Hawaii’s East-West Center is an internationally renowned conference facility that recently upgraded to Bosch DCN Next Generation digital discussion systems, with the installation by Oahu-based AV specialists The Audio Visual Company (AVCO).
The 50-year-old facility was established by the United States Government to promote understanding and education between Asian and Pacific countries and the U.S. The East-West Center continues to work toward these ends on its 21-acre property adjacent to the University of Hawaii’s main campus on the Island of Oahu.
The new Bosch DCN Next Generation digital discussion system replaces a 25-year-old system in the Center’s 1,400-square-foot Asia Room, which seats 64 people.
Each DCN interpreter station is configured to translate Korean, Japanese, and Chinese – the system can be configured to translate up to 10 languages. In addition to its user-friendliness and digital flexibility, the new system blends in to the space with its stylish, streamlined looks.
AVCO Project Manager Wade Higa comments: “The DCN system offers the perfect balance of full functionality and ease-of-use. The Center also wanted an expandable system to which more stations could be easily added as necessary.”
Though the AVCO team also installed two wall-mounted loudspeakers to reinforce the Asia Room, the loudspeakers in each DCN console provide enough coverage to deliver highly intelligible sound to the entire conference area.
“Because of the quality of the speakers in the DCN desktop units, we have exceptional coverage throughout the space,” says Higa. “This creates a seamless audio effect at a very natural-sounding, even volume, which helps prevent listening fatigue.”
The DCN system’s combination of simplicity and sound quality has already impressed staff and visitors in the short time since the installation. Higa comments: “The Center is very happy with the appearance and functionality of the new systems in the Asia Room, and the staff is also finding the rack-mounted central control units easy to use behind the scenes. All this equipment is well-designed for simple operation.
“The support we received from our Bosch reps (Quantum Sales & Technology) on these new products was great, too,” Higa adds. “We were able to videotape the DCN training course we received and give it to the Center to train new people when, for example, a student AV assistant graduates.
“And because the desktop discussion units are so intuitively designed, there’s really no learning curve for the end-user—the DCN system is user-friendly in every detail.”
