New Zealand’s Feilding Civic Centre is among the latest venues to install Auracast for visitors to use.
Based in the provincial town in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand’s North Island, the centre is nearly 70 years old and acts as a focal point for the town. It hosts sporting activities including badminton, basketball, indoor bowls and boxing, as well as brass band concerts, craft markets, and bird sales. It hosts civic events and award ceremonies and welcomes touring acts for plays, comedy nights, and concerts.
Among the forthcoming attractions is an evening with medium Kelvin Cruickshank, a Māori play Waenga, and a burlesque night called Gin and Tassles.
It is among the latest to install Auracast, helping people visiting the centre hear clearly.
They have chosen the Bettear system, and installed it in both the theatre and the sports arena.
It was installed in November last year, led by Bettear’s New Zealand partner JPRO, supported by Fauling Sound and Kinetic Electrical.
Auracast works really well in a multi-use venue such as Feilding Civic Centre: unlike a traditional Telecoil loop, which is wired into walls or floors and can limit configurations, the Bluetooth LE Audio setup is wireless. This means that whatever the layout used by the centre, an accessible listening system can be offered. People can sit where they want in the venue, which is another plus point if the venue is being used for, say, a civic dinner.
The centre encourages people to bring their own device to the centre – this could be hearing aids, Cochlear, earbuds or headphones. It is also prepared to loan Bettear’s receiver units to those without Auracast-enabled devices. A personal neckloop or wired headphones can be plugged into this, so that everyone can benefit from the devices, regardless of how they want to hear.
Mark Marsden, from Faulding Sound, said in a social media post: “Bettear’s technology opens up far more possibilities than traditional assistive listening.”
The system has been the subject of a case study in CX Magazine, looking at the technology used and how it was installed. It contains an interview with Mark, giving his insights into the project.
He reveals that they had considered installing a Telecoil hearing loop, but felt that it wouldn’t give the flexibility needed for the venue. They also explored alternative systems before settling on Auracast.
Mark praised the ease with which the system could be installed, saying it went faster than they had anticipated.
The case study can be read at: https://www.cxnetwork.com.au/feilding-civic-centre-installs-bettear-auracast-system/
The Feilding Civic Centre website is: https://www.feildingciviccentre.org.nz/
For more on Bettear’s Auracast system, visit its website: https://bettear.com/
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