IMCCA Special Report
Sharing perspectives on industry activities and what they mean for the
future of collaboration.
Authors: Andrew W. Davis, Industry Analyst and David Danto, IMCCA
Director of Emerging Technology
Huddle Rooms
A Definitive Guide to Outfitting Your Smaller
Collaboration Spaces
The year was 2006.
Videoconferencing had been used in the corporate world for more than ten
years – and everyone hated it. It failed
to meet the promises of reducing travel costs and providing easy, “just like
being there” experiences. Enterprise AV
was really no better. Huge boardrooms
and overcomplicated large conference rooms were the norm, with most requiring
an AV or IT technician to operate. Into
this mix, Cisco inserted the concept of immersive “TelePresence” -- easy to
use, single purpose, high-definition rooms that finally provided the desired
experience. Every enterprise executive
seemed to love them – except the ones in the finance department. Despite expert advice about the limitations, these rooms – costing upwards of a
half-million dollars each - took off like wildfire. Now, just about 10 years later, it would be
difficult to find any of these immersive rooms still in operation at most
enterprises. Additionally, anecdotal
data suggests the number of overcomplicated, custom AV rooms has also shrunk
significantly. The high costs did help
sink these models, but that alone wasn’t the biggest factor in the pendulum
swinging back to smaller, simpler systems.
The truth is that nature of business changed.
Ten to twenty years ago people would
gather in these large rooms in one or maybe two buildings to hold
meetings. Today however, most meetings
take place with distributed participants.
Some are in conference rooms, some are at their desk, some are working
from home, and some are in transit. All
of these people need to be able to connect and collaborate effectively without
having to look for a specially equipped room -- and/or one that is likely too
complicated for them to use. A growing
number of people now manage to use their mobile device or PC to join a meeting,
but many are still in an office -- in much smaller groups.
Many enterprise technology leaders
realized a different way to support information worker collaboration was
needed. Having their people wander the
hallways looking for an empty large conference room to use (and hoping that
they can figure out how to get the AV technology working) just wasn’t effective. People conducting meetings from their desks
didn’t work anymore, because desks were increasingly likely to be in an
open-office environment rather than a private space. To meet collaboration needs, many
organizations are installing smaller, simpler, easy-to-operate meeting
spaces. Many more of these can be
deployed for the price of one of the complex rooms of the past. These new spaces have generally been called
huddle rooms.
What
are Huddle Rooms?
A huddle room is a space where small
groups of people (generally fewer than six) can go to have meetings away from
the noise and activities of today’s typically dense open office
environments. Depending upon
organizational culture, these spaces may or may not have walls (huddle spaces
vs. huddle rooms) and may or may not be intended primarily for impromptu
meetings. The majority of these huddle
rooms are equipped with basic, simple to operate technology to support local
presentations and collaboration with remote individuals. Everyone seems to agree that these rooms
should be able to function under the control of the average user – and not
require assistance from an IT or AV technician.
Simplicity is the overall theme.
What isn’t agreed upon, however, is what features constitute “basic”
requirements.
Some organizations believe a
speakerphone is enough, with or without a shared display. Others consider some form of
videoconferencing to be a requirement.
Further confusing the discussion is the fact that a wide variety of
manufacturers have introduced a plethora of solutions that describe a huddle
room in terms of only their own products.
Today’s offerings run the gamut from repurposed older modalities to new
products that were created just to serve the huddle room paradigm.
Classifying
the types of Huddle Room systems
It’s easiest to envision huddle room
solutions along a spectrum, each with different features and approaches.
Each of the possible huddle room
solution types has a number of variables, and each has significant pros and
cons.
Simple
Rooms
It’s generally agreed that the most
basic huddle space has a content display of some type and a telephone of some
type. Smaller “quiet rooms” may have
only a desk with one or two chairs and a tabletop display. Larger spaces may have a wall mounted
flat-panel display and a speakerphone on a table with up to five or six
chairs. Getting a person’s content onto
the display can be accomplished by something as simple as a cable strung over
to the table or as complex as any number of wireless content sharing
applications and devices.
While these simple rooms meet the need
for small, local groups of participants, they are typically not equipped to
support collaborative meetings with remote participants effectively. People may bring their own notebooks and use
them to join a meeting, but when using only a personal device to support even a
small meeting room the results are typically less than satisfactory – with poor
camera shots and unacceptable audio.
