Microphone and Camera

[tbocca]

Hi,

I'm looking for a cheap and smart solution for large meetings with online and presidential attendees.

We are a small company and we have recently been facilitating some meetings for a client. We are having the following issues that I would hope the right equipment can solve. 15 presential and 5 online.

1.  Audio - the computer microphone doesn't have enough reach and we have to use a cellphone to call in the conference and be used as a microphone. This causes one person to be walking around the room and handing the phone to the speaker. Also, the cellphone has to be muted every time that someone online speaks otherwise we get a horrible echo.

2. Camera - we had the computer facing the front of the room so the online attendees could see the projector, but we would like them to see the presidential attendees as well. Would an additional webcam solve the problem and allow us to choose with camera image we want to share at the time?

I'm hoping to find an affordable central microphone that has the reach and doesn't cause echo and a nice camera.

Thanks,

[Maksym Kozub]

I think the problem with your laptop microphone is not only its reach being limited in terms of distance but also the fact that it does not catch sound from every direction around the room. What you need is some sort of omnidirectional microphone (_or_ a directional microphone that will rotate automatically towards the sound source), and a pan-tilt-zoom camera.

As an example, there is Logitech BCC950 (https://www.logitech.com/en-roeu/products/video-conferencing/conference-cameras/bcc950-conferencecam.960-000867.html). A CAVEAT HERE: I personally did not try it, nor did I try any similar device; this is just an example of the type of devices I would consider in your situation (and in the price range up to USD 500).

[tbocca]

Thanks, Maksym.
I think you're dead on.
I have been looking at the Logitech Group, but it is so expansive.
The reviews are a bit mixed so I keep wondering if there is a cheaper
doable alternative around. I might just have to give it a try.

[Maksym Kozub]

I realized you are looking for something as cheap as possible (and still fit for your purpose), so I looked for various options, but I was not able to find anything cheaper with a rotating camera. There are things like Logitech C920 Pro (again, I have no personal experience with it!), which is cheaper but its camera does not rotate left and right, and there are two microphones on the opposite sides of the camera. Anything with automated face tracking or voice tracking will be more expensive.

[JOSEPHMOELLER]

Not sure what type of computer you are using, but we have similar situations here and we use the Microsoft Surface.  From my experience the MS Surface has incredible sound quality and a great microphone and camera.   Also, be sure to make sure your audio settings are set correctly with regard to webex's configuration.   There are several "modes" in webex to allow for noise cancellation at different levels.   For someone that is walking around or not near the microphone, it may make sense to enable the "music" mode on the webex app/meetings and that will most likely pick up that person much better.

[tbocca]

Thanks for the reply.
I've been using a Dell Laptop.
The microphone doesn't do it in large rooms.

I will check my Webex configurations to see if at least the echo can be
fixed.
I'm considering getting something like a Facebook Portal Go to see if does
a better job. Anyone has tried it?