Video Conferencing System Planner

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Shona Barker
5 years ago
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1 Video Conferencing System Planner

Introduction Video conferencing is no longer limited to your business conference room.

This has been made possible by continuous advancements in cellular, wide and local area network technology, significant advances in PC and Mac technology, and the introduction of powerful

These platforms, outfitted with either internal cameras or external web-cams, have made it possible for anyone to use and benefit from enterprise-class videoconferencing.

With all this choice, there also exists the likelihood that an inappropriate technology will be used in an environment that it wasn t designed for.

2 Introduction Video conferencing is no longer limited to your business conference room. Now you can conference from the comfort of your desk, home, or wherever you happen to be, with any type of device. This has been made possible by continuous advancements in cellular, wide and local area network technology, significant advances in PC and Mac technology, and the introduction of powerful communications friendly tablets and smart-phones. These platforms, outfitted with either internal cameras or external web-cams, have made it possible for anyone to use and benefit from enterprise-class videoconferencing. With the advent of these enhancements and new technologies, there are more ways to communicate in video than ever before. With all this choice, there also exists the likelihood that an inappropriate technology will be used in an environment that it wasn t designed for. There are systems and devices designed for the different environments that are found in business today, ranging from personal offices to huddle rooms, meeting rooms, boardrooms, training rooms, theaters, auditoriums, and conference halls. End user product acceptance, use, and resultant benefit is predicated on ease-of-use and quality of user experience. These two attributes, along with practicality and cost-effectiveness are required in order for any technology to be successful. This planner outlines what should be investigated prior to the selection of an appropriate technology for the various environments. It offers the following selection criteria: 1. Environments for Video Conferencing 2. Adherence to Communications Standards 3. Information Sharing Requirements 4. AV, Control, and Peripheral Requirements (Number of Displays and Cameras) 5. Functionality (Ease of Use) and Desired Quality 6. Camera Movement Requirements (PTZ - Pan, Tilt, Zoom) and Camera Positioning Presets 2

viewer. Capabilities should exist to move the camera and zoom in to.

3 1. Environments for Video Conferencing Office Sm Huddle Room Lg Huddle Room Meeting Room Board Room Training Room Theater/Auditorium With respect to these various environments, the camera must be able to focus on participants and deliver an acceptable image quality to the far end viewer. Capabilities should exist to move the camera and zoom in to. If multiple participants speak during the meeting, the camera should be positioned on the active speaker to ensure facial expressions are viewed. With certain applications and environments, two cameras may be required. 3

2. Services and System Selection Based on Communications Standards When investing in video conferencing, an analysis of who you will be communicating with and what technologies and platforms they

4 2. Services and System Selection Based on Communications Standards When investing in video conferencing, an analysis of who you will be communicating with and what technologies and platforms they will be using or are using needs to be assessed. Since video conferencing is a communications technology, it is important that it adheres to standards in a manner similar to what governed our domestic and international voice network. Standards allowed us to talk to anyone, anywhere, at any time. They also made the voice network the success that it is. Both cellular and land-line. These requirements also hold true for pervasive video. Although proprietary and closed technologies such as Apple Facetime, Microsoft Skype/Skype for Business, and Google Hangouts, to name a few, support video and work very well, they are proprietary and require the use of identical client software on all participant's devices. This impacts flexibility, especially when there are requirements to communicate outside of your organization or with purpose-built systems designed for meeting rooms and larger spaces. There are over 2 million of these devices in use today. Standards enabled competition that optimized development of video conferencing and helped make all current video technologies possible. 4

3. System Selection Based on Information Sharing Requirements Sharing information is an integral part of video communications and collaboration.

However, please note that data sharing is limited to what the platform is capable of supporting.

5 3. System Selection Based on Information Sharing Requirements Sharing information is an integral part of video communications and collaboration. Whether the platform is standards based or proprietary, both must support the ability to share information. The same is true for purposebuilt and PC/Mac based systems. However, please note that data sharing is limited to what the platform is capable of supporting. For instance, on a PC or Mac, full screen content or the of an application such as Keynote or PowerPoint is possible. However, if you wanted to present the content of a digital microscope, an image on a external camera, the content of a Smart Board, or zoomed-in of a Keynote or PowerPoint presentation on a tablet or smart phone, your selection option favors a purpose built appliance. Because of these data sharing requirements, careful attention must be exercised when selecting a video conferencing technology for the meeting room. Meeting rooms are general purpose work areas used by multiple individuals with potentially different work station requirements. 5

4. System Selection Based on AV Requirements (Microphones, Amplification, Speakers, # of Displays, # of Cameras) Legend PC/Mac, Tablet, or Smartphone Display or Projector Mic and speaker PTZ Camera

