Dewey Ballantine LLC

The Situation
Dewey Ballantine LLP is an international law firm with offices in key financial centers around the world. Its New York operation is among the oldest and most respected law offices in the city. Originally headquartered in the Financial District, their offices now stand in midtown Manhattan's corporate row near Rockefeller Center and Central Park.

The three hundred attorneys practicing in the New York office are specialists in corporate transactions, litigation and a wide variety of tax matters. Areas of focus include M&A, corporate finance, private equity, project finance, reorganization, bankruptcy, antitrust, intellectual property, and structured finance. The New York-based attorneys enjoy a close working relationship with colleagues in other offices, and strive for effective teamwork on complex transactions and multi-level cases.

Dewey Ballantine recently integrated ClearOne professional conferencing products into their headquarters’ infrastructure. ClearOne enabled them to address key audio conferencing needs in multiple rooms, including a “mock courtroom” used to prepare defendants prior to court dates, and a multi-purpose conference room that is nearly a city block in length.

The Challenge
Multipurpose Room
Dewey Ballantine’s multi-purpose conference room divides into four individual rooms using three separate rising air walls, and features rolling desks for optimal flexibility.

Such flexibility is a critical facet for any large, multi-purpose meeting room, but it creates some challenges for A/V integrators:

The internal rooms require individualized audio conference systems (independent of all other rooms).

When individual rooms are combined into a larger space, the audio conferencing system must seamlessly adjust, treating it as single room.

Changes to the system in one room cannot affect the other rooms, particularly when a conference or meeting is taking place.

Microphones need to be mobile, and their placement flexible, so that each participant can be heard clearly regardless of the room’s current configuration.

Additional Conference Rooms
In addition, Dewey Ballantine has conference rooms on another floor that require conferencing. And for these rooms, budget was much more of a consideration.

The Solution
Multipurpose Room
Dewey Ballantine asked a local A/V integrator to provide a solution for their audio conferencing needs. Along with ClearOne sales engineers, the integrator designed and installed multiple ClearOne solutions.

ClearOne’s XAP® professional conferencing products were installed into the multipurpose room to create the perfect conferencing atmosphere, embracing all layouts and variations of this unique multi-function room. Whether it is laid out as one, four, or any combination of rooms, ClearOne’s products provide crystal clear audio conferencing capability for its occupants, and enable simple, on-the-fly configuration changes utilizing XAP’s advanced preset functions.

ClearOne’s XAP products in the multi-function room accommodate:

A single speaker addressing an assembly

ClearOne’s technologies connect to wired or wireless microphones, making it easy for a single individual or group of individuals to address all those assembled.

ClearOne’s technologies provide sound reinforcement so those furthest from the speakers can hear and be clearly heard.

Meeting or group of individuals around a single table

ClearOne’s innovative solutions create a natural communications environment during meetings with multiple microphones and built in speakers that promote two-way communication without participants hovering around a phone device

Meeting with a speaker and multiple tables

ClearOne’s products connect to wired or wireless microphones so that all participants in the room can hear and be heard

Additional Conference Rooms
In the additional conference rooms, including the mock courtroom where budget was a factor, the new Converge 590 provided the perfect solution at a very attractive price. Dewey Ballantine opted for the wireless controllers that come with the system, saving significant cost compared to a full room control system. Users love the ClearOne wireless controller because its telephone-like layout is instantly familiar and requires no training. The Converge 590 delivers superior audio performance and configuration flexibility for medium-sized room applications requiring up to nine microphones, all at a price point far below competitive offerings. This product was a perfect fit for Dewey Ballantine’s needs.

Results
ClearOne’s professional products are fully integrated into the other systems in the multipurpose room, which all work together to provide seamless conferencing and sound reinforcement.

Dewey Ballantine’s multi-purpose room is now a showcase A/V installation. The system functions as a single audio conferencing system, four separate systems, or any of the other 10 layout variations. Adjustments can be made without interrupting any current meetings or those conferences in progress.

ClearOne’s products have also been installed in Dewey Ballantine’s “mock courtroom” and within all the Company’s conferencing spaces in the spacious New York headquarters.