When the audio fails in a conference room, the meeting fails. Remote participants who cannot hear clearly disengage. Recordings become unusable. The technology that was supposed to enable communication becomes the primary obstacle to it. The microphone system is the single component most often responsible for this failure — and Shure is the brand that professional AV integrators consistently specify when audio performance is non-negotiable.
BCS Consultants is a certified Shure partner. This guide explains how the Shure commercial microphone ecosystem fits into conference room audio solutions: which product is right for each application, and how Shure systems integrate with the rest of your conference room AV.
Why Microphone Choice Matters More Than Most Buyers Realize
Consumer wisdom about microphones — the assumption that any mic that can record sound is sufficient for a conference room — consistently produces disappointing conference room audio. The challenge in a conference room is not simply capturing sound. It is capturing the voice of the person speaking while suppressing the HVAC noise, the sound of the room itself, the audio coming from the speakers (which the microphone must not re-capture), and the voices of participants who are not currently speaking.
Professional conference room microphone systems from Shure address all of these challenges through beam steering technology, directional polar patterns, and tight integration with digital signal processors that handle acoustic echo cancellation and noise suppression.
The Shure MXA Series: Conference Room Microphones
MXA310 — Table Array
The Shure MXA310 is a low-profile table microphone array designed for small to medium conference rooms. It combines an array of microphone capsules with steerable pickup lobes that automatically focus on the active speaker — capturing voice clearly while minimizing pickup from other directions.
The MXA310 connects via USB to a conferencing system or via Dante network audio for integration with a Biamp TesiraFORTÉ or similar DSP. Its low profile — it sits flat on the conference table — minimizes visual impact in the room while providing coverage across the table for small to mid-size tables, depending on table shape and room acoustics.
MXA710 — Column Microphone
The MXA710 is a wall- or surface-mounted column microphone that provides a different coverage geometry than the table-mounted MXA310. The column form factor mounts vertically on the wall or on a display stand, projecting multiple steerable microphone beams across the room horizontally. This makes it particularly appropriate for rooms where table mounting is impractical — executive conference rooms where table aesthetics are a priority, rooms with island seating arrangements, or installations where the client prefers no equipment on the table surface.
The MXA710 is also available in a 2-foot configuration that mounts below a display, capturing voices in front of the screen — a useful configuration for smaller rooms where a single column mic can cover the full seating area.
MXA920 — Ceiling Array
The Shure MXA920 is a widely specified option for large conference rooms and boardrooms where ceiling mounting is preferred or required. It is a ceiling-mounted array with configurable beam steering that can cover a large room from a single unit, subject to ceiling height and room layout.
The MXA920's most important capability for complex installations is its spatial flexibility: each of the steerable beams can be individually aimed, width-adjusted, and assigned to an independent audio channel. For a boardroom with multiple seating zones — the main table, a secondary seating area, and a presenter position — the MXA920 can be configured to cover each zone with an independently processed audio channel, routed through the Biamp DSP for zone-specific echo cancellation and noise gating.
MXA902 — Integrated Ceiling Array
The MXA902 combines a ceiling microphone array with an integrated loudspeaker and onboard IntelliMix DSP in a single ceiling-mounted unit. For spaces where a fully integrated single-ceiling-unit solution is desirable — small to mid-size meeting rooms of up to roughly 20 by 20 feet, or installations where cable routing to separate speaker positions is difficult — the MXA902 provides a complete audio solution from one mounting point.
The IntelliMix P300 Audio Conferencing Processor
The IntelliMix P300 is Shure's compact DSP designed specifically for conferencing applications. It provides acoustic echo cancellation, automatic microphone mixing, noise reduction, and signal routing in a compact unit. For rooms where a full-scale Biamp TesiraFORTÉ deployment is not warranted — medium conference rooms using an MXA310 or MXA710 — the P300 provides professional-grade processing in a compact, cost-effective package.
