News in the Channel - October 2022

VIDEOCONFERENCING SOLUTIONS

In-room PC solutions or bring your own meeting? The choice is yours! Konftel’s Jeff May explains why there are two choices emerging for video meeting room investments – and the advantages and disadvantages of both.

There are two distinct choices available when investing in video conferencing technology; a dedicated in-room PC solution such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams Rooms, or Bring Your Own Meeting, where users bring their own laptop and use apps of their choice. Choosing the right video and audio end points for room coverage, ease of use and high performance are all critical factors in any conferencing blueprint. Equally remote workers should have an equal voice and video experience, as those in the office. But first it’s important to assess some fundamentals as installation and operation of equipment can sometimes be overlooked in favour of product specifications. Both Bring Your Own Meeting or a dedicated in-room PC-based system where all the hardware is already in place offer great quality meeting experiences. But it’s essential that the differences in operation and any restrictions of each are fully explained and understood before investments are made. There are advantages and limitations of both, depending on user and company expectations.

lot of meeting rooms and want to have a consistent approach, whether it’s the biggest boardroom or the smallest huddle room. This is easier for an IT department to provision and manage. However, this approach is not universal and is more restrictive as it doesn’t fully support different meeting platforms, which is a key requirement for many organisations. It’s generally more expensive too. Functionality between apps that might be allowed is very limited, to just joining a call but no ability to share content. Bring your meeting to life A standard in room solution has a PC at its heart such as from Lenovo and Dell. But to bring the system to life high quality cameras and speakerphones need to be ‘attached’ and connected. So Konftel has created an Attach video kit portfolio specifically adapted for in room situations, blending conference cameras and speakerphones with a special, long USB audio cable, for an optimal in room experience and installation flexibility. Our Attach range comprises five separate kits optimised for in room systems and tailored for specific room sizes. Bring Your Own Meeting alternative The Attach in room solutions provide an alternative to Konftel’s original Bring Your Own Meeting concept. This involves a user bringing their preferred collaboration app or cloud service with them on any laptop with a USB port. Plug it in and they’re good to go. Our One Cable Connection Hub offers simple connection to the conference camera, speakerphone and screen via any laptop with a USB port. It’s plug-and-play and requires no extra drivers if there is a modern version of Windows as the operating system on the computer. Users can also opt to connect the screen directly to their laptop, usually via HDMI. Bring Your Own Meeting offers flexibility and choice and gives the user complete control about

Jeff May

In-room popularity It’s clear that in-room PC-based solutions,

which often adopt one single preferred meeting platform, are a popular choice for some. These preconfigured rooms are convenient, simple to set up for remote management by IT. Extra features are sometimes available too. The three main categories are: l Microsoft Teams Room l Zoom Rooms l Open PC platform (such as Intel NUC) with preferred meeting apps. An in-room PC setup typically comprises a main screen, PC, video camera, audio device/devices with a control pad or wireless keyboard and mouse. Users simply enter the room and start their meeting at the touch of a button once the room invite has been confirmed in their booking calendar. This method is popular with organisations who perhaps have a

CONTINUED