Videoconferences used to be held in very expensive rooms dedicated to making video calls. These rooms required hardware known as a CODEC in order to join or make video calls. CODEC is shorthand for Code/Decode. This big, expensive piece of hardware would encode your audio and video and send it over a network to someone else with a similar piece of hardware, which would then decode your audio and video. The ability to do this quickly in both directions gave us the ability to make video conference calls.

One of our most common projects lately is removing old videoconference codec hardware and replacing it with BYOD (Bring your own device) connectivity or even dedicated Zoom or Teams hardware.

Now that this functionality is built into everyone’s phones, the need for such expensive hardware is often a thing of the past. While phones work well for personal conferences, when we meet as a group, we need a few helper devices.

when we meet as a group, we need a few helper devices.

There are so many options now that it can be a little daunting to decide how to even begin. Here are some important questions to help you get started:

• Do you always meet via zoom or maybe teams instead – do you need both?
• Do you want to be able to call from your laptop or macbook?
• Are your users comfortable choosing USB devices before connecting a call?
• Do you need a wireless option?
• Do you want a simple “one button” solution?

These questions help to determine what the right solution is for your space. You might be replacing your old CODEC with a new one built specifically for the platform of your choice – Teams or Zoom etc.. You might be providing a USB connection at your table for people to connect a laptop to, or you might even implement a completely wireless solution. There are many different solutions available now that offer different combinations of functionality. Some of our favorite solutions are Crestron Flex, Barco Clickshare, and Mersive. Check out the video below for an example of the Barco solution.

Let us know if we can help you convert some of your spaces to Teams, Zoom or BYOD conference and presentation systems! http://www.code3av.com/contact