ClearOne Profile
ClearOne, Inc. designs, develops and sells conferencing, collaboration and network streaming solutions for voice and visual communications. The performance and simplicity of the company’s advanced comprehensive solutions offer unprecedented levels of functionality, reliability and scalability.
The company’s comprehensive line of high-quality conferencing and collaboration products are targeted for large, medium and small businesses, as well as for personal use. The company has been a global market leader in the installed professional audio conferencing market, where its products are used in numerous industries, such as enterprise, healthcare, education, government, legal and finance.
The company has an established history of product innovation and plan to continue to apply its expertise in audio, video and networked AV to design, develop and introduce innovative new products and enhance its existing products. The company’s end-users range from some of the world’s largest and most prestigious companies and institutions to small and medium-sized businesses, higher education and government organizations, as well as individual consumers. The company sells its commercial products to these end-users through a global network of independent distributors who, in turn, sell its products to dealers, systems integrators and other value-added resellers. The company also sells directly to dealers, systems integrators and other value-added resellers. The company’s solutions save end-users time and money by creating a natural environment for collaboration and communication. The company’s partners, who are involved in system integration benefit from simpler project designs and lower support costs because its products are designed and built to work with each other seamlessly.
Business Strategy
The company’s current strategy consists of the following elements to overcome this adverse situation: continue its product innovation to bring to market products that are needed by its partners and end-users; focus on its core products and improve the quality of its products; and resolve the issues causing delays with the transition of manufacturing by its contract manufacturer from China to Singapore.
The company participates in the following markets: all aspects of audio conferencing including installed professional audio conferencing through DSP mixers, USB based speakerphones and table-top conferencing; professional microphones to support audio and video collaboration through patented beamforming microphones, ceiling microphones and wireless microphones; visual collaboration in all forms, including low-cost room appliances, professional cameras, Bring-Your-Own-Device and cloud video services; and audio visual networking, which includes network media streaming, video walls, sound reinforcement and audio distribution.
The company will continue to focus on its core strengths, which include the following: providing a superior conferencing and collaboration experience; delivering the complete value chain for audio visual communication; extending its capabilities in product innovation through software-based video collaboration and AV networking; offering greater innovation, interoperability and value to its end-users and channel partners; leveraging and extending ClearOne technology, leadership and innovation; focusing on its core products and improving the quality of its products to attain higher levels of customer satisfaction; leveraging its strong domestic and international channels to distribute new products; and strengthening existing end-user and channel partner relationships through dedicated and comprehensive support.
Products
The company’s products can be broadly categorized into the following:
Audio conferencing including installed DSP based professional audio conferencing, USB-based speakerphones and table-top audio conferencing; professional microphones consisting of patented beamforming microphones, ceiling microphones and wireless microphones; and video products, including video collaboration and AV networking.
Audio Conferencing
The company’s full range of audio conferencing products include professional installed DSP based audio conferencing and sound-reinforcement products used in enterprise, healthcare, education and distance learning, government, legal and finance organizations; mid-tier premium conferencing products for smaller rooms and small and medium businesses which interface with video and web conferencing systems; affordable USB-based speakerphones that can be used with PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other portable devices; and traditional tabletop conferencing phones used in conference rooms and offices.
The company’s audio conferencing products feature its proprietary HDConference, Distributed Echo Cancellation and noise cancellation technologies to enhance communication during a conference call by eliminating echo and background noise. Most of the company’s products also feature some of its other HDConference proprietary audio processing technologies, such as adaptive modeling and first-microphone priority, which combine to deliver clear, crisp and full-duplex audio. These technologies enable natural and fatigue-free communication between distant conferencing participants.
Professional Installed Audio Conferencing and Sound Reinforcement
The company has been a global market leader in the professional installed audio conferencing market. The company has been a pioneer in the development of high-end, professional conferencing products and it has established strong brand recognition for these products worldwide. The company’s installed professional conferencing products include the CONVERGE Pro 2 and CONVERGE Pro 2 SR product lines.
The company’s flagship CONVERGE Pro 2product line lead its professionally installed audio products line. The CONVERGE Pro 2 product line includes CONVERGE Pro 2 128, CONVERGE Pro 2 128VT, CONVERGE Pro 2 128VTD, CONVERGE Pro 2 120, CONVERGE Pro 2 012, CONVERGE Pro 2 48VT and CONVERGE Pro 2 48VTD. CONVERGE Pro 2 SR product line includes CONVERGE Pro 2 128SR, and CONVERGE Pro 2 128SRD. CONVERGE Pro 2 and CONVERGE Pro 2 SR together offer various levels of integration and features to allow a commercial system integrator to optimize a system to fit diverse conferencing applications and environments. CONVERGE Pro 2 product line succeeded the original CONVERGE Pro product line, which is being phased out as the company’s customers transition fully to CONVERGE Pro 2 product line.
CONVERGE Pro 2’s broad DSP platform satisfies clients’ diverse audio needs with these features:
Best-in-class audio delivered through next-gen Acoustic Echo Cancellation and Noise Cancellation processing with Acoustic Intelligence, advanced microphone gating and built-in DARE feedback elimination.
Powerful architecture – 12 Mic/line inputs per unit, built-in USB audio interface, built-in optional Dante for networked audio.
