Remote and flexible working has been such a driving force for videoconferencing (VC) that it’s now become an integral part of most modern working environments. The benefits are undeniable: VC can deliver huge cost savings by eliminating unnecessary business travel, while reduced commuting helps staff to be more productive, engaged – and financially better off.
Increased demand in the VC market is pushing manufacturers to become ever more innovative, with many now delivering an impressive range of sophisticated meeting room solutions. Even better, intense competition in this rapidly expanding market has pushed prices down, bringing professional huddle, meeting- and conference-room solutions within the budgets of SMBs.
They aren’t challenging to install either, with the latest VC bars offering a complete audio-visual solution in a single unit that can be easily deployed in meeting rooms with minimum effort. Features keep on getting better, too, with many now offering advanced AI-powered video and audio enhancement along with sophisticated dynamic speaker tracking and framing.
This month, we review four all-in-one business meeting room systems from Biamp, Insta360, Logitech and Owl Labs. We’ve selected a range of solutions suited to different environments and tested them in the lab to help you make the right choice.
Room with a view
All-in-one VC bars are an excellent choice for SMBs as they can easily set up dedicated meeting rooms without having to call in a system integrator. The latest models all combine high-quality 4K UHD cameras with integral speakers and microphone arrays, so all you need to do is decide where to put them. Most vendors include desk stands and wall brackets, along with optional under-and over-monitor mounts.
The bars only require power, a USB cable and a wired or wireless network connection. The sole separate component you’ll need to factor into your budget is a meeting room monitor; it makes sense to specify a 4K model, as although most VC apps still don’t support the higher resolutions, it means your meeting room is future-proofed. It goes without saying that you should provide a fast internet connection to ensure the best video and audio quality during meetings.
There are two types of VC bar, with host-based models designed to be connected to a PC or laptop over a USB cable so they can directly access their camera, speakers and microphones. Referred to as BYOD mode, users can bring their own device to the room and run their preferred meeting app, or for extra convenience you can set it up with a dedicated room computer so it’s always available for use.
Standalone VC bars don’t require a host computer as they run an embedded OS, such as Android, allowing them to host certified on-board meeting apps. Users don’t need to bring anything with them and can start a meeting with a few taps using the on-screen menus or optional touchscreen control tablets.
Such products do have a price premium but some VC bars support both BYOD and standalone modes and can swap seamlessly between them by detecting when a USB connection has been made or removed. It’s worth researching these first as some have built-in support for a range of meeting apps including Microsoft Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms and Google Meet, whereas others are offered in different models that support only one of these apps.
Walk this way
The latest video bars can make meetings more dynamic. All the models on review use multiple internal microphones, called beamforming or beamtracking arrays, to pinpoint exactly where the person speaking is located, focus the camera on them and track them as they move around the room.
In the early beamforming days, most products used arrays with up to six microphones, but some of the latest ones have 14 and even 27 elements for more precise tracking. By identifying and zooming in on the active speaker, they make meetings more impressive and ensure all participants are focused only on them.
Split-screen technology has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years, too. Instead of focusing only on one person, the camera can split the screen or use a grid to show all the most recent speakers. This feature varies considerably, with some products showing up to four of the most active speakers while others can display up to eight.
One problem with VC bars is that if people seated around the table turn away from the camera to talk among themselves, remote participants can only see the side or back of their head. It will increase costs considerably, but some vendors allow you to team up their front-of-room video bar with a table-top panoramic camera, which automatically chooses the best view so you’ll always see people’s faces no matter where they’re looking.
Transparent speaker
Using whiteboards in meetings can present problems as the presenter will obscure the view when they stand in front of them to write comments or diagrams. Several products overcome this with a feature called presenter transparency, so if the speaker walks in front of the board participants can still see everything on it.
Most VC products that support this feature require a separately purchased dedicated camera, which must be positioned either in front of the whiteboard or on the wall above it and then teamed up with the main video bar. With prices ranging from £500 up to around £1,200, however, they’re an expensive option for small businesses.
The good news is that we have one product on review here that’s smarter than the average video bar as it comes with built-in presenter transparency. It scans for and recognises multiple whiteboards and allows participants to see the whole board even when someone is standing in front of it.
The Way Forward
Videoconferencing is the way forward for businesses committed to flexible working, and there are many sophisticated products that are affordable options for SMBs. In this guide, we review a variety of VC room solutions, so turn the page to see which one will turn your mundane meetings into memorable ones.
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