Conference Room Zoom Rooms kit | Logitech TAPZOOMMEDIUM | 1 |
| Tap touch controller wall mount | Logitech 939-001817 | 1 |
| Conference Room surge protection | Tripp Lite TLP606B | 1 |
| Video cart Zoom Rooms kit | Logitech TAPZOOMSMALL | 1 |
| Cart device panel, control shelf, power strip | Heckler H702, H709, T498 | 1 each |
| Video cart and display | Owner-furnished | — |
| Portable rack | Middle Atlantic PTRK-14 | 1 |
| Rack shelf | Middle Atlantic U2V | 1 |
| Rack drawer | Middle Atlantic UD2 | 1 |
| Mixer | JBL CSM28 | 1 |
| Handheld wireless microphones | Shure QLXD24/SM58 | 2 |
| Bluetooth receiver | Denon Pro DN-200BR | 1 |
| Rack power distribution | Panamax D10-PFP | 1 |
| Powered loudspeakers | QSC CP12 | 2 |
| Speaker stands with bag | Gator GFW-SPK-2000SET | 1 pair |
| PoE switch | Cisco SG110D-08HP | 1 |
Network and IT
A Cisco SG110D-08HP eight-port gigabit PoE switch powers and connects the video endpoints. It is an unmanaged switch, so there are no VLANs or port settings for the union's IT contact to maintain.
In the auditorium, two Crestron USB-EXT-2 extenders carry the Rally cameras' USB over Category 6 cable to the UC-C100-Z in the equipment closet. The equipment list called for 800 feet of Category 6 in the auditorium and 200 feet each in the Conference Room and at the cart.
The union's own network rack shares the equipment closet. The AV endpoints run on their own PoE switch.
Frequently Asked Questions — Zoom Rooms AV for a Union Hall Auditorium and Meeting Spaces
Answers to the questions union officers, facilities staff and IT contacts ask most often about putting Zoom Rooms, room cameras and portable sound into a union hall and its auditorium.
Why did the union hall use a Crestron UC-C100-Z for Zoom Rooms in the auditorium?
The auditorium at San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 uses a Crestron UC-C100-Z, the Crestron Flex integrator kit for Zoom Rooms, because it installs in the equipment rack and works with room cameras and a separate DSP instead of an all-in-one video bar.
The auditorium already had a Crestron control system and wall touch panel. The UC-C100-Z kept the new video system in the same family, and the existing panel was reprogrammed to carry the video conferencing controls. The union's members already met on Zoom, so the rooms run the platform they knew.
Why does the auditorium have two Logitech Rally cameras instead of one?
The Local 798 auditorium has two Logitech Rally cameras because the scope called for one camera on the presenter and one on the audience, which gives remote members a view of whoever is speaking at the front and of the room responding to them.
Both cameras connect over USB. The codec sits in an equipment closet, so each camera runs through a Crestron USB-EXT-2 extender over Category 6 cable to reach the UC-C100-Z in the rack.
Does a small conference room need the same video conferencing equipment as a large auditorium?
A small conference room and a large auditorium rarely need the same equipment, and at Local 798 the Conference Room uses a Logitech TAPZOOMMEDIUM kit while the auditorium uses a Crestron UC-C100-Z with two Rally cameras and a Biamp TesiraFORTE DAN VT with 12 inputs.
Both rooms run Zoom Rooms, so members get the same interface. The difference is scale. The auditorium needs more microphone inputs, echo cancellation on every one of them and two camera angles. The smaller room is covered by the camera and speaker in the Logitech kit. See our video conferencing solutions for other room sizes.
Where should the camera and touch panel go in a small Zoom Rooms conference room?
In the Local 798 Conference Room, the camera and speaker sit directly below the 65-inch Samsung QB65R display, and the Logitech Tap touch controller mounts on the wall away from the door, so the camera looks at people from the same place they look at the screen.
The display hangs on a Chief LSA1U fixed wall mount. A Logitech 939-001817 wall mount with cable management holds the Tap controller. The speaker and camera come from the same Logitech Tap kit for Zoom Rooms.
What goes into a portable sound system for a union hall or community event?
The Local 798 portable sound system is a Middle Atlantic PTRK-14 rack holding a JBL CSM28 eight-channel mixer, two Shure QLXD24/SM58 wireless handheld microphones, a Denon Pro DN-200BR Bluetooth receiver and a 3.5 mm input, feeding two QSC CP12 powered loudspeakers on Gator stands.
A utility shelf and a utility drawer in the rack hold the small parts. A power distributor at the bottom of the rack feeds everything from one plug. The rig does not rely on either fixed room, so an event can run while the auditorium is in use.
Can you add Zoom Rooms to a video cart the organization already owns?
Yes, and at Local 798 we added a Logitech TAPZOOMSMALL kit to the union's existing Heckler video cart and display, with a soundbar on top of the cart and a Heckler H709 control shelf below the screen for the Tap touch controller.
A Heckler H702 device panel and a T498 power strip complete the fit-out. We supplied an Ethernet cable for the cart's network connection. The owner-furnished display stayed on the cart.
Can an existing Crestron touch panel be reused when adding Zoom Rooms to an auditorium?
Yes, the Local 798 auditorium kept its existing Crestron touch panel and control system, and we updated the panel programming so it carries Zoom Rooms video conferencing controls next to the source switching and room-combining controls members already used.
Keeping the panel meant members did not have to learn a new control surface in the auditorium. The Crestron UC-C100-Z added the video system in the rack behind it. Our AV services cover this kind of upgrade.
Why replace a working Biamp Nexia PM when adding video conferencing to a room?
The Local 798 auditorium replaced its Biamp Nexia PM with a Biamp TesiraFORTE DAN VT because the new processor has 12 analog inputs and 8 outputs with acoustic echo cancellation on all 12 inputs, which a video call needs so remote members do not hear their own voices returned.
The Nexia PM was a presentation processor with four microphone or line inputs. The DAN VT raises that to 12 inputs and adds echo cancellation to each one. It also sits in the same rack as the new Crestron UC-C100-Z.
How do cameras in an auditorium connect to a Zoom Rooms system in a separate equipment closet?
At Local 798, the two auditorium Rally cameras reach the Crestron UC-C100-Z in the equipment closet through two Crestron USB-EXT-2 extenders, which carry each camera's USB signal over Category 6 cable across a distance that a standard USB cable cannot cover on its own.
The equipment list called for 800 feet of Category 6 cable in the auditorium. The extender pairs let the codec live in the rack with the Biamp DSP instead of on a shelf in the room.
What network switch does a small multi-room Zoom Rooms install need?
The Local 798 union hall uses a Cisco SG110D-08HP, an unmanaged eight-port gigabit PoE switch, to power and connect its video conferencing endpoints, which keeps the Zoom Rooms endpoints and cameras on a switch of their own inside the hall's equipment closet.
An unmanaged switch has no VLANs or port settings to maintain. That keeps upkeep low for a small site. Larger sites usually need a managed AV switch with multicast and VLAN support instead.
Technology partners on this project
Creation Networks, Inc. — nationwide commercial AV integrator, CTS-D certified, based in Concord, CA and Incline Village, NV. Design, engineering, programming, installation, and support from a single point of contact. Call 888-230-3661 or email sales@creationnetworks.net.
Meeting and event spaces
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