Daisy-chainable design to support up to 144 Mic/line inputs, C-Link expansion bus with 150 channels and P-Link bus for scalable connection of peripheral devices, including any combination of ClearOne peripheral devices, such as the Beamforming Microphone Array 2, BMA CT, BMA 360, USB Expander, GPIO Expander and/or the DIALOG 20 Wireless Microphone system.
Supports video conferencing, audio and web conferencing, in-room meetings, wireless presentation, and more.
Integration of VoIP or telephony, USB, and Dante for maximum functionality.
Ability to control local meeting rooms and audio distribution applications with flexible options – touch panel controller, BYOD dialer apps or 3rd party control modules.
Configure, manage, monitor and troubleshoot the entire system of auto-discovered devices with MatrixView and FlowView in CONSOLE AI for visualized audio signal paths.
The CONVERGE Pro 2 line of products is ably supported by a touch panel controller, a GPIO expansion box, a USB expansion box and a wall-mount Bluetooth Expander. CONVERGE Pro 2 VoIP SKUs are certified to interoperate with Cisco, Avaya and ShoreTel SIP based VoIP systems and also interoperate with Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, and other popular collaboration applications.
During May 2021, the company announced the immediate availability of CONVERGENCE AV Cloud, which significantly expands AV Practitioner recurring revenue opportunities for remote, real-time Management as a Service (MaaS). CONVERGENCE Cloud software is a unified AV network management platform to monitor, control, and audit ClearOne Pro Audio and Video products and services. Remote real-time system access provides at-a-glance and all-inclusive dashboard views with auto-discovery of Pro Audio devices and unlimited scalability designed to support organizations of any size. With the new Cloud option, AV Practitioners can profit on value-added MaaS opportunities to easily support multiple clients and multiple networks with fully secure, real-time remote system access on a single multi-tenant platform. The powerful and elegant user interface, in twelve languages, works on any browser and will allow full support of the AV Network with built-in video, audio, and chat tools for real-time communications as well as email and immediate SMS text alerts. Relevant information is quickly found with search, sort, and filter options. CONVERGENCE AV Cloud can be virtually partitioned for AV management by location, such as building, floor, room, or any desired global topology. Practitioners can easily manage accounts, assigning three levels of access with Owner, Administrator, and Monitor roles; all housed on encrypted secure cloud servers. Client tenant usage can be conveniently tracked for invoicing and optional auto-payment reminders.
In July 2022, the company introduced the CONVERGENCE InSite server network hardware that enables remote device management by facilitating bi-directional communications between its Cloud or Enterprise AV Manager and on-site ClearOne Pro Audio products.
Mid-Tier Premium Conferencing
The company’s premium conferencing offerings consist of the CONVERGE Huddle and INTERACT product lines. Premium conferencing solutions are mid-tier, lower cost, conferencing product solutions designed to meet the needs of the company’s larger customers with smaller conferencing rooms, as well as small and medium businesses. CONVERGE Huddle is a versatile solution for multiple use huddle room environments at a price point that meets budget requirements for audio and video collaboration applications. CONVERGE Huddle connects to ClearOne or third-party peripheral devices, such as microphones, speakers, cameras, and display screens and applications, such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, GoToMeeting, and WebEx through a single clutter-free connection via USB 3.0 to a laptop. It comes with professional quality Acoustic Echo Cancellation and Noise Cancellation algorithms and user-friendly CONSOLE software. It can be mounted easily under a table, behind a display, on a wall or in a rack. The INTERACT product series consists of INTERACT AT and INTERACT Pro. Both systems can be easily connected to enterprise telephones, analog POTS lines, existing HD video codecs and soft video clients. These INTERACT systems also include a USB audio interface to connect to PCs, laptops and tablets, as well as to rich multimedia devices, such as video or web conferencing systems and unified communication systems for enhanced collaboration.
Speakerphone
The company’s CHAT product line of speakerphones includes affordable and stylish USB based personal and group speakerphones. CHAT speakerphones provide full-duplex and rich full bandwidth frequency response for superior audio clarity. CHAT products are designed for a wide variety of applications and devices (fixed or portable) for greatly enhanced collaboration wherever and whenever needed. CHAT speakerphones are offered either as personal speakerphones under CHAT 50, CHAT 60 or CHAT 70 SKUs or as group speakerphones under CHAT 150, CHAT 160 and CHAT 170 SKUs.
CHAT 50/60/70 personal speakerphones are approximately the size of a deck of cards, and connect to PCs and Macs for rich, clear, hands-free audio and playback. CHAT 150 group speakerphones are designed for small group use. These can connect to the same devices and applications as the CHAT personal speakerphones but feature three microphones in larger design for use by a larger number of participants. CHAT 150/160/170 group speakerphones have the ability to add high-quality, full-duplex open audio to user enterprise telephone handsets, such as Avaya and Cisco. CHAT group speakerphones make it possible to introduce rich, crystal clear conferencing capability without the need for introducing a separate traditional conference phone. CHATAttach consists of two CHAT 150 group speakerphones which can be daisy-chained together to function as a single conferencing system for much larger coverage than a single CHAT 150. CHAT group speakerphones are integral to the company’s media collaboration product line.
