Superior Audio Quality, Simplified IP Connectivity and Local Support Made a Compelling Case for Clear-Com
LIFE, a multi-site church in Auckland, New Zealand, has a sophisticated live audio-visual production set-up that provides its congregation with superior coverage of services, worship-based concerts and conferences. In late 2018, it opened its newest facility, LIFE Central Campus, with an 1800-seat auditorium, a 300-seat Chapel facility and foyer spaces. The extensive facility necessitated a wide-ranging, high-functioning communication system to keep production teams connected, not just around the building but also with the other LIFE campuses.
Riki Willis, Production Project Coordinator, LIFE, said, The new facility is set up as a typical live production environment, including a vision control room and auditorium FOH. We needed multiple channels of simultaneous communication to support the various job functions, from technical directors and video producers to lighting operators and stage management crew, so a matrix was deemed necessary. We also wanted to be able to live-link audio and video to and from our two other Auckland-based campuses.
Having evaluated and priced the major market competitors, the LIFE team chose Clear-Com for a number of compelling reasons, as Willis explains, I tested the competitors' latest generation wireless system against FreeSpeak II and felt that FreeSpeak II's audio quality and noise floor were far superior. We also already owned some Clear-Com LQ units and partyline equipment, so there was compatibility with existing kit, and there is also more knowledge of the Clear-Com product line in New Zealand, which is helpful when we are hiring or welcoming external teams to the facility.
The Clear-Com installation includes an Eclipse HX-Delta matrix frame with E-IPA cards, with FreeSpeak II IP-enabled transceivers and beltpacks, V-Series Iris intercom panels and LQ Series IP interfaces.
The system enables much more granular and direct communications, which has been a huge boon for the team, as has the addition of more focused partylines. The multi-channel, fully integrated wireless system has also provided exceptional flexibility and greater functionality.
Previously, almost all communications were heard by all parties, which can be distracting to those not affected by the conversation and who need to focus on what is happening in the moment. This meant that sometimes the team would communicate less than needed to avoid creating distractions, says Willis. The possibility we now have for multiple groups/partylines is very useful, along with the ability for easy direct conversations, station to station.
Regular live-link audio and video to the two other remote campuses is now simplified, by linking the remote campus' 2-wire communications into the matrix via remote LQ-2W units. Willis also praises the longevity of FreeSpeak II beltpacks' battery life, their solid build and wide roaming ability without losing signal, as well as full integration with the matrix and the flexibility of the profile' based system. The ability to change and save configurations for an event and then revert to the standard' setup afterwards is also helpful.
Clear-Com's authorized partner, Gencom Technology, supplied and installed the system. Their assistance in working through the design and follow-up support was really appreciated, says Willis. The confidence we have in the support available on the ground here with Gencom Technology was a significant factor in our decision.
On the opening weekend of the facility, the LIFE Central Campus hosted the Hillsong Young and Free band for a worship concert, and within a couple of weeks of opening, the church held a Christmas Spectacular show open to the public, with three showings at full capacity. It was quite a way to start with a new communications system, but everything went very smoothly and has continued to do so ever since, says Willis.
Categorised in:
Most recent headlines
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
Back to All News
Legoshi and Haru's Story Reaches Its Finale: BEASTARS Fin...
21/12/2025
John Shortt named Young Sportsperson of the Year Kerry are the Team of the Year
...
20/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking ProRes RAW recording from the...
20/12/2025
CJP Broadcast has completed the digitisation of the European Gymnastics tape archive, converting 328 tapes containing more than forty years of recorded material...
20/12/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced the launch of the Stream Lab MCP Server, to give AI agents and large language model...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Barack Obama Includes Laufey on His 2025 Favorite Music List The former presidents roundup of books, music, and movies includes a song from the Berklee alums ...
20/12/2025
Study reveals a key hormonal circuit in the kidneys Scripps Research scientists identify the protein that helps kidney cells regulate renin, providing foundatio...
19/12/2025
With Playout Release 2025.4, ToolsOnAir continues to push professional playout w...
19/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Diversified's Jared Timmins on AI for Broadcast Sports and Cre...
19/12/2025
2025 SVG Summit Audio Recap: Say What?The Audio Production and Distribution Workshop at the SVG Summit 20 took on issues including speech intelligibility, Next-...
19/12/2025
Gamified fun: Channel 5 on its NFL Big Game Night ambitions with Hungry Bear Med...
19/12/2025
College Football Playoff Preview: For ESPN, Round 1 is a Fantastic Yet Familia...
19/12/2025
AWS's Jason Dvorkin on Developing Partnerships With the NBA and PGA Tour, Em...
19/12/2025
Netflix Kicks Off Packed Sports Week with Paul-Joshua Fight Before Shifting to N...
19/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Nareev Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
19/12/2025
Mounted to the pylon of an AH-1Z Viper helicopter, a Red Wolf vehicle successful...
Superior Audio Quality, Simplified IP Connectivity and Local Support Made a Compelling Case for Clear-Com 