6 4. System Selection Based on AV Requirements (Microphones, Amplification, Speakers, # of Displays, # of Cameras) Legend PC/Mac, Tablet, or Smartphone Display or Projector Mic and speaker PTZ Camera External Mics External Speakers In order to deliver the optimum in video and audio performance, special purpose appliances are designed to support mutiple displays, cameras, microphones for both speakers and audience, and speaker systems that support different environments, ranging from huddle rooms to boardrooms, classrooms and auditoriums. These components can be added directly or indirectly to the system dependent upon the level of usability, quality, or support required for the environment. As noted previously, the design of the video conferencing room must support ease-of-use and quality-of-user-experience because research has proven that these two attributes are the most critical criteria for successful videoconferencing deployments. 6

7 5. Camera Selection Based on Functionality and Desired Quality There are a range of cameras available for videoconferencing. Similar to still image or video cameras, video conferencing cameras range in size from small consumer to large professional devices that offer the finest in quality, endurance, and performance. The intended application, the size of the room, and expected quality dictates what camera and supporting system is used. To illustrate, the image pictured above outlines what is gained as you move from the left of the graph to the right. Webcams, appropriate for personal communications in a remote or office setting, often do not offer the capabilities or performance required for huddle or meeting rooms. In order to promote the utility of the video conferencing room, the system needs to support features like zoom, positioning presets, ease of use and quality of user experience. Ease of use and quality of user experience are very important in promoting user acceptance. From the time the video conferencing system or PC/Mac client are turned on, the experience must be second nature to the participant in order to promote utility and subsequent operational benefit. The following pages will cover and illustrate the various functions and capabilities that are available with purpose built video conferencing systems designed for room environments supporting a multitude of participants. These functions and capabilities include Field of, Zoom, Pan-Tilt-Zoom camera movement, and camera positioning Presets 7

6a. Camera Field of (FoV) and Zoom The Field of (FoV) of the camera dictates that the distance (D) between table and system should not be less than 0.7 times the width (W) of the table front.

When you zoom in 2X you capture 1/2 the height and 1/2 the width of your original view. So 2X zoom means you capture 1/4 of the full view.

8 6a. Camera Field of (FoV) and Zoom The Field of (FoV) of the camera dictates that the distance (D) between table and system should not be less than 0.7 times the width (W) of the table front. 70 /80 FoV Field of (D) (W) When you "zoom in," you take a crop of a portion of the view. Optical zoom does this optically so you don't lose quality. When you zoom in 2X you capture 1/2 the height and 1/2 the width of your original view. So 2X zoom means you capture 1/4 of the full view. To further explain, 8X zoom captures 1/64 of the scene (1/8 the height and 1/8 the width. 10X would then be 1/100. ZOOM There are two methods of zooming in on a participant or object. Optical zoom is accomplished by mechanically moving lenses in the camera in order to gain a closer shot of the subject. Digital zoom is just taking a smaller portion of the image and enlarging it to fill the whole screen. You're essentially stretching the pixels on the image. 8

6b. Zoom Examples 1x 2x 4x 10x Most videoconferencing cameras associated with special purpose room appliances support 3x, 5x, and 10x zoom capabilities.

9 6b. Zoom Examples 1x 2x 4x 10x Most videoconferencing cameras associated with special purpose room appliances support 3x, 5x, and 10x zoom capabilities. The above illustration shows what a item in image 1x looks like when zoomed-in ten times in image 10x. This allows clear viewing of ed information contained on flip-charts or whiteboards as illustrated on the previous page. Camera movement aides in the sharing of ed information that is an essential element of collaboration. 9

10 6c. Camera Movement (PTZ - Pan, Tilt, Zoom) and Positioning Presets Camera presets allow the movement of the camera to a particular focal point. In the above example, presets are used to focus via a wide angle on focal points 1, 2, and 3, representing the full room, right side of the room, and left side of the room; Zoom in to individuals 4-9, and 10; or Zoom in to a whiteboard

Final selection and placement in the appropriate environment Once the previous six criteria have been considered, f.inal system placement would most likely look similar to the above.

The end-user would be able to participate in video conferences and share information stored on the associated PC/Mac, most likely PowerPoint or Keynote presentations or information on spreadsheets.

