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When searching for a video conferencing solution, you’re likely to come across the same products over and over again: Zoom, Skype, and Webex are the most popular tools on the market.
However, most of these video conferencing platforms are cloud-based. Cloud-based solutions are great in terms of flexibility and cost, but you might be looking for a more comprehensive setup that involves hardware or physical video conferencing equipment.
We’ll go through three types of video conferencing solutions to help you make the right system choice for your business.
Cloud-based video conferencing systems aren’t the only option for businesses looking for a solution to help them run conference meetings, remotely manage teams, connect with customers, and foster team collaboration.
Soft codec systems are more commonly known as cloud or web-based video conferencing software. They’re “soft” as they don’t need hardware or equipment to work, and “codec” refers to devices or programs that compress and decompress data.
These software solutions, such as Zoom, GoToMeeting, and Google Meet require only an internet connection and a camera-enabled device such as a laptop, desktop, smartphone, or tablet.
Perhaps the biggest misconception about soft codec video conferencing solutions is that they don’t support a large amount of meeting participants. On the contrary, the most robust tools can support anywhere from 10 to 1,000 meeting participants (and even more when users purchase an enterprise plan).
Zoom also offers a premium “Webinar” feature that allows organizations to set up webinars, live virtual events, and video conferences for up to 10,000 attendees.
Hard codec solutions require physical equipment to be installed on-site (plus an external display, TV, camera, and microphone) as the systems are hardwired and function via back-end servers. Because of this, they don’t require or rely on an internet connection in order to hold video conferences.
Hard codecs are similar to the video conferencing setups one sees in movies -- picture a corporate boardroom with large monitors, microphones, and speakers.
This type of system is well-suited for organizations that need fixed meeting rooms dedicated to conference audio and video calls and don’t want to rely on an internet connection.
Telepresence systems emulate the appearance of physical meeting rooms via screens, giving meeting participants the appearance of being present in the same room and having a face-to-face interaction.
The appearance of board rooms, chairs, lighting, etc., all match, giving the illusion that everyone is in the same room.
Telepresence systems often hide the equipment needed to make video calls -- such as cameras, speakers, and microphones -- to provide a more immersive video conference experience. Meeting participants look life-size, and voices sound as they would if all meeting participants were in the same room.
Hard codec and telepresence systems sit on the more expensive side of the scale, while soft codec systems (or cloud-based software) usually have more accessible price points. However, cost isn’t everything, and you should evaluate a range of other factors when it comes to choosing a video conferencing system.
For example, take into account what features you absolutely need, how many employees will use the system, how often you video chat with external clients or companies, and whether you want to rely on an internet connection to power your video conferencing solution.
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