Prestonwood Baptist Church Upgrades With Major Riedel Systems

Riedel Communications has announced that Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, has upgraded from a stand-alone Bolero wireless intercom system to an expansive Riedel deployment.

The enhanced system adds a full Artist intercom ecosystem, including an Artist-1024 matrix, various SmartPanels plus additional Bolero beltpacks and antennas. In addition, Prestonwood added a complete MediorNet video distribution system, with MicroN, Compact, and Modular units serving as video, audio, and network gateways. Partnering with Broadcast Technical Services (BTS) to design and deploy the new Riedel systems, Prestonwood has vastly improved the flexibility, reliability, and reach of communications, as well as signal distribution between its two campuses, 27 miles apart.

"Bolero was our gateway into the rest of the Riedel product line because we just fell in love with it instantly," said Bryan Bailey, Director of Media at Prestonwood Baptist Church. "I have never been so thrilled by a wireless comms product as I am with Bolero. I am just amazed by its innovative technology and the different things that it can do. It has been a total game changer."

The domed, metal-framed architecture of Prestonwood's worship center and its location at the highest point in the area presented wireless transmission and reception challenges that only Bolero overcame satisfactorily. The wireless intercom has allowed Prestonwood to expand communications within and beyond its worship center. Depending on their needs, production team members use remote keys, GPIO, individual headset audio settings, and Bluetooth to optimize their communications.

"The challenge of our space took us down the Bolero wireless road, and that led us to try other Riedel products," said Armando Escobedo, Media Operations Director at Prestonwood Baptist Church. "The Artist, SmartPanel, and MediorNet systems have provided similarly impressive flexibility, in turn enabling new workflows and capabilities, and we can't imagine producing our shows without them."

While Bolero, Artist, and SmartPanel systems now enable versatile and highly configurable communications options across the audio, video, lighting, and stage management teams involved in video production, Riedel's MediorNet systems currently support real-time signal distribution for Prestonwood's production of live events. These systems use dark fiber to connect Prestonwood's two campuses and deliver feeds to student ministry buildings at each location. Engineers at Prestonwood initially chose MediorNet systems for video distribution but soon expanded their use, realizing the systems are also capable of distributing audio and communications signals, connecting all kinds of endpoints effectively.

"With the expansion of our Riedel communications and signal distribution infrastructure, we've evolved and improved our productions and events," added Will Schaefer, Engineer in Charge at Prestonwood Baptist Church. "MediorNet's ability to manage various signal types over a single fiber connection has been invaluable and its creative routing capabilities have far exceeded our expectations, allowing us to try new things we couldn't even think of doing before."

"I'm thrilled to see Prestonwood's continued success with Riedel," said Ben Gabrielson, Regional Sales Manager, South Central, at Riedel Communications. "The new functionalities they've discovered and the innovative ways they're deploying these products to enhance their messages are truly inspiring. I look forward to further growth with Prestonwood, knowing that Riedel products excel in houses of worship just as well as they do in other live events where communication is key."

The comprehensive Riedel system was designed by Ryan Sartell, consultant engineer, Will Schaefer, engineer in charge, and Riedel's systems consultant services. BTS partnered with Riedel to oversee the deployment and integration of the new systems, with Sartell and Schaefer handling the on-site commissioning.

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