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Does anyone know of any good video conferencing hardware out there for a decent price? This is a small to medium business and I have two sites that both have a TV and >30Mbps Internet connections. Doing a Google shows Cisco and Polycomm systems in the thousands of dollars per site. Logitech has a couple that still need to connect to laptops in the ~$1000 range.. Why is a Microphone and a Camera so expensive? If Apple TV allowed a USB Camera the problem would be solved.. I've been using IPad's w/ facetime and AppleTV mirroring, but it's too cumbersome.

It's Polycom (Cisco) or Tandberg - those are the two hardware specific options that work over IP, ISDN etc.

For a small business you're much better buying a high-end webcam and using a professional meeting system like Webex. Hardware videoconferencing kits are going the way of the dodo and most people we contact these days just don't have them. It's all Skype/Webex/AdobeConnect.

Chrispy_ wrote:

It's Polycom (Cisco) or Tandberg - those are the two hardware specific options that work over IP, ISDN etc.

Wait...what? *notsureifserious.jpg*

*EDIT*

My mistake, this is about video conferencing, not just IP phones. *facepalm*

Still, Polycoms *can* use UC, but they aren't beholden to Cisco. Not sure where the "Polycom and Cisco use the same hardware" comes into play.

*confused*

I'm Confused too, WebEx, Skype , CU-SeeMe .. whatever are great for connecting desktops. I have conference rooms in which multiple people need to communicate between cities. I have a Polycomm conference room phone, but want to make it so the population of each room can see each other. I don't need the demolition man conference room, all I need is 1 camera 1 Mic per conference room. Be well.

DLHM wrote:

I'm Confused too, WebEx, Skype , CU-SeeMe .. whatever are great for connecting desktops. I have conference rooms in which multiple people need to communicate between cities. I have a Polycomm conference room phone, but want to make it so the population of each room can see each other. I don't need the demolition man conference room, all I need is 1 camera 1 Mic per conference room. Be well.

I don't know what the total cost would be, but Polycom offers a mobile (iOS and Android) video conferencing/collaborative solution, provided you also use a CloudAXIS server(s).

*EDIT* Here's a quote about the platform:

"Polycom CloudAXIS is a software product that runs on commodity servers and supports video conferencing and collaboration across any type of endpoint, including Web browsers, for users inside and outside corporate firewalls. Polycom has previously sold (and continues to sell) mobile and desktop software clients. CloudAXIS expands video access by enabling users to send external contacts, imported from Facebook or Google, a link to a webpage where the only requirements to join the video call are a webcam and a downloadable plug-in."


BTW, Webex is used for online courses also, where a teacher controls the session, and all the clients can watch/talk, so it's not just desktop-to-desktop.

If you don't already have a PC hooked up to each of these TV's for powerpoint presentations or similar, just get a nettop box and vesa-mount it to the back or hide it out of sight.

Windows + webex + webcam = complete VOIP solution for web-based conferencing, screen-sharing, presentations, etc.
Plain old fashioned video-camera-to-video-camera connections are obsolete. We have always had one and it's almost impossible to find a client/consultant anywhere in the world who still uses one - and we deal with several hundred construction firms globally.

It's all web-based now. H.323 based standalone IP camera/codecs from Polycom/Tandberg are dinosaurs with limited use. You can adapt them to work for web-conferencing but they are so limited and overpriced that they will die out before long, I am sure of it.

Since your primary goal is to connect two rooms together, get two HD webcams with great microphones (or run a seperate omni-directional mic to the table), create a couple of free Webex accounts and then you have 30Mbit free VOIP calling, screen-sharing collaboration tools and of course video calls. If you don't have the PC's yet you can get anything but a NUC, OS license and a webcam aren't going to cost much more than $500 each end.]

EDIT:
This is one of our two smallest 6-person meeting rooms; an i5 Win7 PC with a decent 1080p H.264 stereo webcam

We have six dedicated rooms like this all with similar setups and it's rare not to have a Webex or Skype running video to a remote team in at least two rooms at any one time. The Tandberg is in the largest meeting room gathering dust - the thing hasn't been used this year, and it's never been as simple to use as the webcam/web-based options. Our projects are primarily Western Europe, Middle-East, China though we also work in Africa and Russia. We don't have a lot of experience working in the US (because the US office does all of that exclusively). I can't imagine it'd be any different though.

RHUB (http://www.rhubcom.com/) is what I use at work, and it works well. Screensharing, webinars, remote support, the whole works. The

Chromebox for Meetings (http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/bu ... tings.html). This looks interesting, but it's essentially Google Hangouts.

Thanks Chrispy_ , this is exactly what I'll be doing.. I have a ceiling mounted projector, so the camera well have to be set on the wall, but this should work..