MobileConnect from audio specialist Sennheiser is a breakthrough product that provides live audio streaming to mobile devices for the very first time. The universal system uses a Wi-Fi connection to stream lip-sync audio content to the user’s smartphone, which has an app that instantly converts it into a mobile receiver. Applications are unlimited: whether it is in a theatre, a museum, a university auditorium or a company – MobileConnect can be quickly and easily installed and is also cost-efficient in use. Thanks to its almost latency-free transmission of audio-content, MobileConnect is primarily aimed at assistive listening and audio description applications, but the solution can also be used for simultaneous interpretation.
MobileConnect consists of a streaming server providing the audio stream over WiFi, which users can connect to via the MobileConnect app on their own smartphone. The selected audio data are transferred to the device via the new free of charge MobileConnect multi-channel app, thus enabling users to play the content conveniently through headphones. Applications are unlimited: whether it is in a university, theatre, a museum, or a conference centre – MobileConnect can be quickly and easily installed and can offer a cost effective way to complement digital signage or offer assistive listening. This user-friendliness of the system is not just for end users: MobileConnect can be installed in a few easy steps for incredible rapid deployment.
“The start of 2016 will see major changes for MobileConnect. Installations in Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. have demonstrated the enthusiasm our customers have for this product, and shown that we can go even further,” said Xenios C. Maroudas, Portfolio Manager, Business Communication, Sennheiser. “We have dramatically reworked and optimized the design of the MobileConnect app placing even more easy to use functionality into the hands of users to open up an even broader range of applications.”
Launched in February 2016, Sennheiser’s new MobileConnect app version takes the immediacy and functionality of the service to new levels. Users can now access the Personal Hearing Assistant straight from the channel screen, and the user interface of the Personal Hearing Assistant has been optimized for even greater user-friendliness. The MobileConnect app interface is now available in German, English, French and Spanish.
Minimum Effort and Cost
“With MobileConnect we gave our customers an innovative real time streaming-based technology that was built around the bring your own device ethos,” said Xenios Maroudas, Portfolio Manager Business Communication at Sennheiser. “This solution lets end users easily receive audio content on a device they already know. It’s as easy as downloading the free MobileConnect app to their smartphone. At the same time, event organisers are no longer faced with the cost of providing, renting and maintaining the audio devices.” But cost-efficient application is not the only feature that makes MobileConnect interesting for integrators, companies or event organisers: “Additional features such as assistive listening in theatres, the provision of an audio track for silent screens in airport waiting lounges or simultaneous interpreting for public performances mean that MobileConnect enables our customers to upgrade and expand their range of possibilities”, Maroudas added.
Furthermore, the MobileConnect innovative streaming solution offers universal application. It can even be used in situations in which audio transmission has until now been impossible or only very limited, Maroudas explained: “It opens up completely new opportunities in the field of digital signage as well as in many areas of assistive listening.” System houses and integrators can therefore not only offer their existing customers an innovative solution for familiar application scenarios, but they can also acquire completely new customers.
MobileConnect in action
Sennheiser’s MobileConnect has already seen two years of successfully deployment since its initial pilot projects in 2014. It has been installed in several theatres such as Deutsches Schauspielhaus or the Ernst Deutsch Theater, both in Hamburg, Germany. Alongside these, audio specialist Sennheiser also launched the CinemaConnect app, which works on the same technical principals as MobileConnect but is designed for use in cinemas. CinemaConnect provides audio description and assistive listening in cinemas, thus offering inclusive solutions for cinemagoers who have a visual or hearing impairment. The CinemaConnect solution has been in use in the Abaton cinema in Hamburg, Germany since May 2014.
The free MobileConnect app is available for iOS devices (version 1.1.0 on iOS 7 or later) and Android devices (version 0.9 on Android 4.4.1 or later), and can be downloaded from the respective app stores.
To experience MobileConnect and other Sennheiser solutions at InfoComm visit us at booth C10908. InfoComm 2016 will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas. Nevada, from June 4-10.
About Sennheiser
Audio specialist Sennheiser is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of headphones, microphones and wireless transmission systems. Based in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, Sennheiser operates its own production facilities in Germany, Ireland and the USA and is active in more than 50 countries. With 19 sales subsidiaries and long-established trading partners, the company supplies innovative products and cutting-edge audio solutions that are optimally tailored to its customers’ needs. Sennheiser is a family owned company that was founded in 1945 and which today has 2,700 employees around the world that share a passion for audio technology. Since 2013, Sennheiser has been managed by Daniel Sennheiser and Dr. Andreas Sennheiser, the third generation of the family to run the company. As part of the Sennheiser Group, the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S is specialized in wireless and wired headsets and speakerphones for contact centers, offices and Unified Communications environments as well as headsets for gaming and mobile devices. In 2014, the Sennheiser Group had sales totaling €635 million. www.sennheiser.com
About Sennheiser Business Communication
As part of the Sennheiser Professional Systems segment, the Sennheiser Business Communication division is focused on providing innovative audio solutions for the corporate market. Sennheiser Business Communication provides speaker systems, audio distribution networks, conference systems, installed microphones and tour guide and information systems, reaching the corporate market via specialist channel partners and AV resellers/integrators, continually innovating to accelerate and simplify the convergence of the AV and IT. The division draws on Sennheiser’s rich, 70-year history of setting new milestones in audio excellence to bring new standards to business communications. The latest addition in the portfolio is TeamConnect Wireless – a portable and wireless audio conferencing solution – designed to empower businesses to thrive in sophisticated work environments and meet business professionals’ growing expectations for better and more flexible workplace communications and collaborations.