Located in Sherbrooke, Quebec, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church has served its congregation and community for generations through worship services, music, and community gatherings. Led by Minister Rev. Dr. Nigel Parker, the church is committed to creating an inclusive worship environment where all congregants can fully participate in the service.
As part of that commitment, church leadership began exploring ways to improve accessibility for members and visitors with hearing loss.
The Challenge
Church leadership wanted a modern assistive listening system for worship services that would be simple to operate, easy for congregants to access, and capable of delivering clear, synchronized audio throughout the sanctuary without impacting the aesthetics of the worship space.
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church partnered with Canadian Hearing Services and Erikson Commercial to evaluate modern assistive listening technologies. During the evaluation process, the team identified several challenges with traditional solutions.
Induction loop systems were considered but ultimately deemed too costly to install, while Wi-Fi-based assistive listening systems required additional management and depended on users downloading apps or borrowing devices. Infrared (IR) systems were also determined to be a poor fit for the sanctuary’s architectural layout.
Following guidance from its technology partners, the church decided to conduct a pilot evaluation of Auracast™ broadcast audio technology with a select group of parishioners who regularly relied on assistive listening during worship services before committing to a permanent installation.
Technology Selection & Deployment
Following onsite demonstrations and evaluation, St. Andrew’s selected the Williams AV Infinium® Auracast™ broadcast audio system to modernize its assistive listening capabilities.
The deployment included a rack-mounted Infinium controller and a ceiling-mounted transmitter installed within the sanctuary’s vaulted ceiling to provide consistent audio coverage while remaining visually unobtrusive.
Installation was completed by Daniel Beaulieu from Erikson Commercial using a single CAT5 connection between the controller and transmitter, helping simplify installation and setup.
“It was a quick installation and easy to operate,” said Daniel Beaulieu of Erikson Commercial. “The simplicity of turning the system on and having it just work is important because church technical volunteers already manage many responsibilities during a service.”
During the evaluation period, participating parishioners accessed the audio stream using Auracast-compatible hearing aids and personal devices, or venue-provided Infinium receivers with headphones or neck loops for users relying on T-coil hearing aids.
The Results
Feedback from the pilot program was overwhelmingly positive. During the evaluation period, participating parishioners immediately noticed improved speech clarity and improved listening quality during worship services.
“It was really quite moving to see the smiles break out on their faces,” said Rev. Dr. Nigel Parker. “The speech had a clarity they had not known in such a long time.” The experience was impactful enough that one parishioner specifically requested Auracast-compatible hearing aids from her audiologist for her next hearing aid upgrade.
Following the successful evaluation, St. Andrew’s expanded the Infinium Auracast™ assistive listening system for use by the broader congregation during worship services and community gatherings.
The system now provides clear, synchronized audio throughout the sanctuary while supporting direct streaming to Auracast-compatible hearing aids and personal devices, and handheld receivers from the church.
By adopting Infinium Auracast™ broadcast audio, St. Andrew’s has created a more accessible and welcoming worship experience — helping more members of the congregation comfortably hear and participate in services for years to come.