Sinclair Community College, located in downtown Dayton, Ohio, was an early adopter of Synergy, the predecessor to Phoenix.  Following the dissolution of the Synergy Department by AMX Corp ., Sinclair Community College sought out other solutions for their campus automation needs.  Eventually they scrapped 73 AMX AXcess control systems that were located within classrooms and they began rebuilding their entire control system infrastructure using Crestron. Today, they have over 200 Crestron systems spread about their campus.  However, they had one small problem: the Synergy software that they used to schedule routing and recording of lectures was a perfect fit for that need.  Try as they might, they could not find an adequate replacement that provided the ease of use they had come to love in Synergy.  Their search eventually led them to Realm Control Corp. and their Synergy system was upgraded to Phoenix in January of 2007.

Click for more photos of Sinclair C.C.

Sinclair does not use Phoenix in the traditional sense because the college does not employ a centralized media distribution topology.  Most facilities that have the Phoenix solution are scheduling media content for control from destinations.  At Sinclair, their main use for the software is scheduling of crosspoints on their Pesa RM5000 switcher, and control of devices used to record classroom lectures.  Therefore, the college opted to go with the eLite version of Phoenix, which works perfectly for their current needs.  In conjunction with the upgrade, they installed three RS-232 controlled JVC SR-DVM70US decks.  This allows them to store lectures in DVD, Mini DV, and DVR formats.

As an added bonus, Realm Control provided a web interface to assist with manual control of their Pesa A/V router.  While they could always control the router using the front panel, they had no intuitive interface that provided basic crosspoint selection and switching.  They had to schedule an event in Synergy in order to route a crosspoint.  Since upgrading to Phoenix, they now have access to a simple, web-based interface that is integrated into the XGen client (show me).

Realm Control Corp. wishes to thank Suzanna Smith, the Multimedia Services Coordinator at Sinclair Community College, for selecting us as the upgrade path for their Synergy system.  We also extend sincere thanks to KLH Engineers for consulting on the project, and to Roscor Corporation for coordinating and assisting with the on-site installation.