Tabletop Conferencing
The company’s tabletop conferencing product line offered under the MAX brand consists of the following product families: MAX EX and MAXAttach wired conference phones; MAX Wireless and MAXAttach Wireless conference phones; and MAX IP and MAXAttach IP conferencing phones. Designed for use in executive offices or small conference rooms with multiple participants, MAX Wireless can be moved from room to room within 150 feet of its base station. MAXAttach Wireless was the industry’s first and remains the only dual-phone, completely wireless solution. This system gives customers tremendous flexibility in covering larger conference room areas. MAX EX and MAXAttach wired phones can be daisy chained together, up to a total of four phones. This provides even distribution of microphones, loudspeakers, and controls for better sound quality and improved user access in medium to large conference rooms. In addition, all MAXAttach wired phones can be used separately when they are not needed in a daisy-chain configuration. MAX IP and MAXAttach IP are VoIP tabletop conference phones which are based on the industry-standard SIP signaling protocol. These phones can also be daisy-chained together, up to a total of four phones.
Professional Microphones
Beamforming Microphone Array
ClearOne began shipping the first generation Beamforming Microphone Array in March 2013. This product works with CONVERGE Pro products. Beamforming Microphone Array 2, the next generation Beamforming Microphone Array started shipping in the last quarter of 2017. It works with CONVERGE Pro2. It affirmed ClearOne’s clear industry leadership with the following outstanding features:
Significantly enhanced and new echo cancellation, with improved performance in demanding acoustic environments.
Acoustic intelligence with adaptive ambience - faster convergence and better adaptation to changes in room acoustics, such as ambient noise from chairs moving, doors closing, chatter in the background, using separate acoustic echo cancellation for each fixed beam and inhibiting beam selection when the far end is active.
Dramatically better mic pickup, including using an augmenting microphone signal, improving overall sound quality.
Natural and clearly intelligible audio, even when two people speak at once.
Zero consumption of analog I/O and signal processing in the DSP mixer leaving those resources available for other needs.
Single cable for power, audio and control.
Two power options – P-Link and POE.
Daisy-chains with all ClearOne P-Link devices and works with CONVERGE Pro 2 DSP AEC mixers.
Easy configuration and management through CONSOLE software.
During the first quarter of 2019, the company began shipping its patented Beamforming Microphone Array Ceiling Tile (BMA CT) to its partners. All of the innovations developed for the BMA CT make the integrator’s job easier and more profitable. The BMA CT dramatically transforms how integrators can approach system design for ceiling tile installations, allowing for multi-array setups that can utilize a single, low-channel count DSP mixer while maintaining ClearOne’s high level of performance and reliability. The BMA CT also features ClearOne’s proprietary adaptive steering technology (think of it as smart switching). This provides impeccable room coverage while eliminating the need to adjust individual beams.
During the first quarter of 2020, the company announced two new additions to its COLLABORATE Versa family of products. COLLABORATE Versa Room CT, provides all the equipment and accessories needed for exceptional room cloud-based conferencing. At the heart of the system, is the USB audio-enabled Beamforming Mic Array Ceiling Tile (BMA CTH). This solution dramatically enhances the audio experience for any cloud-collaboration application, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Webex, without the need for a DSP mixer. The system can be easily and quickly configured using ClearOne’s CONSOLE AI Lite software with Audio Intelligence and Auto Connect. A laptop or a desktop PC can be connected to the BMA CTH directly through the USB port on the Versa USB to share room audio. The included 50-foot CAT6 cable connects the Versa USB Expander to the BMA CTH.
During October 2020, the company announced BMA 360, the world’s most technologically advanced Beamforming Microphone Array Ceiling Tile, delivering unequaled audio performance and deployment ease. The ClearOne BMA 360 is the world’s first truly wideband, frequency invariant beamforming mic array with uniform gain response across all frequency bands. With FiBeam technology, conference participants will experience the ultimate in natural and full fidelity audio across all beams and within a single beam. Deep sidelobe beamforming, DsBeam, provides unparalleled maximum sidelobe depth, below -40 dB, resulting in superior rejection of reverberation and noise in difficult spaces for superb clarity and intelligibility.
The BMA 360 is based on a dramatically new approach to beamforming that provides a new beam topology to easily achieve distortion-free, full 360-degree coverage of any room shape and any seating arrangement using ClearOne Audio Intelligence. Further advancements in adaptive steering (think of it as smart switching) provide impeccable coverage of each conference participant, as well as support for camera tracking. In addition to the advancements in beamforming technology, the 6G Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) delivers unmatched per-beam full-duplex audio performance. On-board audio algorithms, like noise reduction, filtering, and Automatic Level Control, eliminate the need for per-beam processing in a DSP mixer - requiring fewer DSP mixer resources. Finally, robust built-in amplifiers, configurable as 4 x 15 Watt or 2 x 30 Watt, provide flexibility for driving loudspeakers. ClearOne’s breakthrough technologies, FiBeam, DsBeam, and 6G AEC combine to create VividVoice, a significant advancement for professional conferencing. The BMA 360 also supports daisy-chaining of up to three ceiling tiles via P-Link for divisible rooms, or larger conference setups – for simpler wiring, longer distances, and lower-cost deployments compared to networked home-run connections via Ethernet. ClearOne’s BMA technology is protected by at least a dozen patents and pending patent applications.
