Riedel Intercom Systems Help Dodd Technologies Orchestrate Major Event

When the fastest swimmers in the United States met last month at CHI Health Center Omaha to determine who would go on to Tokyo, Riedel's Artist and Bolero intercom systems helped Dodd Technologies orchestrate the event for broadcast and streaming to fans around the world.

The Riedel systems provided flexible, reliable communications throughout the swim trials, which ran from June 4-20, as Dodd managed the in-house show and addressed the requirements of its broadcast partners and supporting production trucks.

"We needed a flexible intercom system that was both easy to use and extremely advanced, and Riedel met all those requirements," said Caleb Cassler, Audio Systems Engineer at Dodd Technologies. "The Artist and Bolero systems handled the immense quantity of signals involved in production while providing better range than other solutions, without as many antennas. Any other solution would have been much more complicated, but the Riedel gear kept comms flexible and manageable without dedicating a role solely to comms."

For this year's event, Dodd configured 15 Bolero wireless intercom beltpacks for power users on the production team who took advantage of every button, as well as novice users such as race officials without prior experience using a headset and intercom system. Configuring each headset to support individual users' needs, Dodd was able to simplify communications and keep chat focused on the conversations essential to each user's role.

Providing clear audio without any dropout issues despite the extremely crowded airspace, the Bolero beltpacks helped Dodd orchestrate a complex production — and overcome the added challenge of adhering to social distancing guidelines. Riedel's Director software made remote, on-the-fly reconfiguration straightforward when needed, so Cassler could address any issues or new requirements quickly.

Dodd deployed two Artist-32 digital matrix intercom systems to accommodate the large volume of analog signals — particularly IFBs and announcer feeds moving between the house communications system and four mobile production trucks — needed to coordinate the arena show and broadcast production. The Artist systems, including 2300 series panels, also made it possible for Dodd to tie into the varied communications systems used across all four trucks for complete coverage.

"Dodd has more than two decades of experience producing the U.S. swim trials, and the company continually finds creative ways to showcase the excitement and emotion at these elite competitions," said Dave Caulwell, Channel Manager, North America, at Riedel Communications. "The company's use of Artist and Bolero for this event showcased both the power and elegance of these solutions in enabling clear, reliable, and flexible communications."

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