Vancouver Broadcast Uni Upgrade to Pliant CrewCom

The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) was looking to replace an outdated wired intercom system, and turned to CrewCom for the upgrade. Known for its broadcast-focused curriculum, BCIT teaches broadcast journalism, television production, and video production, providing students with hands-on educational experiences within its multiple production studios. With Pliant’s CrewCom intercom, students can now experience a modernised communications solution, providing an important skillset to prepare students for a professional broadcast career. 

When upgrading from a wired intercom to a digital, wireless solution, BCIT needed a system that would provide enough coverage for clear communication throughout the entire building, while also being able to have coverage across the building’s two floors. In addition to coverage requirements, BCIT’s broadcast program was also looking for a solution with a 900MHz frequency to avoid interference with pre-existing Wi-Fi infrastructures within the campus.   

To ensure the institute was upgrading to the best solution for its specific needs, Kal Ng, broadcast engineer at BCIT, turned to Vidcom, an international systems integrator of high-end broadcast, streaming and post-production solutions. With Vidcom’s guidance and expertise, the institute acquired two identical CrewCom systems for its two main production studios, each of which consists of one Control Unit (CU), 18 Radio Packs (RP) and four Radio Transceivers (RT). 

Unique to this school’s needs, they were also looking for a solution that could be moved to different locations, depending on what story the students were capturing. “As a teaching environment, BCIT requires an intercom solution that could be deployed in different parts of the campus, or anywhere in greater Vancouver BC, depending on the show’s content that day,” says Ng. “With CrewCom, we were able to set up a mobile unit, with all of the gear in a rack with wheels for portability. Students can transport the mobile unit to wherever they need. With CrewCom being a wireless system, all they need to do is hook up the antennas, fire up the system’s radio packs, and they’re good to go.”

Another benefit of CrewCom for BCIT’s broadcast program is its ease-of-use and ability to interface with wired systems. This allows BCIT to connect CrewCom to the one-way communication IFB system that the journalism students deploy. “Our journalism students wear an IFB earpiece for programming cues, so they are able to listen to the director and producer’s cues, without the need to communicate back to them. With CrewCom having a wired interface capability, we can connect the journalists’ IFBs, so they never miss a cue. Additionally, CrewCom is super straight forward and simple-to-use, so there’s a very small learning curve for the students.”