At a glance
- Client: Dykema, a national law firm with offices in seven states and Washington, D.C.
- Location: Dallas, Texas; Lansing, Michigan; Los Angeles, California
- Scope: Five projects across three offices: two Dallas conference rooms, a nine-space Dallas refresh, a Lansing boardroom built on a Biamp MRB-L-X400-C and two Logitech Rally Cameras, and a Logitech Rally Bar Mini cart for Los Angeles
- Platform: Microsoft Teams Rooms on a Lenovo ThinkSmart Core with Logitech Tap control and Biamp TesiraFORTE X 400 audio
The situation
Dykema is a national law firm with offices across Michigan, Illinois, Texas, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C. Our work with the firm started in its Dallas office with two conference rooms, Courington and Longhorn.
Courington got a Logitech Rally Bar on a Logitech RoomMate, with a Logitech Tap controller and a Logitech Swytch laptop connector. Longhorn got a Logitech Rally Plus camera and a Biamp MRB-M-X400-C ceiling microphone bundle on the same RoomMate and Tap pairing.
The firm then asked us to refresh nine spaces across two floors of the same office. That work set a Microsoft Teams Rooms standard for the firm's conference rooms. The firm asked for the same kit in its Lansing, Michigan boardroom. Its Los Angeles office asked for a video meeting cart instead of a room build.
This is how one office's standard reached three, as part of our corporate and enterprise AV work.
What made it hard
Each office ran as its own project, with its own pick list and its own approval. Nothing guaranteed that the next office would buy the same parts.
Lansing is in another state from Dallas. A local install partner did the on-site work there, so the pick list had to be complete enough for a crew that had never seen the Dallas rooms.
The two original Dallas rooms ran a Logitech RoomMate appliance. The refresh standard runs a Lenovo ThinkSmart Core PC. The earlier rooms had to stay in service through the refresh.
Los Angeles had no wall, ceiling or rack work in its scope. Everything the office needed had to fit on a cart.
How did we build a room standard that could move between offices?
The Dallas refresh set the kit for the firm's standard conference rooms. Rooms 4141 and 4167 each run a Biamp MRB-L-X400-C, one of Biamp's certified room bundles. The bundle holds a TesiraFORTE X 400 DSP, a Parlé TCM-XA and a Parlé TCM-XEX beamtracking ceiling microphone, and four Desono C-IC6 ceiling speakers.
Each of those rooms also has a Logitech Rally Camera, a Logitech Tap and a Lenovo ThinkSmart Core from the Lenovo Teams Rooms compute range running Teams Rooms. Two Sony FW-65BZ40H 65-inch displays hang on Chief TS325TU swing arms. A ScreenBeam 1100 Plus handles wireless sharing.
Lansing's boardroom takes that kit line for line. It adds three things: a 98-inch NEC C981Q front display on a Chief XTM1U tilt mount with an FCAV1U pull-out, a second Rally Camera with a second Tap, and a Middle Atlantic CAB-COOL-2 cooler for the equipment. The NEC C981Q is the same display we specified for Boardroom A (4203) in Dallas.
Lansing did not take the Crestron Flex UC-CX100-T kit that runs Dallas Boardroom A. It kept the Logitech and Lenovo kit of the standard conference rooms. The result is a boardroom AV build on the same parts list as the smaller rooms. For our AV design and engineering team, the Lansing work was a list of additions rather than a new design.
Los Angeles got a cart instead of a room. A Logitech Rally Bar Mini in Graphite carries the camera, microphones and speakers in one bar. A Logitech Tap handles control. The pick list covers a Heckler H711 cart mount for the bar and a Heckler H709 control shelf for the Tap, both Heckler cart accessories made for the Heckler AV Cart.