During February 2021, the company expanded the applications for its BMA 360, Beamforming Microphone Array Ceiling Tile with the addition of a new Voice Lift feature that allows its impeccable audio to be locally amplified and heard throughout classrooms, lecture halls, and large meeting rooms. ClearOne’s powerful breakthrough technologies, FiBeam and DsBeam, already found on the BMA 360, enable exceptional new levels of Voice Lift performance. FiBeam technology makes the BMA 360 the world’s first truly wideband, frequency-invariant beamforming mic array that provides the ultimate in natural and full-fidelity sound. DsBeam provides unparalleled sidelobe depth below -40 dB, resulting in superior rejection of reverb and noise and providing superb clarity and intelligibility. With the addition of the new Voice Lift feature, the BMA 360 offers everything desired in a beamforming microphone array ceiling tile—superior beamformed audio, echo cancellation, noise cancellation, auto-mixing, power amplifiers, and camera-tracking functions. The ClearOne architecture offers easy setup and configuration for foolproof installation which benefits AV practitioners. End-users also benefit from the BMA 360’s reduced overall system cost for maximum return on investment. Each BMA 360 can have up to four Voice Lift zones to provide a simple and intuitive way to drive multiple speaker groups, allowing everyone to easily hear and be heard. Built-in 4 channel power amplifiers make wiring simple, convenient, and provide a large cost savings. ClearOne’s innovative combination of built-in power amplifiers and mix-minus zones makes the Voice Lift feature extremely simple to create and deploy. The BMA 360, with Voice Lift, sets another industry standard for exceptional mic pickup distance and system gain.
Ceiling Microphone Array
The ClearOne Ceiling Microphone Array enhances almost any professional conferencing application which demands high-quality audio. The Ceiling Microphone Array is easily installed and combines affordability with exceptional audio quality. With three wide-range microphones mounted together into a single unit array, the Ceiling Microphone Array provides the rich sound of three individual unidirectional microphones while maintaining full 360-degree coverage.
This product line was further strengthened in 2018 by the introduction of the Ceiling Microphone Array Analog-X series of ceiling microphones. These products feature superior sound quality, adjustability for desired height from 0 to 7 feet and numbered microphone elements for easy identification. This product line was further expanded with the introduction of Ceiling Microphone Array Dante, a tri-element ceiling microphone array with built-in Dante audio networking for conferencing and sound reinforcement applications. Each Ceiling Microphone Array Dante utilizes three premium quality microphone elements to deliver 360-degree room coverage for boardrooms, conference rooms, telemedicine facilities and more. Dante networking technology offers simple installation with CAT5 or CAT6 cabling, and delivers uncompressed, multi-channel audio with near-zero latency and sample accurate time synchronization throughout the network.
Wireless Microphones
In 2013, ClearOne introduced WS800 Wireless Microphone Systems, including four new models of wireless microphones/transmitters (Tabletop/boundary, Gooseneck, Handheld, Bodypack) and a base-station receiver with either 4 or 8 channels, which connect to professional audio mixers. Since the Sabine acquisition in 2014, the company’s portfolio of wireless microphone systems was enhanced by the introduction of digital compressed versions, Dante compatible versions and more frequency ranges catering to various international markets.
During 2017, the company started shipping DIALOG 20, the two-channel wireless microphone system. Leveraging the full power of ClearOne's robust, adaptive frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology within the 2.4 GHz unlicensed spectrum, DIALOG 20 has several advantages over fixed-frequency transmission. DIALOG 20 incorporates flexible features and multiple options usually available only in much larger systems. While DIALOG 20 works seamlessly with all commercially available mixers, it boasts additional features when natively interfacing with its CONVERGE Pro 2 or Beamforming Microphone Arrays.
In January 2022, the company introduced DIALOG 10 USB, the industry’s only single-channel wireless microphone system offering professional-quality audio with USB connectivity. Offering plug-and-play simplicity and wireless convenience, DIALOG 10 USB is an ideal solution for webcasting and cloud-based collaboration. Setup is a breeze with the included USB Type C cable that connects to any PC for audio, power, and control. With no external power source or additional audio cables required, DIALOG 10 USB is one of the easiest and fastest ways to enjoy high-quality audio in any application.
Video
The company’s video products include video collaboration and AV networking products.
Video Collaboration:
The company’s Media Collaboration suite of products is led by its comprehensive portfolio of industry-leading COLLABORATE® branded videoconferencing and collaboration solutions.
COLLABORATE Live 300 includes SIP/H.323 video conferencing, wireless presentation and interactive whiteboard capabilities — along with one CHAT 150 speakerphone and one UNITE 150 PTZ camera with 1080p30, and 12x optical zoom.
COLLABORATE Live 600 is a video collaboration system that delivers crystal-clear, full-duplex audio for medium-sized conference room environments. It offers the same suite of built-in video conferencing capabilities, the UNITE 200 1080p60 PTZ camera with 12x optical zoom, and an ultra-friendly user interface that’s as simple and familiar as the interface found on a tablet or mobile device. For audio, the system features twoClearOne CHAT150 speakerphones that daisy chain with CHATAttach for crystal-clear audio quality.
