Low-Fi, 3 Office Teleconference Suggestions

[Tyler]

So my Dad just came to me after he got a $25,000 quote from Cisco to set up a teleconferencing solution between his office here and Calgary, and their satellite offices in Regina and Saskatoon.

Right now I'm trying to come up with some less costly alternatives for him.

I was thinking:

3 13" Macbook Pro's
Skype Business Group Video Calling
3 40" TV's with appropriate laptop connector cables

I'm thinking this will run them less than $10k overall.

Are there any better options that you guys can think of?

[Mazrim]

Why not get a much cheaper laptop with a webcam? Is there something about the MacBook Pro I'm missing in terms of being the ultimate conferencing tool?

[Rathji]

I don't have a lot of experience with teleconference stuff, but I wouldn't group Skype in with Cisco in terms of quality of product.

What you are doing is hacking something together that will work, but it will still be hacked together. Depending on the business, and the reliability and quality that they need, that might be fine. I bet if you compared the services side by side, and his Cisco vendor might be willing to set up a test for him, it would make that $25k seem like a lot better deal.

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Why not get a much cheaper laptop with a webcam? Is there something about the MacBook Pro I'm missing in terms of being the ultimate conferencing tool?

Or a MacMini/PC w/ wireless keyboard and mouse & High Quality Webcam (maybe wide angle) on the TV. At minimum it would look a little less hacked together (and maybe cost less as well).

[KTrain]

Some TVs have built in cameras/Skype that could let you remove the Mac from the equation. However, you'd obviously still need it for sharing screens.

[Notorious Honey Badger]

Is the system telepresence? If so it's pretty impressive and almost worth it. It's also pretty idiot proof. And I work with real idiots.

[sclitheroe]

My only contribution is to say, there is absolutely no way I'd use a Skype based system if there was ever, even, a chance that I'd have a client or customer sitting in one of the three offices while it was being used.

Sometimes no system is better than a system that works poorly.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Tyler

So my Dad just came to me after he got a $25,000 quote from Cisco to set up a teleconferencing solution between his office here and Calgary, and their satellite offices in Regina and Saskatoon.

Right now I'm trying to come up with some less costly alternatives for him.

I was thinking:

3 13" Macbook Pro's
Skype Business Group Video Calling
3 40" TV's with appropriate laptop connector cables

I'm thinking this will run them less than $10k overall.

Are there any better options that you guys can think of?

Heh, this is what I do for a living.

Lync Server OnDemand implementation, 3x Polycom Roundtable cameras.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Heh, this is what I do for a living.

Lync Server OnDemand implementation, 3x Polycom Roundtable cameras.

Just curious - what company do you work for?
I'm in the industry now too.

[TorqueDog]

PM'd.

Oh, and we have Telepresence at our offices and it is VERY impressive. But a bit much for most companies.

[fredr123]

My firm has offices in Lethbridge, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. We've gotten by with a combination of Skype and polycoms for voice. It's made a big difference in our meetings being able to see and hear team members from all over the place.

[GP_Matt]

How are you supposed to surf the net if you start using video during conference calls?

[woob]

Agreed, Telepresence is pretty amazing. Have you looked into LifeSize? I've also used them and they are decently priced, I believe.

[Azure]

I have used LifeSize in the past. Works pretty good.