11 Final selection and placement in the appropriate environment Once the previous six criteria have been considered, f.inal system placement would most likely look similar to the above. For Personal Offices, including work from home environments, a PC or Mac running video conferencing client software supported by a web cam would suffice for most applications. The end-user would be able to participate in video conferences and share information stored on the associated PC/Mac, most likely PowerPoint or Keynote presentations or information on spreadsheets. If better video quality is required or the end-user needs to share information contained on other devices (tablets, smartphones, other PCs/Macs, cameras, smartboards, microscopes, etc.) a purpose-built appliance such as Lifesize's Icon Series systems should be used. This would keep the video conferencing function independent of the PC or Mac, where the PC or Mac would be connected. These purpose built systems offer the utmost in functionality, flexibility, qusaality, ease-of-use, and quality of user experience. The same holds true for Huddle Rooms or Small Meeting Rooms. If PC/Mac functionality suffices as per the above, then the PC or Mac would be appropriate. Otherwise, the purpose built appliance should be used. For Boardrooms, Training Rooms, Theaters, Auditoriums, and other large venues, purpose built appliances are used exclusively. These devices offer the optimum in audio and video device integration, ease-of-use, and video performance, all necessary to support the size of the room. 11

Communications Scenarios - environments working together The above illustration walks us through several different scenarios for video conferencing.

12 Communications Scenarios - environments working together The above illustration walks us through several different scenarios for video conferencing. It incorporates personal as well as multi-participant environments like Meeting Rooms and Virtual Meeting Rooms (VMRs). The Huddle Room, a multi-participant environment, could be supported by individual or meeting room video-conferencing technologies, with technology selection based on requirements other than camera performance. These requirements, such as AV or data-sharing, were discussed previously. In Scenario A, when a Subject Matter Expert (SME) is presenting to a group of participants in a Meeting Room, a PC or Mac equipped with a webcam would offer acceptable quality due to the short focal distance from participant to the camera lens. With appropriate audio cancellation technology, the quality of the audio/video link would be acceptable. This would also apply to small huddle rooms with 3 to a maximum of 5 participants. In Scenario B, due to the size of the room, the camera should be capable of capturing crisp facial expressions and smooth movement in order to maintain the attention and interest of the far end participants. If the quality suffers, the reaction would be similar to watching a low quality movie. Your interest would wane over time. The most appropriate device for this environment would be a video conferencing purpose-built appliance. It offers the best camera performance with optical zoom, pan-tilt-move functionality and camera presets for quick and fluid camera on meeting room participant positioning, Scenario's C and D include the meeting room, in this case with multiple participants, so the performance of the camera is especially important due to increased movement and optical stress on the camera. 12

13 Mobile and Fixed Environments - the Personal Office Personal Office 13

14 Fixed Environments - with 1 or 2 displays Huddle Room Meeting Room 14

Mobile Environments - with 1 or 2 displays System interfaces for

mobile device. Power and network interfaces.

A power outlet and network interface are required in the room.

15 Mobile Environments - with 1 or 2 displays System interfaces for the phone/controller and information sharing from a PC/Mac or mobile device. Power and network interfaces. Mobile solutions are fully integrated on the cart with or without displays. Carts are available for both single and dual display configurations. A power outlet and network interface are required in the room. When configured and set up properly, the cart can be easily moved from room to room. Plug it in, power it up, connect it to the network and start collaborating. 15

Mobile Environments - with fixed displays in rooms

phone/controller, display and information sharing

Dual display Power and network interfaces.

displays installed in multiple meeting rooms.

16 Mobile Environments - with fixed displays in rooms Single display System interfaces for the phone/controller, display and information sharing devices e.g. PC/Mac, tablet, or smartphone. Dual display Power and network interfaces. This mobile solution is designed to support fixed displays installed in multiple meeting rooms. The system, camera, mic, speaker, controller, and data collaboration interfaces are mobile. 16

17 Training Rooms and Auditoriums Training Room Auditorium 17

Meeting Room With Appliance/Purpose Built System This installation contains a (1) purpose built video conferencing system with a

table, and a (4) laptop for information sharing.

share information from their individual device.

18 Meeting Room With Appliance/Purpose Built System This installation contains a (1) purpose built video conferencing system with a (2) 10x (10 times zoom) PTZ (Pan-Tilt- Zoom) camera, a (3) mic and VoIP speakerphone/control pad positioned in the middle of the table, and a (4) laptop for information sharing. The architecture of the purpose-built system allows hot-swapping of the information source so that anyone in the meeting room can share information from their individual device. This configuration offers the ultimate in quality and performance with the most flexibility in information sharing options via a user interface that optimally supports ease-of-use and quality-of-user-experience. LPS Associates, LLC (800) x111 contactus@lpsassociates.com 18

Appliances. Lifesize Icon Series Video. Purpose Built Video Conferencing Solutions for Every Room. Auditoriums and other Large Venues.

Appliances. Lifesize Icon Series Video. Purpose Built Video Conferencing Solutions for Every Room. Auditoriums and other Large Venues. Lifesize Icon Series Video Appliances Purpose Built Video Conferencing Solutions for Every Room Auditoriums and other Large Venues No other video conferencing system offers the ease and versatility of