Simplify Your A/V

Your conference rooms’ A/V does not have to be complicated.

You should not have to “Call IT!!” to come fix your conference room’s A/V system. Ever.

So why do we hear over and over and over the following mantra: “Yeah, can y’all come have a look at our conference rooms? Nothing ever works. Completely unreliable.”?

Well, it’s the answer is not complicated, but the setup of these conf rooms is. It’s overly complicated.

It doesn’t have to be. Here’s why most conference room A/V systems create nothing but pain for their users.

You flew to close to the sun.

OK, I jest, but it’s true. Here’s some of the things we’ve seen in just the last 6 months of evaluating, and ripping & replacing a bunch of conf room A/V systems.

* “We can watch the SuperBowl here!” You can, but you don’t need a direct CableTV hookup through the floor core for 1 day a year.
* “We have to be able to handle any type of connection!” No, you don’t. Look to the bell curve! Capture the 80%. The edge cases are edge cases for a reason.
* “It’s gotta have an HDMI cable hookup!” No, it doesn’t. How many of your company’s new laptops have an HDMI port? How many have USB-C? USB-C is ubiquitous.
* “It’s gotta have built in surround sound!” OK boomer, your Dad’s house in 1981 had “surround sound”, but he also had a “Hi Fi Stereo System”, didn’t he? And how are all those wires and built in speakers looking now? They’re decaying. In the walls. It costs a LOT of money to permanently install speakers in your ceiling, and more to rip them out 3 years later because they don’t work.
* “A speakerphone on the table is a must.” It’s actually not, and that’s one more cable you don’t really need.

Those are the most celebrated “must haves” for conference room A/V.

The new truth is that, thanks to 2020 and covid, not only did remote work get an upgrade, but conference room A/V did, too.

Here’s what most mid-sized conference rooms need:

– 1 large TV screen/monitor (75″-85″) on the wall
– 1 Logitech Rally Bar (camera & speakers) below the screen
– 1 Logitech Tap IP controller on the table

That’s it. One (1) cable to/through your conference table.

It doesn’t have to be a Logitech. There’s Nureva, Neat, Barco, and others.

How do you decide? Are you a Microsoft shop or a Google shop? Microsoft Teams will point you in one direction. Google Meet another.

Prefer Zoom meetings? OK, Logitech has you covered.

If you’re a Microsoft shop, Teams will likely be your default, and from there, your 80% is covered. The “edge cases” can be taken care of by inviting “the conference room” to the Zoom or Google meeting.

And that’s the biggest improvement: the Conference Room is now an invitee & attendee at your meetings. Wanna have a meeting in “Room A”? Invite the room to the meeting. Inviting the room reserves the room on the calendar.

Share your screen? Create & join a Teams, Zoom, or Google meeting. Simple.

Now that we’re embracing hybrid WFH/RTO, conference rooms are used more than ever. Keep them simple.