Logitech offers the Rally HD video conferencing camera and speaker system.
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Polycom Trio
Score 9.5 out of 10
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Polycom Trio 8800 is a conference phone system that offers high-quality audio, as well as the ability to add video conferencing and HD content sharing. RealPresence Trio is Skype for Business on-prem and Office 365 Skype for Business Cloud PBX certified for conference calls and supports a 1080p30 USB camera for video conferencing. Users can share content from their personal devices, facilitating a BYOD (bring your own device) approach to collaboration.
This is the first time I have implemented a room video conferencing solution that didn't feel like torture. Right away from the unboxing of the equipment and the clear instructions I was satisfied. The full Teams Room kit had multiple options for cabling and detailed configuration options. It immediately connected to our Office 365 environment and we were live very quickly. We had one hiccup with the pass through on the Tap system but there was a firmware update available already that resolved it immediately.
It is well suited, I believe, in small to mid-level organization where use will be light to moderate. It is useful in a situation where both ends have the same equipment, the same model and the same software release upon them. A scenario where it might be less appropriate is single-use installations and large corporate environments. Though in the future it may become more adapted to the 'open range' of telephony systems right now the system is best when working with others of its kind. It is also inappropriate in a situation where the organization does not have a fully developed Information Technology team or arrangement with a telephony contractor to handle the devices when things go wrong.
The microphones are extremely sensitive. They make it easier for soft spoken individuals to be heard clearly.
It is easy to operate. Once connected through Outlook all it takes is one click to get to into a meeting and two or three to bring in outside attendees.
The Rally units are a significant improvement on the Dolby units, providing a more capable interface with better screen sharing capabilities. The units are significantly cheaper than the Cisco units, however they do not offer the remote management capabilities of the Cisco units.
Polycom Trio provides better conference call quality, picks up voice from corners of the room with additional mics for large room, better widescreen display, and it was mostly the user satisfaction which made us choose Polycom Trio.
Since we were really looking for a device that could provide Skype for Business Online services (web conferencing/video/audio/local screen presenting) at a reasonable price point, I cannot say that this device meets all of our needs. The device has to be at least 99.99% reliable. This is about 60% there. Audio is definitely in the 99% range. Local screen presenting is probably around 75%. Video and web conferencing is about 70%. To comfortably deploy a device in the wild you really need to have 99% reliability. It has to work when its needed. I can understand an occasional hiccup, but one every other day is a too many. If you are replacing older SoundStations with an IP or Skype based audio solution, then this is it.