Video Conferencing - again

[HCHTech]

I have a large (for me) client who is in an office building that uses shared conference rooms. The building management recently installed 60" TVs in their conference rooms and are looking to add a video conferencing solution.

Searching the forums, I have seen posts recommending "Lifesize" Skype-for-business, Google Hangouts, among a few others. The newest post was a couple of years ago, so I'm wondering if anyone is currently using a particular solution and likes it.

a) these are shared conference rooms, so the solution will be used by many different people of differing skillsets. I expect we'll have to have step-by-step instructions engraved into the wall.

b) the "other end" will vary from a single participant, to perhaps a dozen participants.

c) camera(s) will be part of the recommended solution, so any tips there would be helpful as well.

d) I'm expecting we will install a NUC or similar to handle the computing for this

My client was previously using a laptop and 32"TV on a stand with one of those Logitech "eyeball" cameras on a stick - so this will be an upgrade for them for sure.

What would you use?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Skype and Zoom are very popular...actually see a lot of clients using Zoom a lot. We do both..depends on what the other end already has.
I see Clickmeeting out there a bit too. And the old GoToMeeting is still popular. Seen Zoho mentioned in quite a few other threads but I have not used that one myself. Yeah..so many choices now, but I think in the past 2 years I've seen Zoom used the most around my clients..and Skype right up there too.

 

[nerd2u]

What is their budget?

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[HCHTech]

What is their budget?

They haven't committed to one. It was a "what do you think this would cost" conversation. The TVs came from Costco, so I'm presuming the budget isn't unlimited - haha.

 

[SAFCasper]

As they have a 60" TV I assume this is a quite a large room? Something to watch out for is reverb and echo if they have hard, flat walls (eg. concrete or stone walls) and even worse if they have a high ceiling. It can result in really poor audio.

Giving this advice from first hand experience
Installed a "group conferencing" system not long ago in a community hall and the reverb was really quite bad to begin with. Eventually resolved with some sounds-absorbing wall panels like these - http://www.soundservice.co.uk/bubblesorption-acoustic-panels.htm
They also replaced the curtains/drapes in the room with heavier "sound absorbing curtains" which I had no idea was even a thing, but they definitely helped.


If you are interested this is the microphone array we used - https://www.acousticmagic.com/products/voice-tracker-ii-details/
For the price its really good if you have to cover a large area and multiple people speaking. You can walk freely around this entire hall speaking and it will pick your voice up pretty clearly, so it's great for recording presentations etc (the room is roughly 12m x 6m with the microphone mounted on the ceiling).

 

[nerd2u]

Intel nuc a webcam and a mic with zoom or something similar?

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[Altster]

Well I don't know how it would work out, but there is a program called "WIRE (for Windows & Linux)" That I use with a friend (coffee) and it is a pretty nice "face-to-face" solution. You might take a look at it and see if it would work for your setup(s).

 

[Altster]

My client was previously using a laptop and 32"TV on a stand with one of those Logitech "eyeball" cameras on a stick - so this will be an upgrade for them for sure.

What would you use?

@HCHTech, did you decide what you were going to use to get this job done?

Am just curious.

 

[HCHTech]

I asked for a budget number, which started negotiations between my client and the landlord, so now it looks like the landlord might actually be footing the bill (as it should be, IMO). So, I gave them a wide range for potential cost, and I'm waiting on confirmation of budget and responsibility. Until they sort that out, the project is in limbo.

 

[ccritchie]

We just went to Zoom at my company (multiple offices, at least one conference room in each). We had been using Webex for years, and the user interface was just painful and frustrating to use. Zoom Rooms (their conferencing room solution) was easy to implement and easy for non-technical end users to use. With Zoom Rooms, they walk into the conference room, tap a button on the tablet controller and instantly connect to the other conference rooms and/or participants. The company does really good demos and they have a good trial program before you buy. It's worth looking into.