THE CHALLENGE
With the huge challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, EM Normandie wanted to realize a sustainable hybrid environment in which both local and remote students could follow lessons. With five campuses located in France, the UK, and Ireland, the Business School accommodates hundreds of students from many different countries and needed to accommodate every student throughout the pandemic by offering a consistent, high-quality experience for all.
EM Normandie recognized it would have to adapt to the new habits picked up by both students and teachers during lockdowns, through the use of Zoom video conferencing. The desire was to create a seamless user experience with ease-of-use throughout whether brining hybrid participants into the lesson or managing the AV elements in the classroom.
THE SOLUTION
For several years, Crestron has worked closely with EM Normandie to facilitate high-tech classrooms, so when the pandemic hit with the need for a rapid-deployable hybrid teaching solution, they naturally turned to Crestron.
The most important consideration for Sebastien Mauduit, Responsable Smart Building at EM Normandie, was to implement a Zoom experience, which was now the preferred solution from teachers. By partnering with Fase Industries and Crestron, Mauduit was able to integrate native Crestron Flex for Zoom Rooms™ solutions, streamline all local control of AV products in the classrooms, and provide remote monitoring of equipment with Crestron XiO Cloud® platform. Fase Industries worked tirelessly with Crestron to equip the existing campuses in Paris, Caen, Dublin and Oxford, as well as a brand-new building in Le Havre for hybrid learning.
THE TECHNOLOGY
Crestron Flex for Zoom Rooms solutions were installed across 130 classrooms as well as amphitheaters and auditoriums. Crestron Flex helped meet the needs of every space and could even support the larger rooms of 70 square meters. Native integration with Zoom offered the opportunity to bring the same ergonomics from a student’s smartphone or PC to the classroom. Thanks to cutting-edge systems that accommodate sharing content locally and remotely, students and faculty were ableto overcome social distancing restrictions.
Crestron DMPS and DM NVX® AV-over-IP route content in the auditorium, amphitheaters, and creative rooms to ensure an audio video management in more complex spaces. This also allows a future interconnection of rooms without the need to start a Zoom meeting.
Crestron Media Presentation Systems and Crestron control systems were installed to ensure local control of video switching, projector control, and volume adjustment. The control systems also permitted a blend of local management of devices and global monitoring through the Crestron XiO Cloud connection.
On the Administrator side, there is the joy and comfort of maintaining a reliable, scalable ecosystem which is easy to monitor in real-time, as Crestron XiO Cloud allows problems to be detected quickly and resolved before users notice them. Whilst the aspect of the solution which EM Normandie relies on most heavily is hybrid learning with Crestron Flex, they’re now also able to enjoy some more discreet benefits, such as systems turning on and off automatically in response to real-time occupancy data or being able to quickly deploy updates after hours via Crestron XiO Cloud.
RESULTS
Crestron and Fase Industries enabled EM Normandie to deal with an unprecedented crisis efficiently and turn it into an opportunity, as all students and teachers were able to resume lessons and overcome the hurdles imposed by COVID-19 restrictions.
The design of an easily duplicable model made it possible to industrialize the deployment of classrooms across multiple campus locations, ensuring a homogeneity of equipment and the same experience for all. More importantly, the Crestron solutions aligned with the forward-thinking EM Normandie image of quality, support, agility, and sustainability.
"The greatest value has been showing the students and investors that the school invests enormously in new technologies, raising the attractiveness of the school. The possibility of carrying out hybrid courses locally AND remotely has greatly helped us increase our student enrolment," says Mauduit.
