Located on New York City’s bustling west side, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center hosts thousands of events annually – from trade shows to product launches to movie premieres. All that activity happening across a sprawling complex of open exhibit space, meeting rooms, lounges and more can create a challenging communications environment. When the Center announced a massive expansion recently, Clear-Com® intercom systems were chosen to help streamline communications among Javits Center staff members.
The project, part of New York City’s long-term Midtown West redevelopment plan, adds 200,000 square feet of meeting rooms and pre-function areas, including a 54,000-square-foot special event space and a truck marshaling facility designed to make event operations more efficient. Metinteractive, a provider of strategic solutions for architecture, communications and technology, served as a member of the design/build construction team and AV integrator for the Javits expansion.
The new Javits special event space is designed for flexible configuration to accommodate any client’s needs. The space includes two floors of meeting rooms: the fourth floor consists of a set of five spaces that can be subdivided into as many as 21 separate meeting rooms, and the fifth floor consists of five rooms that can be combined into one large event space. The expansion also extends to rooftop spaces, including an outdoor terrace and a glass-enclosed pavilion.
For easy communication among 12 new A/V equipment rooms, Metinteractive installed a Clear-Com Eclipse® HX Digital Matrix Intercom System with V-Series™ 32 key-panel user stations, configured as 12 connected stations. The Eclipse system at Javits includes an IPA card, which enables easier configurations with compatible Clear-Com devices such as keypanels or transceivers.
“Clear-Com offers an extensive line-up of network-ready solutions,” said Rachel Mele, President, Metinteractive. “Everything they make can be easily connected on an ethernet network, and the Eclipse fits nicely into that equation. Its system flexibility worked perfectly for a project of this scope with so many moving parts.”
Based on Metinteractive’s previous experience with Clear-Com systems, the team felt comfortable relying on the Eclipse system to fill any role needed for this project. While the Javits Center may be set for the immediate future in terms of space and infrastructure, the Metinteractive team is confident in the Clear-Com systems’ scalability to grow with the venue if future expansions are needed.
“With IP-based systems like these, there is no limit,” said Mele. “Future integrations with other Clear-Com solutions like FreeSpeak Edge®, ties via LQ®, HelixNet® Digital Partyline, Arcadia® or even other brands are all possible. It’s all there just waiting and ready for someone to expand it.”