Presentation Room

[evilchinesefood]

The company I work for is looking to redo their board room to be set up for video conferencing and presentations. They want a special set up to make their room give a more moving to the future feel.

I was thinking 2 large screen televisions, with a good laptop, microphone and web camera. The idea was to have the laptop at a podium with the 2 televisions mounted behind it. The camera would be in the center of the TV with the mic. by the podium or in the middle of the room with the current voice telephone. The idea was to use Skype, PowerPoint and some easy to use sharing. Skype has it built in but for the people that would be using it maybe not the easiest.

The price range was around 3,000.
TVs I have looked at
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889005195

Laptop:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834127477

Now any suggestions are more than welcome. My questions. Is there a better voice conferencing software that has sharing and even showing what your screen shows that’s free (so others can get it as well) or cheap enough they could buy it? No monthly services. Second am I looking at this the right way? Should I go a different route all together? Third I will teach my boss and others to use this so that’s not the problem but will this be easy enough for others to use that don’t know how to and or that aren’t with our company. Thanks in advance!

 

[jjeff1]

What your talking about is far more complex than just a mic, a laptop and a logitech quickcam.

You need to have proper lighting and microphones for the whole room, else people in the back can't be heard. Mics can be several hundred dollars each, and up.

If you're really going to do video conferencing, rather than flying people around the country, then it makes sense from a financial perspective. If you just think it's a cool idea, and don't have executives onboard, then it's a waste of money.

Look at this document to understand some of the lighting and camera issues you need to resolve: http://www.nessnetworks.com/Video_Tips.pdf

polycom makes all in one appliances for video conferencing. Mirial makes a software codec.

If all you want is simple presentation, then a nice VGA port on the wall next to a podium for people to hook up their laptops, along with a large TV or projector setup will work fine.

 

[engiNURD]

I dont think a $3k budget is enough for a good system. Heh, the polycom systems run about $20k, IIRC (for a 42" setup).

For sharing the screen with others on the call, many companies are using MS communicator and it's built in desktop sharing or Webex.

 

[ripken204]

and you can save money on TVs, you don't need 120hz unless you plan on gaming after your conferences...

 

[Dawizman]

Our small conference rooms consist of 2 Sharp Aquos 60" led tv's, a polycom hdx7000 w/ ceiling mounted mics & speakers, and a pc w/ wireless keyboard & mouse. I'm ballparking that setup at around $18k installed, not including all the furniture. The last boardroom we built had $120k worth of equipment in it including furniture and lighting.

$3k is not a big enough budget if you want your company to have that "moving to the future feel".

 

[Nate7311]

The last full-on presentation room I did for a client had the following in a 22 x 16 x 10 room:

High end Mitsubishi DLP 3000 Lumen Proj
Dalite recess mounted 120" electric screen with auto triggering
MTX Inceiling Angled 8" speakers for Left, Center, and Right (Wasn't sure about the design but that's what the client wanted. Turned out well!)
MTX inwall Dipole speakers for the rear side walls, painted to match the wall.
Yamaha 5.1 Receiver w/ HDMI switching
DVD/VCR Combo
PC with Gyration keyboard & Mouse
Polycom Soundstation conference phone
Polycom portable video conference unit with connection to Polycom phone for Mics
3 In-ceiling PZM Mics for custom meeting recording solution
2 x Niles Intellipad Command and control units in the walls

Around 25k installed.

Unfortunately, a TV and a Laptop isn't going to cut it if they want the "wow" factor.

 

[Just_Visiting]

How large is the boardroom? How often would anyone present from the lectern? $3k is not realistic. Keep your rooms simple:

1. VGA w/ audio input from the table
2. VGA w/ audio input from the lectern
3. Blu-Ray player
4. Wireless podium mic for the lectern (electro-voice makes a good one.....Shure also)
5. 2 or 3 wireless omni directional boundary mics that can be placed on the table (Revolabs solo mics are excellent)
6. if you don't need multi-site functionality, Lifesize VTC codecs work really well and are very affordable (Lifesize Express)
7. Sharp Aquos 70" (use VGA to HDMI cables to keep switching local to the display)
8. JBL control 24c's for ceiling speakers

You also have to account for the install, power for the display.

 

[Berg0]

I did ours for about $10-15K
- DA lite screen
- Projector (forgot the model number)
- Lifesize (owned by logitech/Cisco) teleconference system
- 55" LED LCD TV
- Desktop computer
- Polycom 6000 IP phone
- Bluetooth keyboard and mouse

Doesn't count the conference table or chairs etc, those were already there when I was hired. Conference table had a managed 16 port switch mounted under it, and 12 wired network ports wired to a patch panel underneath. also power outlets besdie all the network ports. Super handy to have, and doesn't cost all that much to have installed in a table.

also, don't get a laptop for the conference room computer, they tend to get moved to another room or something sily like that. Also, your VGA/DVI/HDMI in wall plate is going to in all liklyhood be on an outside wall by your AV equipment, so put a desktop computer there, and use a wireless keyboard and mouse.

 

[ciggwin]

make sure you have an HDMI input. I'm already regretting not putting one in. clients come in with their MacBooks and can't project.