The P300 integrates with USB for direct connection to Teams Rooms or Zoom Rooms certified codecs, and with Dante network audio for larger installations where the audio signal needs to be routed across the network to other devices.
Integration with Biamp TesiraFORTÉ and Crestron
In larger conference room and boardroom installations, Shure microphones connect to a Biamp TesiraFORTÉ DSP via Dante — the industry-standard audio-over-IP protocol that both platforms support natively. The TesiraFORTÉ provides the acoustic echo cancellation, signal routing, and output management for the full room audio system: receiving Shure microphone channels, applying per-channel processing, mixing the output for the far-end codec, managing the room speaker feed, and integrating with the Crestron control system for volume management and mute control from the touch panel.
This Shure-Biamp-Crestron integration is the standard configuration for professional boardroom and large conference room installations, and it is a combination that BCS Consultants has deployed extensively in commercial environments across Southern California and nationally.
Planning a Shure Microphone Installation
A successful Shure installation starts before any hardware is ordered. BCS Consultants walks each room to note ceiling height and type, table size and shape, HVAC diffuser locations, hard reflective surfaces such as glass walls, and the position of the display and loudspeakers. Shure's free Designer software is then used to model microphone coverage so that the pickup lobes are planned for the actual seating positions rather than guessed at.
Placement matters as much as model selection. Ceiling arrays should be kept clear of air diffusers and noisy lighting drivers where possible, and table arrays should not be buried under cables or equipment. Seating changes, such as adding a credenza or moving the table, should trigger a coverage review.
After installation, commissioning confirms that every seat is picked up, echo cancellation is converged, and lobes or exclusion zones are tuned around noise sources. BCS Consultants finishes with live test calls on the client's own platform so that the result is verified the way the room will actually be used. Firmware updates and configuration backups are then documented so that the system stays consistent over time.
Common Mistakes with Conference Room Microphones
The most frequent mistake is treating the microphone as an accessory instead of a designed system. Placing an array directly under an air diffuser, relying on a single soundbar microphone in a long room, or leaving echo cancellation unconfigured will produce poor audio no matter which brand is installed. Another common problem is skipping exclusion zones, so a noisy projector fan or a hallway door is picked up as if it were a participant.
Teams also underestimate the value of testing on the live platform. A microphone that sounds fine in a local recording can behave differently once it passes through a codec and a conferencing service. BCS Consultants tests with a remote participant on the client's own Microsoft Teams or Zoom account and adjusts gain, lobes, and noise settings until the far end hears natural, even speech from every seat.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Shure MXA920 units do I need for a boardroom?
Coverage depends on ceiling height, room shape, and seating layout, and Shure publishes coverage guidance by ceiling height. One unit often serves a standard boardroom table, while very long tables or rooms with complex seating layouts may require two or more. BCS Consultants evaluates coverage requirements during the system design phase.
Can Shure microphones work with any video conferencing platform?
Yes. Shure microphones are platform-agnostic — they connect via USB, analog, or Dante to the conference room codec, which handles the video conferencing platform connection. Shure MXA products are designed to work with Microsoft Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms, and other major conferencing platforms through the room's codec or DSP, and BCS Consultants confirms compatibility for each design.
What is beam steering and why does it matter?
Beam steering is the ability of a multi-capsule microphone array to focus its pickup pattern electronically toward a specific direction, rather than capturing sound equally from all directions. Steerable beams allow a single ceiling microphone to cover multiple positions at a conference table, automatically following the active speaker, without moving any physical hardware.
Will a ceiling microphone array pick up the room speakers?
It can, which is why echo cancellation is essential. The room speakers' signal is sent to the DSP as a reference so that it can be removed from the microphone signal before it reaches the far end. Good speaker placement, correct gain settings, and testing with a live call confirm that remote participants hear only the people in the room, and not their own voices returned. Rooms with large glass surfaces may also need extra tuning or acoustic treatment.
Ready to get started? Talk to BCS Consultants about Shure microphone systems for your conference rooms