WebConfGuide

Archive for the ‘Web Conferencing Hardware’ Category

Webcams are absolutely essential for communicating with other people over the Internet, particularly with regard to web conferencing. Here is a roundup of some of the best web conferencing equipment for video you can find on the market.

The Creative Live! Cam Optia Pro is ideally suited for online video communication via instant messengers and VoIP services. It offers a slick and polished design in a small package, and offers wide-angle functionality and 1.3-megapixel sensors.

The Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 boasts of a Carl Zeiss lens that offers remarkably sharp images and possibly the finest autofocus feature of the bunch. The Quickcam also offers 8 megapixel resolution, ensuring highly detailed images.

Offering 90 frames a second, 1.3 megapixel resolution and a host of features such as digital zoom and picture enhancement, the Philips SPC 900 comes in way ahead of the pack. Also included is revolutionary face tracking technology that is typically seen only in more expensive dedicated digital cameras.

For simple and straightforward web conferencing hardware, the Advent ADE-A2 offers pretty solid performance. While obviously lacking the features of some of the other webcams in this roundup, this one nevertheless gets some good reviews.

A fairly impressive offering, the Microsoft Lifecam VX-6000 features a wide angle lens, 1.3 megapixels video capability, and 5 megapixels still photo capability. It also offers a decent selection of audio and video effects.

The Creative Live! Cam Video Pro is ideally suited for users looking for low cost web conferencing equipment. Low cost it may be but it does come with features such as 1.3-megapixel sensor, face tracking, microphone, USB connectivity and video effects.

Another budget offering is the Logitech Quickcam Messenger, which features 30 frames per second at 640 X 480 resolution, microphone, and headset.

The PC Line PCL-300K is an amazingly low-priced offering that includes 30 frame per second video capability, at 640 X 480 resolution, and USB connectivity.

The Logitech QuickCam Pro For Notebooks is a very compact web conferencing equipment that offers 8 megapixels resolution, auto focus, face tracking, and a built in microphone.

The Creative Live! Cam Notebook Ultra is ideally suited for notebooks and offers high-quality video, sleek and modern looks and USB 2.0 connectivity.

Keep In Touch With Polycom Equipment

For people who choose to work from their home, the challenge has always been how to stay in touch with coworkers and supervisors. This issue has been addressed somewhat with the use of email and web cams, but these methods still leave a little bit to be desired in terms of flexibility and real time functionality. The biggest drawback of these methods is that they aren’t really ideally suited to real time two-way communication, causing users to have resort to expensive phone calls for real time communication.

Now Polycom introduces a range of products that may just give users the flexibility and functionality that they need so badly. The flagship product of the company is the Polycom SoundPoint Pro 2. This is a speakerphone that comes with a built-in headset amplifier and it is intended specifically for line conferencing. The main selling point of this product is that it is full duplex. This means that the Polycom SoundPoint Pro allows users to converse freely at the same time much as they would on a regular phone. Other conferencing products on the market do not really function as such, and allow users only to talk one at a time. As you can imagine, this makes real time communication a lot more difficult and impractical.

Many of the Polycom products also come with innovative features and enhancements such as multi-directional mics that allow you to be heard over a wider area, and a host of echo and noise cancellation features that make for a higher quality sound. These conferencing solutions are also surprisingly affordable, which means that cutting edge conferencing technology is within reach of even the most modest budgets.

Speaking of budgets, the lowest priced Polycom product comes in at just around $169. Now, this may seem like a lot of money to spend for what is essentially a glorified speaker phone, but when you consider the wealth of features included such as two incoming line support, caller ID, speed dialing, mute, the multi-directional mics, and the LCD display, the cost seems more than worth it.

Getting Connected: Choosing A Video Conferencing Webcam

It was not so long ago that web conferencing was only the stuff of science fiction and the scenes depicting video conferencing in movies was seemingly way off into the future. Well, the good news is that web conferencing is the here and now, and it is entirely possible to have this functionality at your fingertips at very little cost.

In fact, it may surprise you to know that web conferencing hardware is so affordable that many people even have basic systems set up at home for personal and light business use. The technology that drives these devices is nothing short of amazing and with little more than a web cam, the necessary software and a halfway decent Internet connection, you can get web conferencing features that was only seen in science fiction movies in the past.

You don’t actually need a lot of web conferencing equipment to get satisfactory functionality. Even low-end systems should be enough for most uses, since all you really need to do is be seen and be heard. Of course the person you are conversing with on the other end should have similar web conferencing equipment, but the affordability of such devices make this quite feasible.