Rounding out ClearOne’s COLLABORATE Live product line is COLLABORATE Live 200, a video collaboration system with ultra-wide angle video capture, which is critical for viewing all conference participants in huddle spaces and smaller room environments. Designed specifically to meet huddle space budgets, COLLABORATE Live 200 features the UNITE 50 EPTZ 1080p30 camera with 3x digital zoom and a 120-degree wide-angle field of view. Other features are similar to those found in the COLLABORATE Live 300 system, including the free 90-day COLLABORATE Space subscription.
The company’s Media Collaboration series also includes COLLABORATE Space, a suite of solutions that unifies messaging, calls, meetings and, perhaps most importantly, minds in a way that will energize workflows and increase productivity for everyone involved in the enterprise.Designed as a persistent, user-friendly collaboration suite, COLLABORATE Space contains many powerful UCC capabilities, as well as the seamless ability to make calls outside the network. By adding phone credits on the account, customers can reach anyone in the world on a standard landline or mobile phone with the system’s integrated phone dialer.
With COLLABORATE Space, users can work together one-on-one, or in groups of hundreds, with integrated file sharing, searchable archives, and user presence information. They can connect with colleagues and contacts, via audio and video, with the most intuitive collaboration tools. Users can meet immediately or schedule a meeting and access a full suite of collaboration features, including file sharing, whiteboarding, annotation, chat, and meeting minutes. Team members wishing to move from email can also create searchable private and public channels, organized by topic, which can be accessed from anywhere. They can also search, access and store agendas, notes, messages, documents, whiteboards, session recordings, and more. Finally, COLLABORATE Space runs on any device, from desktop to mobile, and on any standards-based video endpoint.
COLLABORATE Space Enterprise has all the functionality people have come to expect from a full-featured cloud collaboration app, with the increased security and full, enterprise control associated with on-premises platforms. In addition to the Enterprise platform, COLLABORATE Space is available in cloud-based Basic and Pro versions.
COLLABORATE Space, the company’s powerful cloud-based collaboration solution, added two valuable features in 2020 - webinar hosting and Web RTC. COLLABORATE Space Pro and Enterprise meeting plans can be upgraded to include the Webinar feature allowing session hosts to conduct video and audio presentations for up to 1000 participants. The Web RTC feature works with all popular browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Safari and Mozilla Firefox. The Web RTC feature enables users to easily join full-featured COLLABORATE Space audio and video meetings using a browser with no downloads or plug-ins required. Users can accept meeting, webinar, and classroom invitations and join with a single click; easily sharing and viewing content within a browser window. COLLABORATE Space also added a feature where Microsoft Teams users can enjoy a richer collaboration than that available within the Teams environment today. This richer collaboration experience includes better video quality, support for multiple cameras, support for multiple displays, and a persistent meeting space where chats, audio and video recordings, documents, meeting minutes, whiteboard sessions, and more can be shared in private or public channels for later access. Users can easily initiate a Space video meeting or join an existing Space video meeting within the MS Teams environment.
Bring Your Own Device and Web Conferencing
The COLLABORATE Versa series offer a USB PTZ camera, a speakerphone and USB hub that connects a laptop to the meeting room peripherals via a single USB 3.0 cable. COLLABORATE Versa, is compatible with Microsoft Teams, Zoom, WebEx, Google Meet, and more. This solution is targeted at huddle spaces and medium conference rooms.
COLLABORATE Versa 50 features a ClearOne UNITE 50 EPTZ 3x zoom 1080p30 camera to capture all participants in the room; a USB hub for connecting to dual displays, cameras, audio endpoints, networks and other peripherals, and a CHAT 150 speakerphone with advanced audio processing for a rich conferencing experience.
The COLLABORATE Versa Pro 50 addresses today’s AV collaboration needs for COLLABORATE Space, MS Teams, Zoom, WebEx, GoToMeeting and other applications with a complete huddle space solution. It features a CONVERGE Huddle audio DSP mixer for a professional audio experience, a ClearOne UNITE 50 EPTZ 3x zoom 1080p30 camera, and a ceiling microphone array with 360-degree coverage reducing reverberation and noise. Customers purchasing the COLLABORATE Versa Pro 150 get upgraded to a 1080p30 UNITE 150 PTZ camera with 12x optical zoom.
COLLABORATE Versa Pro CT, includes a Huddle DSP mixer and the Huddle-compatible and patented BMA CTH that is a perfect fit for small-to medium-sized rooms.The COLLABORATE Versa Pro CT is a great room solution for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) collaboration using any cloud-based service. such as Microsoft Teams, WebEx, Zoom, and more.The system includes the Company’s new BMA CTH Beamforming Microphone Array Ceiling Tile with built-in AEC, providing the same impeccable room coverage as the BMA CT using adaptive steering (think of it as smart switching).The COLLABORATE Versa Pro CT system also includes mic/line inputs with AEC, line outputs, 4x10 Watt power amps, USB audio, and HDMI. The system comes preloaded with a project file ready for the most common room configuration. Or it can be further configured using CONSOLE AI software, with enhanced visualization and Audio Intelligence.
Additionally, both COLLABORATE Versa Pro 50 and Versa Pro 150 solutions feature a CONVERGE Huddle audio DSP mixer for a professional audio experience, and a Ceiling Microphone Array with 360-degree coverage that reduces reverberation and noise.
