Salzburg Congress continues digitalization with auXala fixed installation
500
max. simultaneous listeners at every event
5
streams / languages available
WiFi & LTE
can be received over in house WiFi and 3G/4G/LTE
BYOD
no traditional equipment required
© Salzburg Congress
Salzburg Congress, one of the most successful congress centers in the heart of Europe, decided to include auXala as a fixed installation according to their process of digitization. Therefore, the outdated infrared transmission system was replaced by auXala software, which can be used for a wide variety of application scenarios. With auXala not just money will be saved – also simple operation, inclusion, multi-functionality and flexibility is guaranteed.
Andreas Scharf (auXala), Robert Hild (Salzburg Congress), Philipp Trojan (Centron), Werner Schnattinger, Silvio Wolf, Renato Vanzini, Thomas Steiglechner (Salzburg Congress)
“auXala is an ingenious tool that, in addition to live translation, also serves as a hearing aid. Flexibility is offered, as guests can move freely around the event center without missing out on anything. auXala works without an app, based on existing resources, which is great! Your smartphone is your steady companion anyway, you have it always and everywhere in your pocket!”
Problem
The infrared interpreting and transmission technology has had its day in continuous operation after 30 years and was no longer able to meet changing customer requirements. The constant dismantling, construction and conversion of infrared transmitters, the respective technical infrastructure and the receiver handling, took too much time and resources. Looking in the past, if the number of visitors increased in the short-term, Salzburg Congress always had to have enough charged headphones available, or they had to be rented extra. Furthermore, all interpreting cabins should be brought up to the latest technical standards. The assistance of hearing impaired attendees was also considered to be improved.
Solution
After detailed market exploration and testing phase, the team around event manager Robert Hild decided to use auXala as a fixed installation. A permanent license is provided with its own cloud server. In the case of Salzburg Congress, this extensible license includes 5 channels / languages for up to 500 simultaneous listeners. AuXala can be used for any number of congresses, events or other use cases without generating additional administration costs. In Salzburg. AuXala is used not only for interpreting purposes, but also as a tool for any kind of audio streaming and to support hearing impaired attendees. True to the motto ‘bring your own device’, guests only need to bring their smartphones and headphones. No special application needs to be downloaded. The audio stream can be opened via link that is typed into the browser. By doing that, congress visitors can listen to the presentation in their native language and in best hi-fi quality with just one click. In an overflow situation, visitors can stay in the entire congress area and listen to the lectures from where they stand.
custom auXala display
Technical implementation
AuXala as a replacement for the infrared transmission system is only one component of the overall solution - as part of digitization, all interpreting booths and the entire interpreting technology have been renewed. The cabins contain renewed interpreting desks, which are connected to a central matrix via DANTE. This matrix, in turn, uses DANTE to transmit the respective channels to a computer in the tech room. On this computer the auXala Ingest software is running, which transmits the audio channels to the auXala cloud. This technical implementation allows unprecedented flexibility, maintainability and extensibility.
auXala custom display, interpreter station with microphones and Dante interface
Outcome
By using auXala, Salzburg Congress meets the requirements of modern conference organizers and sets new standards for all in-house events. This ensures that every congress participant and hearing impaired attendees will have the opportunity for the best listening pleasure in several languages. AuXala makes it possible for organizers to monetize transmission technology for the first time. The audio stream is protected by a code that visitors can purchase from the organizer. The audio stream is only available for participants, when entering the code into the smart devices.
Read full MEDIA BIZ article
Read the interview in German or English about auXala fixed installation at Salzburg Congress from MEDIA BIZ Magazine - media, culture & technology platform for the audiovisual media and event industry.
About Salzburg Congress
Since the opening of Salzburg Congress, it has been for sure that true innovations in the MICE industry will find a place here. Especially in the event technology sector, Salzburg Congress is way ahead of many other convention centers. The ‘Europa Saal’ offers 1,100 square meters of space for 1,324 people. Equipped with state-of-the-art presentation and event technology, the hall can be remodeled for conferences, congresses, gala evenings, theaters or TV shows.