Anybody have experience with Skype Video Conferencing?

[Dstoop]

I've been tasked with figuring out a teleconferencing solution for the small business I work for. Cost is an issue, and it would only be used once or twice a month for groups of 3 or 4 people per location (two offices).

Since 15k Polycom rigs are out of the question, I was thinking we could get away with a couple of skype-enabled smart TVs and half decent compatible cameras/mics and maybe spend 2-3k instead of 40k+ We don't really need stunning clarity 1080p streaming or anything like that, just a simple "I can see your face and some stuff on the table" is fine.

Does anyone have any experience in this regard? Unfortunately we're talking about conference room to conference room, so a pair of laptops with cheap webcams isn't gonna cut it.

 

[sdifox]

so you just need more expensive camera?

check out webex?

http://www.webex.com/plans/meetings-plans.html?TrackID=1030016

or panterra

http://www.panterranetworks.com/lan...ctme_HD2.php?gclid=CNCvssG057ICFYYWMgodHCAAFQ

or nefsis

http://www.nefsis.com/Pricing/index-video-conferencing-price.html


you can always just pick up the cameras first, even if you go with skype you will need the cameras. You can still use a computer to drive it, just need bigger display.

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-tv/tvcam/


This of course will depend on your bandwidth.


Most camcorders these days can be used as a usb webcam. And they tend to have better sensor/lens than the webcams.

 

[Rio Rebel]

The first question you have to ask is how much does it cost your business if (when) your video conference isn't functional. Your answer determines your solution.

A solution with Skype and a couple of smart tv's would work fine for me at home, where I want to video conference to another country for personal conversations, and it doesn't matter if the connection is bad and I need to call later. If your business actually needs these meetings to happen on a schedule, you are putting your work at risk with this solution. You don't necessarily need high def high bandwidth video conferencing, but you need to know that your meeting is not going to be highly dependent upon what the internet traffic happens to be at that time of the day.

 

[Dstoop]

Thanks for the links, i'll look into them.

Any info on the Smart TVs with integrated skype? An ideal solution wouldn't be tethered to a PC.

 

[sdifox]

Thanks for the links, i'll look into them.

Any info on the Smart TVs with integrated skype? An ideal solution wouldn't be tethered to a PC.

the skype link I gave you has a few tv cams with skype built in. The Tely Lab one seems to be better liked.

 

[Dstoop]

The first question you have to ask is how much does it cost your business if (when) your video conference isn't functional. Your answer determines your solution.

A solution with Skype and a couple of smart tv's would work fine for me at home, where I want to video conference to another country for personal conversations, and it doesn't matter if the connection is bad and I need to call later. If your business actually needs these meetings to happen on a schedule, you are putting your work at risk with this solution. You don't necessarily need high def high bandwidth video conferencing, but you need to know that your meeting is not going to be highly dependent upon what the internet traffic happens to be at that time of the day.

We've got more than enough bandwidth to cover some HD video streaming on top of our normal usage, and these meetings are inter-department meetings, not meetings directly with clients. Honestly, it's more of a "we want this" feature than a "we need this" feature that the higher ups told me to make happen, it's not business critical if something goes wrong one day and they have to pick up the phone for a regular old conference call until we get the issue sorted out.