Hilda Trujillo, director of the Frida Kahlo Museum, Coyoacán, Mexico City

The "Casa Azul" ("The Blue House") is more than just a museum for Mexico´s most famous artist: It was Frida Kahlo´s residence and studio. This is why the museum’s director, Hilda Trujillo, wishes to provide the visitors with experiences that extend beyond the paintings.

"The Frida Kahlo Museum is one of the most popular and most prestigious museums of Mexico, with some 23.000 visitors per month. In September 2005 we started offering audio-guided visits with the guidePORT system, and it is a great success. Our visitors are very satisfied with it. Service, too, has proved to be efficient and committed, even beyond technical matters. As a client, we feel supported in developing cultural services."

The "Palacio de Bellas Artes" in the heart of the historic center of Mexico City, was opened in 1934 as the most up-to-date and most glamorous theater in the country. World-renowned artists like Diego Rivera decorated it with huge mural paintings. Until today, the extravagant building is both a theater and a museum. For Mercedes Irube, who directs the museum, it is important to show the mural paintings both in their historic and artistic context.

"The audioguide system guidePort by Sennheiser is an essential tool for the Museum of The Palace of Fine Arts. As it is so modern and flexible, now visitors from Mexico andabroad have the chance to know the history of each mural painting step by step. Tecnical service is excellent, making sure that the guidePORT system works perfectly well at all times."

Ertan Yücel, Owner of MeTan Ltd. in Istanbul

Who wouldn't want to see how the sultans live! At the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul visitors can gain an unforgettable impression of their life. Here magic and mysticism of the lifestyle are within every visitor's grasp. A 700,000 sqm area is evidence of the cultural, economic and military importance of this residence and seat of government of a number of sultans, with impressing collections of porcelain, manuscripts, portraits, robes, weapons and jewels.

Ertan Yücel, Sennheiser sales partner for the Near East, has had the pleasure of equipping this unique site with guidePORT. Yet prior to this it was necessary for him to convince the exhibition organisers of the system's qualities. Their minimum requirements included easy operability, multilingualism, high audio quality, rechargeable batteries, uncompromising durability, indoor/outdoor usability, and more. E. Y. says, "The Sennheiser brand is an enormous prestige advantage in Turkey. But in the end, it was the wide range of features in guidePORT that convinced my clients." And the managers of the Topkapi Palace Museum are pleased to confirm how well the visitors receive guidePORT, "We are delighted how often the devices are requested. Thanks to the high rental earnings, guidePORT has repaid itself much sooner than we had imagined." 

T. Drost, Museum Educator, Stiftung für Naturschutzgeschichte NRW (Foundation for Nature Conservation, North Rhine-Westphalia)

The museum educator was involved in planning the integration of guidePORT into the overall concept of the permanent exhibition at the museum and in its successful implementation.

"It was no problem for us to install and programme the system ourselves. guidePORT now allows us to present our exhibits in new ways. We can also provide our visitors with more complex information in an impressive and entertaining manner."

"guidePORT is about experiencing, not just about listening. guidePORT enables us to talk to blind and visually-impaired people about topics that we were unable to address before. Unfortunately, its application areas are too seldom used. It would be good if one encountered guidePORT more frequently."

She has many different talents and professions. But designing and recording audio texts, audio tours and audio books seems to be particularly close to Birge Tetzner’s heart – alongside her role as an advisor. It is no surprise then, that her services are booked by many well-known exhibitions that use audio guides. And that’s where, she says herself, she is coming across guidePORT more and more often.

“A major advantage of this system is that it is continually being developed in terms of its technology, continually growing to cater for the increased demands of the museum scene.” (…) “The acoustic quality of guidePORT is also commendable. I also appreciate guidePORT’s simple operating structure and that it combines an audio guide and a tour guide in just one device.” When asked about her experiences of working with Sennheiser and its partner companies, B.T. said: “It seems that any adjustments are dealt with very quickly there. They always respond quickly to my suggestions and requests.”

 Mario Loesel (Sales Manager at gpt audio)

“A television report about guidePORT on the evening news when the German Future Prize was awarded brought the system to our attention,” recalls M.L. Since March 2004, gpt audio has been primarily providing guidePORT to museums, exhibitions and even to churches. From an operator’s perspective, M.L. highlights how simple configuration is and the “low to almost non-existent maintenance costs”. “We appreciate the many sensible features, the universal application areas that these open up, and the enigmatic Sennheiser brand, in particular from a sales point of view,” says M.L. with a wink. He continues: “Since the launch of the new type of hand-held transmitter, our customers have been increasingly using guidePORT as group tour and interpreting systems.” On the subject of the further development of the system M.L. said, “I can see that Sennheiser is happy to listen to and implement my suggestions. This means that we are directly involved in the performance of the product.”

Professor Dr B. Vesper (Kiel University of Applied Sciences – Centre for Multimedia)

Professor Vesper has been running the Multimedia Studies course for six years. He and his scientific team develop innovative presentation techniques including systems which enable blind and partially sighted people to experience their surroundings acoustically. In a complex selection procedure involving the state government and a major association for blind and partially sighted people guidePORT was chosen as the system which perfectly meets the high requirements. B.V.: “The key attributes offered by guidePORT in the selection procedure were robustness, functional reliability and accessibility. The aspects which went against competing products were the lack of accessibility, rapid wear and risk of theft.” The university is justifiably proud of its work for the State Garden Show 2008 in Schleswig, where the guidePORT system, which has been programmed on scientific lines, will be used.

Lutzenberger + Lutzenberger

“It’s the breadth of variation in particular which makes art so fascinating for us. It offers us infinite flexibility in our design work and allows us always to pursue new paths. This fascination is accompanied by our particular high regard for objects. Our exhibits from the religious sphere certainly make that clear.” These are the words of B. L.. His wife S.L. confirms what he says with a nod of her head and adds: “As designers of exhibitions we find ourselves right in the middle of a process of infinite dynamism – which is increasingly encountering a great information need on the part of visitors. From our point of view it is extremely important only to deploy really suitable, beneficial and flexible instruments for information purposes. They must on no account spoil the effect of the exhibits. No, they have to unobtrusively and effectively support their impact.” In guidePORT they have in their own words “discovered an instrument whose performance and benefit filled us with enthusiasm from the start. Its great performance is accompanied by high-quality reproduction.” S. L.’s closing words: “We have been using guidePORT in the Mozart House, Augsburg since 2005 without experiencing any faults and we greatly appreciate this reliability.”