Cameras
UNITE 200/150 is a professional-grade PTZ camera series supporting USB, HDMI and IP connectivity. It delivers 1080p HD resolution, 12X optical zoom and is compatible with PC-based and Pro-AV applications, supporting wide range of meeting spaces.
The UNITE 50 4K camera is plug-and-play ready with a 120-degree field-of-view, and digital zoom. It pairs easily with any microphone/speaker combination. The UNITE 50 4K camera’s ultra-wide-angle field-of-view is ideally suited for PC-based video conferencing, web conferencing and unified communications, and other collaboration experiences in huddle spaces and small conference rooms. The camera also supports the USB Video Class (UVC) 1.1 standard for maximum compatibility with a wide variety of cloud and room-based solutions. Along with 4K30 resolution, the autofocus camera features 3x digital zoom and a full-function USB 3.0 interface for video and power. Its wide dynamic range provides support for optimal image capture — critical for all video conferencing.
In April 2020, the company introduced the UNITE 20 Pro Webcam, which easily mounts on a PC or laptop to provide full 1080p30 image with an ultra wide-angle field-of-view up to 120°. A super-high signal-to-noise ratio and advanced 2D and 3D noise reduction provides superior desktop camera video quality.
During the first quarter of 2021, the company announced two powerful cameras that enhance the ease and visual quality of online collaboration beyond the capabilities of integrated laptop and PC cameras. With the ClearOne UNITE 10, the company’s most affordable camera ever, and the feature-rich ClearOne UNITE 50 4K AF that includes Auto-Framing technology for automatic single- or multi-person capture, everyone can communicate with the confidence provided by stunning video that puts them in the best possible light. The small, powerful webcam supports up to 1080p video quality and offers autofocus. The UNITE 10 can capture five-megapixel images with a field of view up to 87 degrees. The UNITE 10 attaches to any PC or laptop with a simple mounting bracket, and a 1.5m USB-A cable ensures simple connection to most modern computers.
The new UNITE 50 4K AF camera is a major upgrade over traditional webcams and introduces ClearOne’s new Auto-Framing technology that automatically frames meeting participants to maximize screen use through intelligent image algorithms and ePTZ automation (electronic pan, tilt and zoom). With 4K video quality at 30 Hz, auto-focus capability, 4x digital zoom, more than 8 megapixels of total resolution and an ultra-wide 110-degree field of view, the UNITE 50 4K AF ePTZ is equally capable of delivering incredible image quality from a home office as it is at capturing all participants in an office boardroom. The camera can be controlled through an IR remote, further simplifying use and enabling real-time control of pan, tilt and zoom to provide greater control when capturing multi-person meeting environments. A standard damping mount ensures fast, easy installation, while an included USB 3.0 cable provides both power and video. Both new ClearOne cameras enable life-like video quality to web-based conferencing applications, including Microsoft Teams, WebEx, Google Meet, Zoom, and GoToMeeting.
During July 2021 the company introduced the UNITE 180 ePTZ professional camera that provides a full 180-degree panoramic field-of-view with ‘real-time stitching’ to achieve a variety of useful viewing modes for any application and environment. Designed for professional-quality visual collaboration, conferencing, UC applications, distance learning, and more, the new UNITE 180 camera provides six viewing mode options, as well as panoramic view for the ultimate in camera flexibility. Real-time stitching creates a seamless 180-degree panoramic view of wide spaces by bringing the views of multiple lenses together as one complete image. Large classroom settings, training centers, or any wide conferencing area are all captured and presented with perfect clarity in any of the viewing mode options. A 4x zoom further enhances the UNITE 180 feature set. The UNITE 180 is compatible with all popular cloud-based video collaboration applications, including Microsoft Teams, Zoom, WebEx, Google Meet, and others.
During July 2021 the company also announced the market introduction of the Versa Mediabar video soundbar, its first professional quality all-in-one audio and video capture device that combines the elegance and simplicity of a soundbar with the power of ClearOne’s intelligent audio capture and 4K camera technologies. Versa Mediabar provides high-quality visual collaboration, audio conferencing, and UC applications from a single integrated device, offering the simplest solution available for offices, conference rooms and home offices with virtually no setup required. With a compact design that can be mounted on a wall or attached to a video display, the Versa Mediabar connects via a single USB cable to elevate the soundbar concept into a powerful tool for virtual collaboration that includes AI-enabled auto-framing and people tracking. The Versa Mediabar features a built-in 4K Ultra HD camera with a 110-degree ultra wide-angle field of view and a four-element microphone array with 360-degree voice pickup and intelligent DSP that provides acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) and automatic noise reduction to ensure crystal clear audio capture. The camera combines electronic pan, tilt and zoom functions (ePTZ) with artificial intelligence to enable auto-framing and people tracking that keeps the speaker in view even if they move around the room. From huddle spaces and small meeting rooms to executive offices and home offices, the compact Versa Mediabar delivers all the power and clarity needed for daily virtual communications. In addition to its professional-quality audio and video capture, the Versa Mediabar also features a powerful built-in speaker with Bluetooth connectivity that allows it to serve double duty as a fully-featured conferencing solution or a Bluetooth speaker for impromptu calls using any Bluetooth device. These attributes make the Versa Mediabar perfect for popular cloud-based collaboration applications, such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, WebEx, and Google Meet. The Versa Mediabar supports standard UVC commands for control, making it a great addition to existing systems, while dual wall and display mounting options deliver freedom of placement and movement.
