Vertical Industry Communications: Exploring Foundational Services: Page 2 of 4

Meeting Room Audio, Video, and Sharing Devices
Historically, meeting rooms required specialized conferencing systems equipped with hardware controllers to blend the audio and video media streams and control the in-room audio and video devices. However, the online meeting software described on the previous page now provides almost all those functions when connected to general-purpose HDMI video displays and USB cameras and speakerphones or room audio subsystems. Some high-end applications, such as executive meetings and video-assisted production tasks such as in healthcare, still require specialized hardware controllers and proprietary video devices.

A generic taxonomy of meeting room device technologies is:

• Small group meetings, such as in retail locations or branch offices, best served by a mid-sized HDMI display (from consumer electronics vendors) and a small- to mid-sized room camera and speakerphone kit that generally are available at reasonable prices. Users connect the room to the online meeting via one of the attendee's computers or via a small dedicated-purpose computer or connection device. Bandwidth to small locations, such as in retail industry operations, can be metered based on the video screen resolution settings in the online meeting software.
• Mid-sized group meetings and collaborative rooms or spaces that support most meetings in larger regional or headquarters locations. These can be equipped by larger consumer-type HDMI displays (one or two per room), and by large-sized room cameras and generally available speakerphone kits.
• Large broadcast spaces for all-hands types of management meetings. Usually, this is done by having a very large display in a company's largest spaces, such as an auditorium, cafeteria, showroom, or warehouse. These meetings should be of the highest video resolution, but that bandwidth will generally be available since the employees will not be using the network for voice calls or data access during the broadcast meeting. In general, on-site employees would be asked not to join these broadcast meetings from their desk computers.
• Telepresence or similar high-end, so-called immersive, conferencing will usually occur in executive suites of large, multilocation companies to support leadership meetings, board meetings with remote participants, or communications with executives of peer companies, major customers, or major suppliers. In some cases, these rooms may be supported by a cloud-based service provider for easier connection between locations and companies. The costs of the specialized equipment and the additional bandwidth is justified by executive preference for the immersive experience or for prestige.

Online training can be provided in any of the room sizes, but usually will occur in the small or mid-sized group rooms.

Meeting rooms for the collaborative team work areas will usually include touch-sensitive whiteboards and support multiparty concurrent interactions so that all participants can contribute to the collaborative work.