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Oklahoma City, OK 73127

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Making Sense of Conferencing Systems in a Hybrid World

By Abby Wolfe

What is the right kind of conferencing for your business? For decades, our company has answered this question for businesses in order to help them communicate better. The world looks a little different with many businesses having a combination of onsite and remote employees, partners, and customers. 

We are breaking down the three most common styles of conferencing, the pros and cons, and where each solution fits best in business. 

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Laptop Conferencing

The conference room is set up in a way that anyone can walk in and plug in any laptop and use the room (including displays, cameras, microphones, and speakers) to do conferencing.  

Works best:  

  • If everyone in your organization has their own laptop. 
  • It is also beneficial if different people or groups use different conferencing software such as Teams, GoToMeeting or Zoom, and they each have their own licenses. 
  • If visitors from outside your organization want to use the room for conferencing.  

Advantages:  

  • This is usually a lower cost solution.  
  • Can be wireless, if needed. 
  • Most users know how to start a conference call.

Disadvantages:  

  • A laptop must be present to start a meeting.
  • If not wireless, wires and cables can take over the conference table.
  • This setup usually requires a cable path to the table, which can be hard in multi-use spaces where tables frequently move.  

Dedicated PC in the Conference Room

The conference room has a dedicated PC setup for conferencing that is permanently connected to the room (displays, cameras, microphones, and speakers). Simply log in to the PC and conferencing begins.

Works best: 

  • If you need a low cost solution and not everyone in your organization has their own laptop.  
  • If different people or groups use different conferencing software such as Teams, GoToMeeting or Zoom, and they each have their own licenses.

Advantages

  • This is usually a lower cost solution. 
  • Most users know how to start a conference call.  

Disadvantages:

  • Logging in can be cumbersome if each person has their own log in. 
  • Alternatively, many organizations set up a group account such as “conference room” that all users use. These group accounts can be a major security vulnerability in a standard environment and is not recommended by most IT professionals.  

Combinations:

BYOD functionality can be added into these systems. Of course, it requires additional expense and a control system to allow switching the cameras, microphones, and speakers and the dedicated PC and laptops.  

One Touch Solution

Exactly how it sounds, this is a solution in a room that simplifies reservations and kickoff of a meeting. It includes a touchpanel for control, cameras, microphones, and speakers.  Users can walk in and start a meeting without needing to log in to any PC, or hook up any laptop. Usually connects to Outlook or Google Calendar for scheduling and the room is ready for a pre-scheduled meeting when you walk it.   

Works best: 

  • If your organization has standardized on Zoom or Teams for conferencing.
  • Multiple teams reserve your conference room(s).

Advantages:

  • If you are all using Zoom or Teams already on laptops for conferencing, this can be an easy step to add to your conference room that will provide ease of use.
  • You don’t need a laptop to start a conference call in a conference room. 

Disadvantages: 

  • Can make it hard to use a different kind of conferencing such as GotoMeeting.
  • Can be a more expensive overall solution

Combinations: 

You can add BYOD laptop capabilities to these systems. It requires additional technology needs, but can add efficie

ncy a

nd functionality to a room. 

 

No matter the system your business needs, the team at Cory’s can help navigate the pros and cons of each setup, design a system that works specifically for your team, and install a system your business can count on to communicate. 

Let’s talk about your conferencing needs. 

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