Video Conference has geared up enough demand in the market in recent times. Especially with the ever-increasing traffic snarl-ups on our roads. Companies are trying to cut costs related to traveling. Today it is impossible to hold more than one meeting in a day! As the saying goes “face to face is better than voice on call”.

Face to face meetings provide the experience, create perfect business bonding enhance business confidence, and strengthen inter-business relationships. Video conference provides the best opportunity to meet, at the comfort of your desktop/meeting room.

Video Conference is the meeting set up on live video transmitted over an IP network or a telephone line. In this document, we will be looking at the various factors to consider before purchasing the required equipment.

What is the requirement?
You must first identify the requirement before spending on a system that might not satisfy the current or future needs. Do you currently hold meetings on skype(free)?, have you deployed skype for business? Do you often hold webinars on WebEx, GoToMeeting? Do you already use zoom on your phone?

How do you want to use the Video Conference system? Does the person you want to call on video or how you are dialing to them? If any of your answers to the above question is yes, then you might want to consider something that works with what you are already familiar with.

Do you have the supporting infrastructure?

Video Conference systems have standard requirements; they all speak the same language. But it is important to ensure you have the related infrastructure. For starters, you need to invest in a reliable internet connection if you already haven’t. For most video conference systems, one mb (up and down) should be just fine if you are doing point to point calls. When the above is dedicated, it’s even better. This requirement might increase when you are doing multipoint calls. What is the sitting capacity of your boardroom? Is it a video ready environment? Consider rags, suitable lighting, window blinds, general acoustics.

Have you budgeted for the same?

As much as you can start small and grow from there, you may consider setting up a kitty to fund the process of acquiring a video conference system. This will also determine the infrastructure you will finally purchase since as much as you have gone through the first step, your budgets will eventually determine the end product that you finally purchase.

Most vendors provide both hardware and software versions of their video Conference offerings. Hardware sometimes tends to be more expensive than software options. Some software options are leased on an annual basis.

Kevin Nyota
Pre-sales engineer