That being said, more advanced users or those who have more demanding business requirements will probably want to upgrade to higher end web conferencing equipment as their budget allows. Logitech is one popular brand that offers a range of products on the budget as well as the higher end of the scale, and they come with a host of features that offer a lot of bang for the buck. For instance, one of their models feature a motion detector that actually allows the camera to follow you as you move through the room. Some models even feature audio follow features that ensure you are heard from a wider range of locations. These solutions are typically available at low cost on Ebay and they are great for more intensive web conferencing applications as well as for users that are looking for a little more functionality than consumer systems can provide.

As the ability to hold video conferences over the Internet continues to grow in popularity, there is always going to be in need for new and better video conference equipment.  Some of this equipment will work perfectly well on a casual or personal level.  Some people are also able to successfully use it whenever they are holding an occasional video conference with their business as well.  Since there are so many different types of cameras and audio equipment accessories that are available, we thought it would be a good idea to assess some of them and give you an overview.

The most popular reason why people video conference is for personal reasons.  Much of this is done with simple web cams that are purchased locally and hooked up to the top of the monitor.  Most laptop computers also come preinstalled with web cams as well.  These typically work very well in order to keep in touch with friends or family members who may live far away.  If you do not currently have a setup for video chatting with friends, you can usually pick up a simple video conference kit at any local store. You just plug them in, turn them on and begin chatting, using your favorite instant messenger program.  Most people don’t concern themselves with the quality as many of them will provide you with plenty of quality for a personal conference.

If you are running video conferences for your business on a regular basis, you may want to have some better audio and video equipment available to you.  After all, you want to give as professional of an appearance as you possibly can.  For this, you may want to go with a high definition solution, such as the one that is available through Polycom Conference.  They provide you with all of the equipment that you need so that you can begin running your own video conferences right away.  Since it is high definition, you will be assured to have the best quality that is currently available.

There may be some of you that fall somewhere in the middle of this.  Perhaps you are a small business that needs to video conference on occasion and it is not necessary for you to spend an exorbitant amount of money in order to do so.  There are some high end, regular web cams that are available which do an excellent job of providing high video quality.  If you are away from the camera whenever you are speaking, you may want to also have wireless audio available so that your sound is consistent.  This is not only excellent in the small-business environment, it is also perfect for somebody who wants to have a little more than a personal setup.

The most important thing is that you get what falls within your budget and allows you to hold the videos conference in the quality that you need.  There are plenty of options that are available which will allow you to do this.

The Internet truly has changed the way that we do things in many different ways.  One of the ways that it has affected us is in the way we do our business and what was once considered to be only something that was science fiction is now actually a reality.  I’m talking about video conferencing, something that is becoming increasingly popular today, both for people who are using it for business and those who are using it on a personal level.  Here is a little bit about how you can begin using videoconferencing technology for yourself today.

As far as business is concerned, there is always going to be a need to have the best as far as technology goes in order to make your video conferencing something that is as professional as possible.  For this, you’re going to need to have the right kind of equipment along with web conference software in order to make everything work properly.  Almost all businesses are now on a broadband connection which is necessary in order to have a smooth video conference so that is not really a consideration at this time.

As far as the equipment is concerned, you are going to need a high quality video camera that is attached to your computer in order to transmit the video over the Internet.  Having a high grade video camera is going to make all the difference as far as the quality of the video is concerned.  Having a low-grade camera will make the video appeared choppy or perhaps sluggish.

High-quality audio equipment is also necessary in order for you to have a professional appearance.  In many cases, audio is built directly into the camera but you may also want to have some wireless audio equipment, such as a lapel microphone if you plan on stepping away from the camera for any length of time.

One final thing that you’re going to need is some kind of software that will run the entire video conference.  There are plenty of free web meeting solutions that are available, both those that run over the Internet and those that run directly on your computer.  At times, it may be necessary for both of you to have the same web conferencing solution so that two-way communication is a possibility.  This would be the case if you are using programs such as Skype, or any one of the other popular Instant Messenger programs.

Video conferencing at home is also becoming increasingly popular and many of the solutions that are available for business are also available on a personal level.  This is usually done as friends chat with each other over the Internet or perhaps in order for faraway relatives to be able to speak to you “face-to-face”.

As technology continues to improve, there’s no doubt that the video conferencing technology will continue to improve right along with it.  Regardless of whether you are using the technology for business or for personal use, however, is something that all of us will consider to be very convenient.