BYOD
Rooms
In order to improve the user experience
yet still maintain a BYOD model, many organizations provide huddle rooms with
peripheral devices meant to connect to a person’s notebook. These devices – which are commonly based on
USB connectivity - can include:
o
Audio Peripherals: A person’s PC can be turned into a very
effective IP speakerphone by using a portable USB device. Some great examples of these include the Yamaha
YVC-1000 or the Plantronics
Calisto 600 Series. These
provide excellent bidirectional audio in a small form factor for a relatively
low price. If a more permanent audio
device is desired, available solutions would include the Biamp Devio, which requires permanent installation
and can also pass-through display signals.
o
Video Peripherals: Instead of using the webcam built into a
notebook or tablet, many organizations provide an external USB camera to
improve the field of view, viewing angle, and video resolution. USB cameras today vary greatly in scope
and features:
o
The most basic feature of a good huddle room
camera is that it has a much wider pick-up angle than a typical webcam – with a
90-degree field of view being typical for a camera considered appropriate for
this application. Cameras specifically
designed for this application include Logitech’s Brio – which (for
about $200) produces 4K ultra high-definition, HDR (High
Dynamic Range) images in a field of view that is adjustable
from 65 degrees to 90 degrees, and Huddly’s Go (with an innovative ability
to correct ultra-wide images into distortion-free shots.)
o
If a mechanical PTZ camera is desired (so that
a user can focus on one specific spot, or move around to multiple specific
spots) VDO360’s
Team Cam is a good choice.
It is inexpensive as far as PTZ cameras go (about
$400),
but it is built specifically for these huddle room applications – with the
requisite 90 degree field-of-view.
o
There are also next-generation cameras
available for the huddle room which have the ability to determine how many
participants are in a room and automatically frame-up an ideal shot. This “intelligent tracking” feature will
likely be the norm going forward, but it is available today on a standard USB
camera with Altia System’s Panacast 2 – which (for about $1k) offers panoramic 180
degree 4K views with HDR.
o
Combined Audio and Video Peripherals: Some manufacturers
are now building devices that combine audio and video capabilities. These appear in many form factors.
o
Some look like traditional offerings combined
into a single package. The Logitech Group (for about $1.3K)
includes a traditional PTZ camera, a center-of-table speakerphone with optional
puck microphone extensions, on-device and handheld remote controls, and needs
just a single USB connection to a host.
o
Other vendors have adopted a
form-factor that is best described as a speakerbar with an embedded microphone
array and camera. These are meant to be
mounted under a display. One example of this form factor is Logitech’s MeetUp. It
produces 4K images from a super-wide 120-degree field of view camera, and has
integrated audio optimized for huddle room acoustics. Another example is the Yamaha’s
CS-700 with ultra-wideband audio. A strength of this form factor is the clean
design with minimal cables; a weakness is the larger distance between the
meeting participant and the audio microphone, a situation that can lead to
hollow-sounding audio.
o
Next-generation technology is emerging in this
category as well, in the form of start-up Owl Labs’ new Meeting Owl. This is a Center of Table camera /
speakerphone that more resembles Amazon’s Echo than a video conferencing
peripherals. It has an innovative 360
degree camera that finds the people who are currently (or were recently)
speaking and creates a close-up of just their images (under a strip with all
the meeting participants’ around the table.)
The company has yet to fully ramp-up production of these (approximately $800)
units, so the jury is still out on them, but the intelligent tracking shown
again here is sure to be of great interest.
The
general benefits of BYOD systems include:
o
Because the user is bringing his or her own
codec engine, the cost to the enterprise of deploying a huddle room system is
reduced compared to installing dedicated conference room solutions.
o
Meeting hosts will likely use a conferencing
application or service that they already use in their own workspaces. Hence, they are familiar with the software
and likely need little or no additional training.
o
A natural byproduct of this implementation is
that the meeting participants have all their files with them already on their
computers or tablet devices. No need for
special downloads or uploads.
Drawbacks
include:
o
Using a BYOD strategy, the compute engines
can’t be centrally managed at an enterprise level. If a PC has an issue (network connectivity,
bad driver, security update causing conflicts, etc.) no one will know until the
meeting has begun and the failure is experienced by the users. (This is the main reason that enterprises who
have opted for installed room appliances avoid the BYOD model.)
o
USB peripherals in the conference room are
portable and easily misplaced or misappropriated.
o
BYOD devices must have easy access to drivers
for huddle room peripherals unless they use standard drivers. Meeting hosts may need to select the particular
peripherals from a menu system – i.e. use the huddle room camera instead of the
embedded camera.
o
Some enterprises use a BYOD model without
adding appropriate peripherals.
Expecting a PC’s embedded camera, microphone and/or speakers to meet the
need, or installing a webcam designed to work at a desktop (with a nominal 12”
distance for good images) are common mistakes that lead to poor quality
meetings.
