January 17, 2023: A Note from USDLA Executive Director Pat Cassella
Hello, friends! As we embark on an exciting new year in this week’s issue of USDLA News, it’s our pleasure to introduce you to longstanding Yamaha Unified Communications.
The conferencing and collaboration division of the Yamaha Corporation in North America sells microphones, speakers, speech privacy systems, video sound bars, and personal Bluetooth Speakerphones.
“With 10 years of history in the Japanese market, Yamaha’s dedicated unified communications department focuses on solutions that enhance communication and help organizations reach their business goals,” explains Tatsuya Umeo, CEO of Yamaha Unified Communications (pictured below).
He has been with the Yamaha Corporation for over 30 years. Before this position, he worked in business management for Yamaha’s UC division and strategic business planning for Yamaha’s professional and consumer audio. With decades of experience in product marketing, audio engineering, and business analysis, he has successfully aligned the UC division to match Yamaha’s exceptional standard for quality and performance.
Please scroll down for our Q&A with Yamaha’s Tatsuya Umeo.
Also, be sure to mark your calendar for:
Questions about becoming a sponsor that we highlight? Don’t hesitate to reach out to me. — Pat, pcassella@usdla.org |
Save the Date: February 1 -3, 2022 FDLA/FAMTE Virtual Conference
USDLA Florida Chapter (FDLA) is excited to bring you a great conference with leading speakers from Florida in both distance education and mathematics. The program has over 50+ presenters and panelists that are sharing their latest research and best practices in the design, development, and implementation of distance education programs across the K-20 spectrum. Presentations are about management of diversity in online classrooms, gaming, innovative tools, and so much more!
Keynote: Dr. Pam Northup – Dr. Northup has three decades of experience in higher education crafting learning systems to inspire the future of work and learning.
Keynote: Dr. Brent Goldman – Dr. Goldman was recognized by Florida Magazine as being one of 500 most influential business executives in the state. He is a leader in private school education.
Keynote: Dr. Robert Schoen – Dr. Schoen is a leading researcher in the development of educational and psychological measurement instruments and teaching student mathematical thinking to teachers.
Join the experts in Florida for an amazing virtual conference! Register at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fdla-conference/registration.html
(Please note it says 2022 because the conference was postponed due to Hurricane Ian.) |
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USDLA Partner Spotlight is on Yamaha Unified Communications
USDLA: Tell us about your company. You have a long history. Share that with us, and please tell us about the need you are filling in the industry.
Tatsuya: Since its founding in 1887, the Yamaha Corporation has excelled in all things audio: music instruments, semiconductors, and a wide variety of products and services related to sound and music. Our specific division, Yamaha Unified Communications, prioritizes audio excellence in conferencing and collaboration spaces. Yamaha’s industry-leading technology, such as Human Voice Activity Detection, Adaptive Echo Cancellation, Automatic Gain Control, Noise Reduction, and Dereverberation, make an unparalleled impact in the hybrid classroom.
USDLA: What have been your organization’s biggest challenges?
Tatsuya: Because Yamaha has successfully set the standard for excellence across professional audio, music performance, and audio production, most consumers must be educated on the additional products and services offered for unified communications. Yet, as AV and IT professionals across universities discover and implement Yamaha UC’s solutions, the quality quickly speaks for itself. We also advocate for the value of audio quality regarding productivity and collaboration. Meetings without working video can continue, while meetings without working audio cannot.
USDLA: What are the company’s big wins?
Tatsuya: As a veteran of sound technology, Yamaha understands all aspects of successful audio for schools and universities. Our products function beautifully and are designed specifically for effortless installation, configuration, and management. From the user’s perspective, whether students are in the classroom or joining remotely, the crystal-clear audio on both ends ensures seamless collaboration and connection for all parties. Plus, we’ve been fortunate in maintaining stock and avoiding supply chain disruptions across all our microphones and speakers.
USDLA: Who is your ideal client, and how has the business grown recently?
Tatsuya: Our ideal client can include any educational institution willing to embrace the hybrid model and provide professional-grade audio across all environments, both on and off campus. Our ideal client does not need a technical background, given our products’ ease of use, impressive customer support team, and incredibly low failure rate. Furthermore, we appreciate any client willing to try our products in one classroom and willing to standardize and upgrade across all departments.
USDLA: How has USDLA been helpful in your efforts?
Tatsuya: USDLA has been a wonderful partner for us. They have continuously offered support and opportunities for additional exposure into the educational space to showcase our professional-grade audio across all environments, both on campus and off.
USDLA: What does the future look like for your Yamaha Unified Communications?
Tatsuya: Yamaha UCs will continue supporting educational institutions revolutionizing their students’ education. These environments foster meeting equity for all participants and enable a successful hybrid model. We plan to support our clients by announcing new hardware, upgrading the firmware of current products, and aligning with partners making an impact in education. We’re also expanding our staff across the U.S. and furthering our strong relationships with Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
Learn more:
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Presenter: Lisa A. Clark, EdD, Senior Product Manager, Anthology.com
Distance education has evolved into a trusted, necessary, and expected form of delivering higher education content, no longer considered a fad or a new method of instruction. Due to the rapid growth of distance education offerings, early participating faculty needed more training, guidance, or standards regarding building their virtual courses. Fast forward to 2020 and the shutdown of in-person instruction worldwide, most Instructors needed more time to be ready to address the differences between synchronous (traditional face-to-face) and asynchronous (via distance education) learning environments. Now, more than ever, students expect online education offerings at their institutions and may obtain their entire degree program via distance.
In this session: Participants will learn the best ways to encourage training for online teaching and what is truly important to instructors regarding their preference for training and incentives for training. These topics and more will be shared in this session to outline ideas related to leadership decisions for online teaching and learning training.
Click here to register for the webinar: usdla.org/usdla-friday-webinar-series |
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Thank You to Our National Sponsors
D2L, Instructure, JDL Horizons, Logitech, NC SARA, Poly, TSU, TEDU, Verizon, Edu-Alliance, Harmonize, IntelliBoard, IAP, IPX, Nearpod, Yamaha Unified Communications, Yellowdig, Anatomage, Arizona Telemedicine Program and Southwest Telehealth Resource Center, Enrollment Resources, Proctorio, VDO360, VirtualCare, Vyopta, XanEdu, Merlot, FlexPoint, Skills Commons, BocaVox, PIP, Quickly, Upswing, WonUp, |
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Thank you for supporting USDLA, our Sponsors, and our State Chapters.
Eric Jones, President
Chuck Sengstock, President-elect
About United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)
The USDLA, a 501(c) 3 non-profit association formed in 1987, reaches 20,000 people globally with sponsors and members operating in and influencing 46% of the $913 billion. U.S. education and training market. USDLA promotes the development and application of distance learning for education and training and serves the needs of the distance learning community by providing advocacy, information, networking, and opportunity. Distance learning and training constituencies served include pre-K-12 education, home schooling, higher education, and continuing education, as well as business, corporate, military, government, and telehealth markets. Visit USDLA.org |
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