Turning an existing lecture hall into a connected lecture hall is one of the most common projects at higher education institutions in 2026. That doesn’t mean the task is always easy.
Most institutions go through an audiovisual integrator for this type of project. And that’s often where things get complicated. These providers know their technical craft well: the equipment they install is solid, proven, and well established. But their approach is fundamentally technical, not pedagogical. In practice, that means oversized specifications, complex video control rooms, embedded cabling, weeks of construction work, and budgets that balloon before the first class has even been broadcast.
In public universities, the problem is even more structural. Public procurement contracts often tie institutions to a listed integrator for several years. As a result, even when the IT director knows lighter solutions exist, they may not have the authority to choose a different one. The project ends up shaped by what the integrator offers, not by what the institution actually needs.
Yet in the vast majority of cases, an existing lecture hall can be made fully functional for hybrid teaching without touching the building — or barely — without major construction work, and with tools that can be installed in a single day. Here’s how.
What we really mean by “connected lecture hall”
A connected lecture hall isn’t simply a lecture hall with a projector and a Wi-Fi connection. It’s a space from which a teacher can broadcast their class live to remote students, interact with them in real time, and do so without having to manage the technical side themselves.
The key features of a true connected lecture hall are automatic capture of the teacher with no operator needed, capture of the board or projected content, multi-view live streaming, the ability for remote students to ask questions and access the replay, automatic attendance tracking for both in-person and remote students, and integration with the institution’s student portal or LMS. All without the teacher having to start anything complex at the beginning of each class.
This is exactly the approach Kalyzée Connect was designed to embody: a platform installed on a single computer in the room, connected to the institution’s schedule, that starts automatically at the right time. The teacher arrives, clicks on their class, and they’re online. No control room, no technician, no startup procedure to remember.
Why most existing lecture halls are closer than you’d think
A typical lecture hall in a university or higher education school already has most of the elements a hybrid broadcasting solution can use directly: an HDMI output at the teacher’s podium, a projector, a wireless or wired lectern microphone, a wired network connection, and a desktop computer. This is exactly the point that changes everything with a software-based approach. Kalyzée Connect picks up these existing signals, encodes them, streams them, and records them without adding a control room, without multiplying cables, and without needing a dedicated technician.
The lecture hall doesn’t need to be rebuilt. It needs to be orchestrated.
This changes the budget equation radically. Where an AV integrator will propose a full control room with dedicated equipment, a software-based approach builds on what’s already there and only adds what’s truly missing. The difference often adds up to tens of thousands of euros.
The 4 things to assess before getting started
Before any project, a quick assessment shows what needs to be added and what can be reused. In practice, four points are enough to frame 90% of projects.
Video capture is often the only real piece of new equipment needed. A lecture hall without a camera pointed at the teacher will need a PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) camera installed at the back of the room or on a side wall. This type of camera mounts without any structural work, connects via HDMI or the IP network, and automatically tracks the teacher through motion detection. The cost remains very reasonable compared to a full video control room.
Sound is rarely an issue in lecture halls that are already equipped. If a wireless mic is already in place, its signal can be fed directly into the broadcast chain via a line input or a USB audio interface. In lecture halls with no existing sound system, a desk microphone can be enough. There’s no need to redo the whole acoustic setup to get started. That said, at a later stage, installing a ceiling microphone is strongly recommended to make broadcasts easier and let teachers stop worrying about it at all.
Network connectivity is the crux of the matter. A stable wired connection is strongly recommended for live streaming. In lecture halls that are already wired, an RJ45 port at the teacher’s podium is enough. Wi-Fi shared with 200 students on their phones can create instability that ruins the experience for remote students. A wired bandwidth test in the room before any purchase is essential.
Integration with the schedule and the LMS is where the real day-to-day simplicity comes in. Kalyzée Connect syncs with the institution’s timetable: the class starts automatically, recording kicks in, remote students receive the link, and attendance is tracked in the background. No extra steps for the teacher, and nothing can be forgotten. The student-portal reference framework published by the Ministry of National Education sets out the interoperability standards solutions must meet to fit into this ecosystem.
What a transformation really costs
A connected lecture hall project with no major construction work generally breaks down as follows:
| Item | Range | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic PTZ camera | €800 to €3,000 | Depending on resolution and tracking features |
| Microphone (if none in place) | €200 to €4,000 | Desk mic, ceiling mic |
| USB audio interface (if needed) | €100 to €300 | To pick up the existing sound signal |
| Kalyzée Connect | From €150/room/month | Live, replay, attendance tracking, built-in LMS integration |
| Installation and setup | A few hours | Can be done by the in-house IT team |
In most projects, the additional equipment costs between €1,500 and €5,000 per lecture hall. That’s nowhere near the budgets involved in a traditional video control room, and it’s an investment most institutions can cover from their annual digital budget without going through a construction procurement process. On this topic, the article on funding a HyFlex classroom details the funding options available in 2026, including DINUM grants and regional funds.
Common mistakes to avoid
The first mistake is buying equipment before choosing the software solution. Compatibility between the camera, the microphone, and the broadcasting platform determines everything. It’s better to start from the software solution and work back to the hardware it natively supports.
Neglecting the network is the number one cause of projects that work in testing but not in real conditions. Insufficient or unstable bandwidth ruins the experience for remote students without the teacher noticing at the time.
Forgetting about teachers is also common. A connected lecture hall whose teachers don’t know how to use the features is an investment only half put to use. Getting up to speed should be almost instant. With Kalyzée Connect, a 30-minute session is generally enough for a teacher to become independent, because the system doesn’t ask them to learn a broadcasting tool: they click on their class, and that’s it.
Finally, sizing for the ideal case rather than the common case is a frequent mistake. A 150-seat lecture hall with 30% of students attending remotely doesn’t have the same needs as a 300-seat lecture hall used for campus interconnection. An upfront assessment avoids over-equipping and paying for features that will never be used.
How long does it take to transform a lecture hall?
With Kalyzée Connect installed on the existing computer in the room and any missing equipment ordered ahead of time, a lecture hall can be up and running in a single day. Installing a PTZ camera on a stand or wall mount takes a few hours. Setting up the platform and testing the broadcast can be done in half a day with the IT team.
From the initial assessment to the first live broadcast, the best-prepared projects wrap up in 2 to 4 weeks, including equipment delivery time. That’s a timeline in a completely different league from a traditional AV integration project, which often takes several weeks just for the cabling phase.
Where to start
The best starting point is a quick assessment of what’s already in place: network status, an inventory of existing equipment, the number of lecture halls involved, and planned uses. This assessment shapes the choice of additional equipment, the Kalyzée Connect setup, the budget, and the timeline.
At Kalyzée, we regularly support institutions through this exercise before any sales discussion. The goal is to start from the real situation on the ground, not an idealized set of specifications, so we can propose a plan that actually holds up and respects the IT department’s constraints.
If you have a connected lecture hall project in mind, even a vague one, even without an approved budget, book a free assessment with our team. We start from your existing equipment, identify what’s missing, and give you a clear estimate.
Also worth reading: The ideal HyFlex classroom: equipment and how it works, How to choose between an automatic camera and a full broadcasting solution?, Funding a HyFlex classroom: the grants available in 2026