Equipment by room type
| Room type | Count | Display | Codec / platform | Camera | Audio | Control | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Courington room | 1 | Existing | Logitech RoomMate 950-000081 | Logitech Rally Bar 960-001308 | Built into Rally Bar | Logitech Tap 939-001950 | Logitech Swytch laptop connector |
| Dallas Longhorn room | 1 | Existing | Logitech RoomMate 950-000081 | Logitech Rally Plus 960-001225 | Biamp MRB-M-X400-C | Logitech Tap 939-001950 | Logitech Swytch laptop connector |
| Dallas standard conference rooms (4141, 4167) | 2 | 2 × Sony FW-65BZ40H | Lenovo ThinkSmart Core, Teams Rooms | Logitech Rally Camera | Biamp MRB-L-X400-C | Logitech Tap | ScreenBeam 1100 Plus wireless sharing |
| Lansing boardroom | 1 | NEC C981Q 98-inch and 2 × Sony FW-65BZ40H | Lenovo ThinkSmart Core, Teams Rooms | 2 × Logitech Rally Camera | Biamp MRB-L-X400-C | 2 × Logitech Tap | ScreenBeam 1100 Plus, Middle Atlantic CAB-COOL-2 |
| Los Angeles video cart | 1 | Not in our scope | Logitech Rally Bar Mini | Built into Rally Bar Mini | Built into Rally Bar Mini | Logitech Tap | Heckler H711 cart mount, H709 control shelf |
Parts list for the Lansing boardroom and the Los Angeles cart
| Function | Model | Lansing | Los Angeles |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSP, ceiling microphones and ceiling speakers | Biamp MRB-L-X400-C | 1 | — |
| Teams Rooms compute | Lenovo ThinkSmart Core 11RXS00000 | 1 | — |
| PTZ camera | Logitech Rally Camera 960-001226 | 2 | — |
| Touch controller | Logitech Tap 939-001950 | 2 | 1 |
| All-in-one video bar | Logitech Rally Bar Mini 960-001336 (Graphite) | — | 1 |
| Cart mount for the video bar | Heckler H711 | — | 1 |
| Cart control shelf | Heckler H709 | — | 1 |
| Front display, 98-inch | NEC C981Q | 1 | — |
| Side displays, 65-inch | Sony FW-65BZ40H | 2 | — |
| Front display mount and pull-out | Chief XTM1U with Chief FCAV1U | 1 each | — |
| Side display swing arms | Chief TS325TU | 2 | — |
| HDMI over CATx extension | Crestron HD-TX-101-C-E and HD-RX-101-C-E | 2 each | — |
| Wireless presentation receiver | ScreenBeam SBWD1100P | 1 | — |
| USB switch between Teams Rooms and ScreenBeam | ScreenBeam SBUSBSW4 | 1 | — |
| Equipment cooling | Middle Atlantic CAB-COOL-2 | 1 | — |
| Surge protection | Tripp Lite TLP606B | 1 | — |
| Cabling | Liberty Cat 6 plenum, Liberty HDPMM06F HDMI, Liberty and C2G USB 3.0 | As required | — |
Network and IT
The Dallas standard conference rooms and the Lansing boardroom use the same signal path. The Lenovo ThinkSmart Core runs Teams Rooms. It sends video to the displays through Crestron DM Lite HD-TX-101-C-E transmitters and HD-RX-101-C-E receivers over CATx cable.
The Biamp bundle ships with its own plenum Cat 5e cables to link the Parlé microphones to the TesiraFORTE X 400. Lansing's pick list adds 200 feet of Liberty Cat 6 plenum cable for the room runs.
The ScreenBeam SBUSBSW4 switches the room's USB connection between the Teams Rooms PC and the ScreenBeam 1100 Plus. The firm's IT team sees the same device list in both offices.
The Los Angeles cart has no cabling work on its pick list. It carries its own camera, microphones and speakers in the Rally Bar Mini.
The rollout
Each office ran as its own project with its own number: 3844 for Courington, 3845 for Longhorn, 4311 for the Dallas refresh, 4100 for Lansing and 4302 for the Los Angeles cart. Each was scoped and approved on its own.
The Dallas refresh kept the earlier rooms' kit in use. Its pick list shows the same Rally Plus, Biamp MRB-M-X400-C and Rally Bar models used in Courington and Longhorn as owner-furnished equipment in rooms 4204 and 4205, marked not billed. Room 4204 gained two new Sony FW-65BZ40H displays on Chief TS325TU swing arms around that kit.
In Lansing, a local install partner did the on-site work from our pick list, as part of our AV installation and project services. The Los Angeles order was four line items with no room construction.
Frequently Asked Questions — Repeating a Teams Rooms Standard Across Law Firm Offices
Answers to the questions IT directors and office managers ask most often about carrying one conference room standard to several offices.
Can a Teams Rooms design from one office be repeated at another office of the same firm?
