To prevent ongoing disruption to client services due to the pandemic, Home Instead franchise owner Michelle Rogers adopted Yamaha Unified Communications conferencing gear for the home health care agency’s rigorous online training.
After experience with Yamaha’s YVC-200 personal speakerphone for its intake process, the agency selected the YVC-1000
“It’s imperative our caregivers receive the best, most comprehensive training to meet the state of California’s requirements so they can perform their jobs to Home Instead’s high standards,” Rogers says. “It was crucial to have the highest quality audio solution available in order to prevent additional delays. Yamaha not only eased the burden of online training but made it a platform I can utilize for new opportunities.”
The agency’s training space includes a studio apartment with a hospital bed with a 150-pound dummy, a corner shower unit, and a wheelchair. Home Instead trainers demonstrate how to properly lift, transfer, and assist clients. With face-to-face group training sessions no longer feasible, the YVC-1000 helps provide a useful alternative.
From hands-on training rooms and classrooms to large meeting rooms, the system scales to fit the wide range of environments where video conferences are conducted. It has a separate intelligent microphone and full-range speaker unit that can be placed close to a display for more naturally blended audio and video to enable full participant comprehension. Up to five distinct microphone pods (three microphones per pod) can be daisy-chained together, depending on the size and audio demands of the room.
App-free and USB or Bluetooth-enabled, the speakerphone is compatible with UC platforms that include Zoom, Microsoft Teams, BlueJeans, Skype, and more, making it an alternative even as security and IT demands evolve. The YVC-1000’s auto-tuning is designed to automatically measure and analyze the room environment, adjusting acoustic settings to the desired level without additional input or programming. Yamaha’s adaptive echo cancellation (AEC) and human voice activity detection (HVAD) helps minimize background noise.
The virtual platform performed well enough that Rogers is pursuing ongoing opportunities where it can be used, already partnering with another Home Instead office to lead joint virtual trainings supported by the YVC-1000.
“Superior audio quality over a UC platform is a necessity — no matter the room acoustics, what’s happening during the call, or where it’s taking place,” concludes Michael Fitch, vice president of sales and marketing at Yamaha Unified Communications. “The installation at Michelle’s agency is a great illustration of what can be achieved with the YVC-1000. It’s powerful enough to produce clear, natural-sounding audio even in less-than-perfect environments but so simple that anyone can feel comfortable using it with their chosen UC application every day.”
