When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States, worship centers across the nation, including New Life Church in Framingham, Massachusetts, were forced to close their doors. With New Life’s services transitioning to a virtual platform, Tech Director and Senior Outreach Engineer Barney Borovoski was left searching for AVL solutions to help improve the quality of the church’s livestream events. When it came to finding a full-duplex intercom system to deploy at New Life Church, Barney found a solution that checks all the boxes with Pliant Technologies’ MicroCom XR digital wireless intercom system.
“We were previously using a two-way radio, but that was a failing system and once we began streaming all of our services, we needed to deploy a full-duplex intercom without breaking the bank,” says Barney. “We were quoting a few full-duplex intercom options, and our main dealer, Full Compass, suggested we look at Pliant’s new MicroCom XR digital wireless intercom. Pliant’s system was the only full-duplex intercom with the range we require that fit inside our budget.”
For most of their productions, New Life Church deploys five units on one channel for the camera and video crew and another five units on the second channel for audio and lighting. “We typically deploy all ten of our units for each production. With unlimited listen-only users, MicroCom XR is an easily expandable system, which was another selling point for us as we hope to buy additional units in the future.”
In addition to the ability to switch back and forth between the system’s two channels, Barney finds MicroCom XR’s superior audio quality and range to be its standout features. “We purchased the 900MHz variation and it is perfect for our needs. MicroCom XR’s range extends throughout the entire facility, and even works well between different levels of the church that are separated by a foot of concrete. There’s never any loss of signal and the sound quality is always excellent.”
The system’s ease of use has also been beneficial for New Life Church as 90 percent of the staff are volunteers. “The system is very easy to use and has a small learning curve. I was also looking for a system that didn’t require any major infrastructure to set it up—and Pliant’s MicroCom XR was extremely simple to deploy since it does not require a basestation. You just put it on and you’re ready to go.”
To complete this new, high-quality intercom solution at New Life Church, Barney also purchased ten Pliant SmartBoom PRO headsets. “In addition to the high-quality audio of Pliant’s SmartBoom PRO headsets, they also feature a convenient flip-up microphone muting feature and are extremely sturdy and durable. MicroCom XR paired with a SmartBoom headset provides an outstanding intercom solution at an affordable price point.”
