Joined Aug 2005
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Forum Thread
Conference Room Video Conference solutions
June 3, 2021 at
02:29 PM
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Before 2020 our company didn't do many video conferencing, we had a spare office setup with a webcam and computer that met the needs when the need arose. Well times have changed and with people back in the office, the need to do video conferencing has increased.
Our large conference room has a 60" TV in it as the screen and a long marble table that's floating out in the room that sits 10 people or so. The table has no holes in it, but it does have electricity and networking underneath. I am needing to add a camera and audio solution so people can join a Zoom or Teams meeting for internal and external meetings.
Anytime you add conference room to the title of a product it seems the price goes up 10X from what the consumer version would be.
I am looking for suggestions on what equipment might be good for a situation like this. My thought was possibly a high quality webcam at the front on the TV, and a wireless omnidirectional mic?
This looks like a decent mic but it's wired https://www.amazon.com/Conference...30
Our large conference room has a 60" TV in it as the screen and a long marble table that's floating out in the room that sits 10 people or so. The table has no holes in it, but it does have electricity and networking underneath. I am needing to add a camera and audio solution so people can join a Zoom or Teams meeting for internal and external meetings.
Anytime you add conference room to the title of a product it seems the price goes up 10X from what the consumer version would be.
I am looking for suggestions on what equipment might be good for a situation like this. My thought was possibly a high quality webcam at the front on the TV, and a wireless omnidirectional mic?
This looks like a decent mic but it's wired https://www.amazon.com/Conference...30
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In some conference rooms there are existing mics / speakerphones you might be able to interface with the likes of teams and zoom with some creativity.
Something like OBS and some audio filtering software may be needed. Also possible to interface with security cameras and make them appear like webcams.
Keeping audio and video in sync may be challenging with a more 'creative' solution. Feedback / echo canceling is another challenge. These issues are why I think people are willing to shell out the big bucks for out of the box solution.
I haven't had to attempt any of this in this context, these are just some thoughts and ideas.
In some conference rooms there are existing mics / speakerphones you might be able to interface with the likes of teams and zoom with some creativity.
Something like OBS and some audio filtering software may be needed. Also possible to interface with security cameras and make them appear like webcams.
Keeping audio and video in sync may be challenging with a more 'creative' solution. Feedback / echo canceling is another challenge. These issues are why I think people are willing to shell out the big bucks for out of the box solution.
I haven't had to attempt any of this in this context, these are just some thoughts and ideas.
There's nothing existing for at least something like a conference speakerphone?
A quick search turned up this to give you some ideas: https://pbx.info/best-conference-...icrophones
There's a huge range here, with mics ranging from $99 to $5k.
Alternatively if it's mostly 1 person doing the talking, maybe a wireless lavalier mic
https://www.gearhungry.
Maybe the Logitech BCC950?
Kandao Meeting?
Poly Calisto 3200?
https://www.reddit.com/r/CommercialAV/
At any rate, we have regular TV's in those rooms that are connected to regular PC's (via HDMI). Most of the rooms that IT setup have more "professional" A/V setup ($$$$$$) but the one we have for our group is literally a logitech webcam at the top of the screen (like any regular consumer would buy) and a Yamaha YVC-300 [yamaha.com] speakerphone/mic. The Zoom portion also has an ipad on the table (the PC is basically hidden in a credenza under the TV) for controlling zoom, but it's not necessary for your application. It looks like that Yamaha unit goes for about $300. Looks like his has BT too but we don't use that. When we installed the room, we drilled a large hole for cable management in the table, fancied it up with grommets and local 120V/USB (charging) access, and ran cables back to the PC in the credenza.
Not sure if it's anyone else's experience, but we don't really use Zoom for the video portion - meaning seeing the other people. In fact I can't remember the last time someone blathered about video - we are usually sharing documents, movies, images. And, we've come to use it as a substitute for conference calls. Last time I actually had an invite for a real conference call it was like I forgot how to dial a phone number I was so used to just hopping on the PC and clicking on a calendar invite Zoom link