Client story
ListenTALK: A world-first wireless group communication from Listen Technologies
This is a story of success rooted in technological expertise and a close working relationship with Listen Technologies, a specialist in assistive listening devices.
Together, Cambridge Consultants and Listen Technologies created ListenTALK: an advanced two-way group communication system that has delivered unprecedented functionality and unlocked revenue streams in an array of new markets.
A radical rethink with DECT spectrum
Utah-based Listen Technologies has, for many years, led the way with communication products for tour guides. But with adequate spectrum for wireless systems shrinking and many frequencies suffering increasing interference, a radical rethink was needed.
Our solution, to utilize the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunication (DECT) spectrum, was a masterstroke that has brought high quality and highly secure two-way push-to-talk capability to the sector.
Proven track record in DECT technology
Having already broken through as the first company to overcome the significant technical challenges of using the 1.9GHz DECT frequency band to deliver high quality audio distribution to many users, we were uniquely placed to help.
Our combination of a proven track record and sophisticated, pre-existing IP platform ensured a low-risk way of overcoming the costly investment in time and effort that would otherwise have represented a formidable entry barrier.
Redefining tour experiences with group wireless communication
ListenTALK, a powerful wireless group communication platform for challenging noise environments, redefines leisure, VIP and factory tour experiences by enabling two-way communication between the group leader and multiple users.
This push-to-talk functionality is a market-first, as is the intuitive NFC pairing, high security encryption, echo noise cancellation and crystal clear 15kHz audio bandwidth.
Single product, worldwide growth
A key benefit of using the DECT spectrum is that as a global standard it enables Listen Technologies to serve worldwide markets with a single product, rather than having to fund – and stock – region-specific variants.
This springboard to business growth is oiled by the market-leading features and performance of the platform. Since ListenTALK’s launch, the company has expanded into television, theatre, media, sports team management, security, conferencing and language interpretation.
ListenTALK 2.0 Update
Since the initial launch, CC has continued to work with Listen Technologies to refine and improve the communication system through key software updates. Our team has incorporated an additional talk path through tour-guide mode, as well as an interpreter function where an interpreter can act as a participant in one network and a leader in another. This allows the interpreter to listen in the main language and talk in their own second language group, including taking questions from the group and interpreting them back to the main leader or presenter.
“Thanks to the superior audio performance, reliability and benefits of DECT, users are finding ways to use ListenTALK beyond the tour group scenario, which is opening up other global markets and applications.”
The challenge
Collaborating at speed
With its high performance, built-in spectrum etiquette to minimize interference, and license-free allocation around the world, we were quickly able to convince Listen Technologies to take the DECT route. The big challenge, to get a game-changing product to market in 12 short months, was eased by collaboration.
We wrote and implemented a technical interface that allowed error-free communication between Listen Technologies’ existing user interface processor and the new DECT processor. A very effective human interface, smoothing the combined engineering effort of both teams, propelled the project to success.
Simple & ultra-compact
There were technical hurdles to achieving the desired result: ultracompact, simple-to-use, lightweight and attractive transceivers and receivers that would be readily adopted for modern business applications.
We had to design an efficient antenna on a very small printed circuit area, which called for intricate and highly specialized RF and electromagnetic modelling skills. The performance of the antenna was tested and maximized at our custom anechoic test chamber, one of only a handful of such facilities in the UK.
High performance, competitively-priced technology
We met our ambition to exceed the performance of Listen Technologies’ previous analogue products while still ensuring a competitive price-point. Our printed antenna comfortably matched the performance of much more costly ceramic versions.
We repurposed commodity low-cost DECT chips with our own high-performance software to achieve the desired performance and functionality.
“Product requirements of small size, long battery life, excellent audio performance, and tight cost constraints created some very challenging design hurdles. Cambridge Consultants seamlessly collaborated with our design team to come up with innovative solutions that have resulted in ListenTALK frequently exceeding customer expectations.”
The team
