High-quality videoconferencing hardware has become essential in a world where employees travel less for conferences and meetings with customers and colleagues. This allows teams to collaborate seamlessly and efficiently regardless of location.
Videoconferencing hardware captures analog audiovisual (AV) input and digitally encodes it to transmit it over a network. It then displays the decoded data on a display device for participants to view and hear during calls.
Cameras
Videoconferencing enables businesses to connect with remote team members, clients, and partners who cannot meet in person. Investing in high-quality equipment such as Neat ensures that meetings are as effective as possible, allowing participants to share content and engage with one another.
Choosing a suitable video conference device can save time and money. The best options include a monitor, TV, and whiteboard that all work together for the ultimate conferencing experience. Some also feature automatic framing, ensuring everyone is visible during the meeting.
In addition, purpose-built videoconferencing monitors offer features like a high-definition camera that ensures crystal-clear audio and visuals. This helps prevent misunderstandings caused by poor sound quality and allows participants to pick up on non-verbal cues, which can be lost in a conversation via phone or email. The human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text, so providing good visuals to your team improves the efficiency of your conference calls. These features are essential in a meeting environment where you must quickly communicate ideas and information.
Microphones
As remote and hybrid work expands, video conferencing tools have become essential for organizations that want to ensure their employees can communicate effectively from home or other locations. However, poor video and audio quality can erode employee productivity.
To hear others during a virtual meeting, participants must use speakers or high-quality headsets that will drown out surrounding noise and allow them to focus on the call. The suitable headsets will also usually include a microphone.
Room acoustics can also negatively impact audio quality, causing crosstalk, echoing, and background noise to interfere with the clarity of conversation. The CPU usage of a participant’s device can also affect audio quality.
A good video conferencing solution will be easy to use and should have a simple setup process for both meeting hosts and participants. It should also be compatible with various devices, including smartphones and tablets. It should also be scalable, with options for daisy-chaining additional monitors or headsets.
Speakers
A good speaker reproduces sound accurately so that you hear the trumpet run, monologue, or gunshot precisely as it was recorded and not a slightly different version. Speakers could be better at this, but the best speakers get very close. The top performers also have a great range of frequencies and provide stereo imaging with depth and separation, allowing you to focus on the most essential parts of a performance or recording. They have a wide soundstage that moves around you and can play loudly with minimal distortion or muddiness.
Another high-performing speaker has some of the best stereo imaging we have ever heard.
All-in-One Hardware Packages
Productivity is a complex concept that can’t be quickly boiled down to a single metric. But there’s no denying that investing in tools and processes that remove productivity blockers can help teams regain their focus and forge ahead, whether working from the office or home.
Boost productivity with Google Meeting hardware that delivers excellent audio, accessible video meetings, and more.
New features for 2023 are designed to improve your team’s ability to work together remotely, whether during the COVID-19 pandemic or for other business reasons. Updated tools like automation help developers offload repetitive tasks and break down information silos while time-tracking software can reveal areas that may be slowing productivity. It also supports importing Electronic Data Sheet (EDS) files that describe EtherNet/IP device and network configurations. This allows the Productivity Series CPU to share data over Ethernet with other devices.