Dykema’s Lansing boardroom repeats the Dallas conference room kit line for line, with a Biamp MRB-L-X400-C bundle, a Logitech Rally Camera, a Logitech Tap and a Lenovo ThinkSmart Core running Microsoft Teams Rooms, and adds only a 98-inch NEC C981Q display, a second camera and a cabinet cooler.
Starting from a finished pick list meant the Lansing work was a short list of additions, not a new design. The firm’s IT team also supports one device list across both offices.
What is inside the Biamp MRB-L-X400-C bundle used in these rooms?
The Biamp MRB-L-X400-C used in Dykema’s Dallas and Lansing rooms is a certified large-room bundle that combines a TesiraFORTE X 400 DSP, a Parlé TCM-XA and a Parlé TCM-XEX beamtracking ceiling microphone, four Desono C-IC6 ceiling speakers, a BPAK and the plenum Cat 5e cables that connect them.
One part number covers the room’s microphones, speakers and processing. That makes the audio side of the standard simple to order again for the next office.
What goes on a mobile video conferencing cart for an office that doesn’t need a fixed room?
Dykema’s Los Angeles cart carries a Logitech Rally Bar Mini 960-001336 in Graphite, which holds the camera, microphones and speakers in one bar, plus a Logitech Tap 939-001950 controller, a Heckler H711 cart mount for the bar and a Heckler H709 control shelf for the Tap.
The whole order was four line items. There is no ceiling, wall or rack work on the pick list.
What does a Rally Bar Mini video cart need from the building?
A cart built around a Logitech Rally Bar Mini needs a power outlet and a network connection wherever it is parked, because the bar carries its own camera, microphones and speakers and the Logitech Tap controller travels on the cart’s Heckler H709 shelf.
Nothing is mounted in the ceiling or on the walls. Moving the unit to another room means unplugging it and rolling it there.
Can conference room equipment from an earlier project stay in place during a larger office refresh?
The Dallas refresh pick list for Dykema lists a Logitech Rally Plus, a Biamp MRB-M-X400-C and a Logitech Rally Bar, the same models installed earlier in the Courington and Longhorn rooms, as owner-furnished equipment in rooms 4204 and 4205, marked not billed.
Those rooms got new work around the existing kit. Room 4204 gained two Sony FW-65BZ40H displays on Chief TS325TU swing arms.
How is reused equipment marked on a refresh pick list?
On Dykema’s Dallas refresh, every reused item carries two tags on the pick list, NB for not billed and OFE for owner-furnished equipment, so the Logitech Rally Plus, Rally Bar and Tap units already in rooms 4204 and 4205 appear in the room build without being charged again.
The tags keep each room’s full parts list in one document. The install crew sees every device the room will run, including the ones already on the wall.
How is AV installed at an office in a different state from the one where the room standard was designed?
For Dykema’s Lansing, Michigan boardroom, a local install partner did the on-site work from our pick list, which uses the same Biamp MRB-L-X400-C, Logitech Rally Camera and Lenovo ThinkSmart Core kit specified for the firm’s Dallas conference rooms 4141 and 4167.
A finished pick list is what makes a partner install practical. The crew installs a known set of parts rather than interpreting a design brief.
Is each office’s AV project scoped separately, or under one contract?
Each Dykema office ran as its own project with its own number and pick list: 3844 and 3845 for the first two Dallas rooms, 4311 for the nine-space Dallas refresh, 4100 for the Lansing boardroom and 4302 for the Los Angeles video cart.
Separate scopes let each office buy what it needed. Lansing bought a full boardroom kit, and Los Angeles bought a four-item cart.
How does video get from the Teams Rooms PC to the displays in these rooms?
In Dykema’s Dallas conference rooms and Lansing boardroom, the Lenovo ThinkSmart Core sends video to the wall displays through Crestron DM Lite HD-TX-101-C-E transmitters and HD-RX-101-C-E receivers, which carry HDMI over CATx cable from the equipment location to each screen.
Both offices use two transmitter and receiver pairs. Using the same extenders in both offices keeps the device list the same for the firm’s IT team.
How do presenters share a laptop screen wirelessly in these rooms?
The Dallas standard conference rooms and the Lansing boardroom each have a ScreenBeam 1100 Plus (SBWD1100P) wireless display receiver, paired with a ScreenBeam SBUSBSW4 USB switch that moves the room’s USB connection between the Teams Rooms PC and the ScreenBeam receiver.
The Dallas scope of work also lists an HDMI table input in the standard conference rooms for wired sharing.
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.
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