At the end of October 2022, the company announced the introduction of the UNITE 60 camera, a new wide angle 4K USB camera featuring AI-powered smart face and voice tracking, along with electronic PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) capabilities. With a 120-degree field of view, and a plug-and-play USB 3.0 connection for video, control, and power, the new UNITE 60 camera is ideally suited for rooms such as executive offices, huddle rooms, or smaller conference rooms. The UNITE 60 camera leverages a wide dynamic range and super-high SNR with advanced 2D and 3D noise reduction to deliver excellent visuals across varied lighting conditions. In addition to the AI auto-tracking feature, the camera can also be controlled via IR remote or UVC protocol. The camera can be paired with a wide variety of microphones and speakers.
In November 2022, the company announced the introduction of UNITE 160, a new camera that offers cutting-edge 4K UHD performance with 12x optical zoom capabilities, remote-controlled mechanical pan and tilt as well as AI-powered smart face tracking and auto framing. This camera is designed to capture all participants in large rooms while enabling automated focus on a moving presenter, making it ideal for larger spaces, including board rooms, training centers, conference rooms and classrooms. This new camera offers an integrated AI-based camera tracking solution for rooms that are a fit for ClearOne's Versa Lite CT and a single camera. This new lower-cost camera tracking configuration eliminates the need for a DSP mixer and a control system.
AV Networking
The company’s AV networking products are primarily sold under VIEW Pro and VIEW Lite brands and deliver the ultimate IP A/V experience by streaming time sensitive high definition audio and video and control over TCP/IP networks. By combining audio and/or video content, meta-data and control signals into one digital stream in harmony with industry standards, its distributed, edge of the network architecture allows the hardware and the processing power to be distributed across any existing TCP/IP network. This leverages many of the advantages of using TCP/IP over traditional analog systems and other centrally controlled IP-based systems. VIEW Pro products are powered by ClearOne’s patented StreamNet technology. A user can activate and control a single audio source or combination of audio sources, video sources, security systems, HVAC systems, lighting, and other room or facility monitoring functions such as paging or security access by just a single touch to its attractive touch screens. Alternatively, any PC, laptop, tablet, or other device with a built-in web browser can control the equipment connected to the system. VIEW Pro systems have no limits on the numbers of sources, displays, or amplifiers in a project and can be used in venues from high-end residential homes to large-scale commercial projects. The number of devices could be determined by the network bandwidth availability, number of media streams and its bandwidth requirements.
Transporting an audio or video signal via IP (Internet Protocol) packets preserves the digital quality of the signal across the network. Unlike analog systems, which lose quality over long distances, IP packets are decoded to retain the same digital quality as when they were encoded. The addition of Digital Encoder and Digital Decoder products with DVI/HDMI input and output enhances the flexibility of the complete AV distribution system and makes it as easy to use as analog devices.
The VIEW Pro solution provides 1080p60, H.264 high definition HDMI video-audio, 4:4:4 true-color, 24 bit per pixel video output. It comes with a dual input encoder, single input encoder and single output decoder with balanced audio, general purpose control ports and clock synchronized video output. The VIEW Pro system also provides PANORAMATM, a multi-view video composition and video-wall software application using its built-in video processing engine, without using external expensive hardware video processors. This continues to be truly differentiated in the professional market by offering complete AV streaming and distribution systems that can scale to fulfill projects of any size and complexity, from light commercial to the very largest environments. VIEW Pro products include E110 and E120 encoders and D110, D210 and D310 decoders. The VIEW Pro solution also comes with multiple features, including audio mixing, video composition, video wall, multicast RTSP and local playback.
VIEW CONSOLE software gives integrators a comprehensive platform from which to configure, manage, monitor, and control VIEW Pro system installation using an easy, modern interface. The toolset, which incorporates advanced software technologies, works across ClearOne’s full line of VIEW Pro products.
The VIEW Lite series includes an encoder, a decoder and a controller, that provide essential functionality that meets the full needs of simple AV over IP applications while simultaneously delivering superb price-to-performance value.
Professional Audio and Video Home Office Solutions
During November 2020, the company introduced Aura, a comprehensive range of Good, Better and Best packages of enterprise quality audio, video, audio-video options to meet the home office market demand for professional audio and video collaboration solutions that match the quality found in a traditional corporate office. Aura solutions are designed for high performance professionals across multiple industries. Aura meets this growing need for easy to purchase and install commercial quality solutions that deliver HDConference audio and true-to-life video technology through a variety of professional microphone, audioconferencing, videoconferencing, camera and collaboration component choices that optimize home office acoustic and aesthetic aspirations. Aura solutions are designed to be easily installed by both homeowners and installers.
With the post-pandemic demand for work from home and learn from home markets plateauing, the company has decided to deemphasize the Aura product line and continue its focus on its core product lines and its key channels including the professional audiovisual channel.
Marketing and Sales
The company uses a two-tier channel model through which it sells its commercial products to a worldwide network of independent professional audiovisual, information technology and telecommunications distributors, who then sell its products to independent systems integrators, dealers, and value-added resellers, who in turn work directly with the end-users of its products for product fulfillment and installation, if needed. The company’s products are also specified and recommended by professional audio-visual consultants. The company also sells its commercial products directly to certain dealers, systems integrators, value-added resellers, and end-users.
