Doctor’s Office Entertainment System using Apple Products
Flat Screen & Bose in the Waiting Room
- TV in the waiting room
- Music in each of the exam rooms
- Conference room TV setup
I decided to develop a system that could be controlled from an iMac at the receptionist’s desk at the front of the office. From this iMac computer, all videos shown on the TVs and all music playing in the exam rooms will be centrally controlled. And I did this all utilizing Apple products.
Here is a full list of the items purchased for this setup:
- 55″ flat screen monitor for waiting room
- 46″ flat screen monitor for conference room
- Two Bose 3-speaker stereo systems to be connected to these flat screens
- Two Apple TV devices to connect to the two flat screen monitors
- Two Bose wave radios for the two exam rooms
- Two Apple Airport Express devices to connect to the wave radios
- One Apple 22″ iMac computer
- One Apple Time Capsule to be used as a router and automatic backup
The idea here is that all content is stored on the iMac. There are videos and music that the head surgeon wanted available to play on any of the TVs or stereos in the office. Therefore, all music and videos were added to the iMac and added to the iTunes library. From this library, videos and music can be sent to the flat screen monitors using the Apple TVs and music can be sent to the exam rooms. The same song can be played on both TVs and both wave radios so that the same music is playing simultaneously throughout the office. Fun videos like Disney & Pixar movies can also be added to quickly show in the waiting room if children are present.
The first item I installed was the Apple Time Capsule. The Time Capsule functions as a wireless internet router as well as an automatic backup device for the iMac. This is the backbone of the entire system as all Apple TVs and AirPort Express devices will connect to this wireless connection. A Time Capsule is not required, but makes connection a lot easier. Plus, the Time Capsule could also be used as a shared storage device between multiple office computers.
Apple iMac for Receiptionist's Desk
Then, all TVs were mounted with the Bose stereos connected to the TVs and connected to Apple TV. Also, I installed the Bose wave radios in the exam rooms and connected those devices to the AirPort Express devices. AirPort Express allows you to do a couple of things. One, the AirPort Express can actually act as a wireless connection repeater, which will strengthen the wireless signal throughout the office. It also acts as a receptor that the iMac can connect to and dictate the songs being played on the wave radio. The AirPort Express and Bose wave radio are connected using a simple stereo cord.
Bose Wave Radio with AirPort Express Connection
The beauty of this system is that everything is integrated. The head surgeon can even bypass the iMac and use an iPhone or iPad to push videos and music to specific devices. The conference room also contains an HDMI & VGA connection so that people can plug their computers directly into the flat screen to show specific presentations or items from their computers. In most other office setups, each TV would be a separate entity and the music system would be completely different. With this solution, everything works together and can easily be controlled from one location (or many if so desired).
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