In this conversation, Marco Lopez discusses some of the key trends and challenges facing communications, while also examining Clear-Com’s current position and roadmap

*This content is included in the August issue of TM BROADCAST. You can access the full magazine here.

Beyond cameras, studios and major live broadcasts, there is another, less visible but equally critical technology layer that has taken on a fundamental role in recent years: the one that enables people, resources and signals to be coordinated in real time.

“Communications has become the connective tissue of modern production,” explains Marco Lopez, CTO at Clear-Com and this month’s guest in our Industry Voices section. “As teams spread across venues, cities and continents, intercom is no longer a local convenience—it’s the mission-critical backbone. Through cloud, IP and cellular, we make sure everyone stays instantly connected, wherever they are in the world.”

In this conversation, Marco Lopez discusses some of the key trends and challenges facing communications, while also examining Clear-Com’s current position and roadmap. He does so through direct answers and compelling statements that encapsulate some of the major debates currently shaping the industry: “The biggest challenge is interoperability without friction” and “The gap is the ‘all-cloud, all-IP tomorrow’ narrative versus today’s hybrid reality” are just two examples.

Read the full interview below:

Clear-Com has played a key role in professional communications for decades. Looking back at the company’s recent evolution, how would you assess its transformation over the last few years? What technology strategy has guided that journey?

Clear-Com’s journey over the past few years has been genuinely transformative. We’ve evolved from a hardware-centric heritage into a flexible, software-defined communications company—without ever compromising the reliability our customers trust. The strategy has been simple but powerful: unify wired, wireless, IP and virtual intercom into one seamless, future-ready ecosystem.

Moving to the present, how would you define Clear-Com’s current strategic focus? Which technologies or areas of innovation are receiving the greatest attention from a product development perspective?

Today our focus is flexibility and freedom. We’re investing heavily in cellular wireless with FreeSpeak Cell, advancing IP and software-defined intercom through our latest EHX v15 and new ARC architecture, expanding our cloud-based Gen-IC platform, and strengthening security. The goal is simple: let teams connect anywhere, on any infrastructure.

“The strategy has been simple but powerful: unify wired, wireless, IP and virtual intercom into one seamless, future-ready ecosystem”

In this regard, what would you say differentiates Clear-Com in today’s market?

What sets us apart is breadth with depth while being hyper focused on communications. No one else spans analog partyline, digital wireless, IP matrix and cloud-native virtual intercom in one interoperable ecosystem. Add nearly six decades of experience, open-standards support and a world-class global support network, and that’s the Clear-Com difference.

Broadcast and live production workflows have become increasingly distributed, with teams, facilities and resources often spread across multiple locations. How is this shift changing the role of communications systems within modern production environments?

Communications has become the connective tissue of modern production. As teams spread across venues, cities and continents, intercom is no longer a local convenience—it’s the mission-critical backbone. Through cloud, IP and cellular, we make sure everyone stays instantly connected, wherever they are in the world.

“The next five years belong to software-defined, cloud-connected and cellular-powered intercom. It’s the most exciting shift our industry has seen in decades”

How is Clear-Com’s customer profile evolving? Are you still primarily serving traditional broadcasters, or are you seeing growing demand from new types of organisations and production environments?

Our roots are in broadcast, and that remains core, but our customer base is expanding rapidly. Live sports, houses of worship, corporate, theatre, touring events, government and critical infrastructure are all growing fast. Wherever real-time coordination matters, we’re seeing exciting new demand.

As production environments become increasingly complex and heterogeneous, what are the main challenges when integrating communications systems into those ecosystems?

The biggest challenge is interoperability without friction. Every ecosystem brings different standards, security needs and IT expectations. Our answer is open standards—Dante, AES67, SMPTE 2110—so Clear-Com becomes the dependable backbone that ties complex, heterogeneous systems together, simply and securely.

Where do you currently see the biggest gap between industry narrative and operational reality?

The gap is the “all-cloud, all-IP tomorrow” narrative versus today’s hybrid reality. Customers have significant, valuable hardware investments still doing outstanding work. The real value isn’t ripping and replacing—it’s bridging legacy and new so teams can evolve at their own pace.

If you had to identify one trend that will define the industry’s agenda over the next five years, what would it be and why?

Convergence—decoupling communication from fixed hardware. The next five years belong to software-defined, cloud-connected and cellular-powered intercom. Technologies like private and public 5G will break through RF congestion and scale, redefining how distributed productions stay connected. It’s the most exciting shift our industry has seen in decades.

Finally, are there any upcoming projects, initiatives or areas of innovation that you believe will be especially significant for Clear-Com in the near future?

Absolutely. FreeSpeak Cell is a genuine breakthrough—cellular intercom over public and private 5G, recently proven in live production. Alongside it, EHX v15 with our new ARC architecture and the continued growth of Gen-IC and Arcadia point to a more flexible, software-defined future. There’s a lot to be excited about.

Would you like to add anything else?

Just that everything we do comes back to one purpose—keeping teams seamlessly connected when communication matters most. Whether on-site, remote or in the cloud, Clear-Com’s mission is to link people together in real time, and we’re more energized about that mission than ever.

“Live sports, houses of worship, corporate, theatre, touring events, government and critical infrastructure are all growing fast. Wherever real-time coordination matters, we’re seeing exciting new demand”