The company’s product sales generated in the United States and outside the United States. The company sells directly to its distributors and resellers in approximately 55 countries worldwide. The company anticipates that the portion of its total product revenue from international sales will continue to be a significant portion of its total revenue as it further enhances its focus on developing new products, establishing new channel partners, strengthening its presence in key growth areas, complying with regional environmental regulatory standards, and improving product localization with country-specific product documentation and marketing materials.
Distributors, Resellers and Independent Integrators
The company sold its products directly to approximately 300 distributors and direct resellers throughout the world during 2022. Distributors and resellers purchase the company’s products at a discount from list price and resell them worldwide to hundreds of independent systems integrators, telephony value-added resellers, IT value-added resellers, and PC dealers on a non-exclusive basis. The company’s distributors maintain their own inventory and accounts receivable and are required to provide technical and non-technical support for its products to the next level of distribution participants. The company works with its distributors and resellers to establish appropriate inventory stocking levels. The company also works with its distributors and resellers to maintain relationships with its existing systems integrators, dealers, and other value-added resellers.
While dealers, resellers, and system integrators all sell the company’s products directly to end-users, system integrators typically add significant value to each sale by combining its products with products from other manufacturers as part of an integrated system solution. Commercial dealers and value-added resellers usually purchase its products from distributors and may bundle its products with products from other manufacturers for resale to the end-user. The company maintains close working relationships with all its reseller partners and offer them education and training on all of its products.
Marketing
Much of the company’s marketing effort is conducted in conjunction with its channel partners who provide leverage for it in reaching existing and prospective customers worldwide. The company also regularly attends industry forums and exhibit its products at multiple regional and international trade shows, often with its channel partners. These trade shows provide exposure for the company’s brand and products to a wide audience. The company markets its ClearOne-branded commercial products on its website www.clearone.com. The company also conducts public relations initiatives to get press coverage and product reviews in industry and non-industry publications alike.
Customers
The company’s customers are distributors and value-added resellers.
Competition
In the professional audio conferencing system and sound reinforcement markets, the company’s main competitors include AcousticMagic, Biamp, BOSE, Crestron, Extron, Harman (Samsung), Peavey, Poly, QSC, Shure, Symetrix, Vaddio, Xilica, and Yamaha and any original equipment manufacturing (OEM) partners, along with several other companies potentially poised to enter the market.
The company’s primary competitors in the USB-based speakerphones market are Jabra, Logitech, Poly, Sennheiser, Yamaha and Yealink and any OEM partners.
In the tabletop conference phones, the company faces significant competition from Avaya/Konftel, Poly, Yamaha and Yealink, and from any OEM partnerships. A significant portion of the tabletop market is covered by sales through OEM partnerships.
In the microphones market, the company’s primary competitors include AKG, Audio Technica, Audix, Avlex/Mipro, Beyerdynamic, Biamp, Clock Audio, Lectrosonics, Nureva, Mediavision/Taiden, Poly, Phoenix Audio, Sennheiser, Shure, TeachLogic, TOA, Yamaha and Vaddio and any OEM partners.
The company’s video conferencing products face tremendous competition from well established players, as well as emerging players, including Acano/CISCO, Adobe Connect, Amazon Chime, Avaya (Radvision), Aver, Barco, Blackboard Collaborate, Blue Jeans, Cisco, Citrix, Fuze, Huawei, InFocus, Kramer, LifeSize, Magor, Pexip, Poly, Microsoft, Starleaf, UNIFY, Videxio, Vidyo, Yealink, Zoom and ZTE.
The company’s AV networking products face intense competition from a few well-established corporations of diversified capabilities and strengths, including Atlona, Aurora Multimedia, Barco, Biamp, Crestron, Extron, Gefen, Haivision, Hall Research, Harman, Infocus (Jupiter), Key Digital, Kramer, Liberty AV, Magenta Research, Matrox, Mediasite, Ncast, RGB Spectrum, voLANte, Teracue, tvONE, VBrick, Visionary Solutions, WyreStorm and ZeeVee.
Manufacturing
All of the company’s products are manufactured by EMS providers. The company’s primary EMS provider is Flextronics.
Research and Product Development
The company’s research and product development expenditures were approximately $4.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2022.
Intellectual Property and Other Proprietary Rights
As of December 31, 2022, the company had approximately 79 patents and 4 pending patent applications, including foreign counterpart patents and foreign applications. The company’s patents and pending patent applications cover a wide range of its products and services including, but not limited to acoustic echo cancellation, beamforming microphone arrays, systems that enable streaming media over IP networks, algorithms for video processing, wireless conferencing systems, spatial audio, and technologies for the Internet of Things. The durations of the company’s patents are determined by the laws of the country of issuance. For the U.S., patents may be 17 years from the date of issuance of the patent or 20 years from the date of its filing, depending upon when the patent application was filed. In addition, the company holds numerous U.S. trademarks. The laws of foreign countries may not protect its intellectual property to the same degree as the laws of the United States.
History
ClearOne, Inc. was founded in 1983. The company was incorporated as a Utah corporation in 1983 and reincorporated in Delaware in 2018.
