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Phenomenal Industries Announces New Soft Conferencing Product at InfoComm21

Dateline 10/29/21

Orlando, Florida

Phenomenal Industries, known for announcing innovative products at Infocomm like OpenOffice 247365 in 2019 and ShareChair in 2018, has announced a NEW cross-platform soft conferencing product for InfoComm21.

We at rAVe caught up with AVPhenom, president of Phenomenal Industries, who arrived at the show a couple of days late after an unfortunate duct tape incident on Frontier Airlines, to ask him about this new product.

Conference Clapper

Phenom, you have a history of creating amazing new products for InfoComm each year. What inspired your new product, and what is it called?

Soft conferencing has taken over the AV space. Ten years ago, if you told our industry that most conferencing would go through the cloud from device to device, they would have scoffed. But that’s where we are today. My new product is a cross-platform software plugin called Conference Clapper!

The name is interesting. What problem does Conference Clapper solve?

Conference Clapper actually solves three core problems that happen in almost every online, soft conferencing meeting. First, I have yet to be in a meeting where someone doesn’t have to be told to unmute their microphone, and it causes a break in the meeting flow. Second, it’s hard to know when it is your turn to speak, and people often talk over one another awkwardly during these meetings. Finally, creating energy and team alignment can be hard to achieve virtually. The Conference Clapper solves ALL of these problems.

Wow. Those are bold claims. Can you tell us how the software works?

Of course. Our software runs as a plugin on Zoom, Teams, Webex and more. Much like your iPhone or Alexa device, the software listens for an audible cue to activate the microphone. The same audible cue is used to mute the microphone when a participant is done speaking, signaling others that it is their turn to speak if they’d like. The core of this technology is  the software we licensed from The Clapper, the world’s first intelligent lighting control device.

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So you’re using software from The Clapper? Does this mean that you clap twice to activate and deactivate the microphones?

Well, that would be kind of silly, right? Can you imagine clapping twice in a meeting every time you start and finish talking? It’s ridiculous. With Conference Clapper, you clap three times.

Three claps also signal applause to the brain. This means that, as your meeting progresses, every member is essentially applauded by another member as they start to speak. Two claps are much more punitive psychologically; I mean you clap twice to get your cat off the kitchen table. But three claps? Well, the brain interprets that as “Well done! Bravo!”

Wouldn’t it be easier and less intrusive to just click a button on the laptop like we currently do?

Not at all. The mute buttons are in different places on all of the platforms. To add to the confusion, sometimes there is a second mute button on the headphones or conference phone. People may not always be able to locate the correct button quickly, but they can always find their hands.

Conference Clapper also changes the tone of the meeting. ‘You’re on mute’ can sound condescending and has a negative connotation. Telling someone to ‘Clap in,’ however, sounds much more positive.

‘You’re on mute, Jerry,’ says ‘Holy crap, it’s been two years, haven’t you figured this out yet'” But, the intro ‘Clap in, Bob!’ says ‘We want to hear what you have to say!’

The Conference Clapper plugin will be available soon. It relies on AI to work and Aluminum is currently in short supply due to the supply chain crunch. See the Conference Clapper video here.

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