Hub
Based Rooms:
Some organizations that want a more
powerful and manageable system in their rooms than a BYOD strategy will allow,
but don’t want to install systems that they perceive to be “large” “complex” or
“expensive” have opted for a permanently installed table top system. These hubs can be envisioned as a center of
table speakerphone on steroids. Of
course they make audio calls, but can also handle such things as connecting to
mobile devices, sending content to the rooms display, and making very basic
video calls (with restrictions.)
Options for these can include the following:
o
Crestron
Mercury - an all-in-one tabletop
solution that supports audio calls, AV presentation, and video conferencing
(via built-in speaker and microphones and an included USB camera.) The device is a full open SIP conference
phone that directly connects many popular VOIP calling platforms, and is able
to connect directly to Skype for Business (MS Teams) and Zoom video conferences. (All other services require a BYOD device for
connection.) It also pairs – via
Bluetooth – to mobile devices and supports presentations via HDMI and Air
Media. Mercury can be registered for
reservations via Exchange or G-suite.
o
Polycom
Trio
- the latest successor to Polycom’s Iconic “starfish” speakerphone, but with
many additional features. It sports a
“smartphone-like” UI as it connects to Microsoft’s Skype for Business and
Office 365 for audio calls, video calls and content sharing.
o
Conferencing Service Provider Platforms – some
conferencing service providers – such as BlueJeans and Zoom – now offer hub based systems
for their subscribers.
The
general benefits of Hub Based systems include:
o
As a permanently installed device, a hub based
system can be remotely monitored for some health / availability information in
an enterprise environment
o
Without the variabilities stemming from devices
being brought into the room, a more stable performance is a major benefit.
o
Less “hook-up” and set up time is required as
no peripheral connections are required.
There is less risk to meeting delays.
The
general drawbacks of Hub Based systems include:
o
Videoconferencing capabilities are usually
restricted to calls on one or two locked-in systems/platforms. For example, the hub may present only the
option to start a Skype or Zoom call; other options would require an attached
notebook.
o
Often the hub manufacturers arbitrarily
restrict compatible video cameras to a very small list of low-end devices. Despite having a standard USB port for camera
input, their software prevents the use of better, more feature rich cameras. They are likely trying to convince users that
want better images to purchase a more advanced system than a hub.
o
Where offered, the management platform for some
hub systems is sometimes different from the management platform used on larger
systems. Organizations that want a blend
of small hubs and large systems may have to use two management consoles to
monitor all systems.
All
In One Rooms:
Many organizations want to equip their
huddle rooms with a single product – or a single product bundle – from a single
manufacturer – to simplify the processes of ordering, maintaining and updating
any software/firmware. Some of these
systems still require a third party display, some of them come with the
display, and some have all their features built into a display. Subcategories for these include the following:
o
Peripherals
based system with added general compute engine –
Some manufacturers take their BYOD type peripherals, add a compute engine for
videoconferencing and audio processing, and sell them as a complete
system. One example of this is Logitech’s
Group Kit – complete with a small
Intel NUC computer. Another is VDO360’s Clearwater system – where the PTZ camera is
actually mounted on a small general purpose computer. These types of systems give you all the cost
savings of a BYOD system but mitigate the connection and driver issues that
arise from bringing the computer into the room each time.
o
Control
Device Wrapped Around A General Compute Engine –
Some manufacturers take general compute based conferencing and add a touch
panel for control and status, making the package seem like a complete room
system. Skype Room Systems – like Crestron’s
SR
– do just that. It provides the same
Skype for Business or Microsoft Teams UX that might be running on a laptop or
mobile device, but built into a permanent, in-room engine. Users can get a familiar touch and feel in
the form of a room system, but all wrapped around only the conferencing
features of a PC application.
o
Speakerbar with Appliance Codec – Many
enterprises shun a general compute engine in their huddle rooms because of a
perceived lack of stability, and actual lack of enterprise grade central
monitoring. To gain those features,
users look to manufacturers that make conferencing appliances - hardware codecs
– for room use. These can still be
minimal / simple installations as exemplified by Cisco’s
Spark Room Kit. This
unit is in the ‘speakerbar’ format for use under a display, containing the speakers,
microphone array, intelligent tracking camera and in this case a dedicated
videoconferencing codec (in a device that costs approximately
$11K
or approximately $3K plus an ongoing monthly fee.). The pros for such a system include the
rock-solid performance and reliability along with the enterprise grade
monitoring. The cons include the fact
that it requires an infrastructure purchase, or a cloud subscription to
function.
o
All
In A Single Display – Another product design is based on including
the codec, audio, and camera components within the display housing itself. A benefit with this approach is that you put
up a display and you’re done – no additional peripheral devices or cable
connections are needed. This All-in-One
style is available as a standard display – like the Cisco
Spark Room 55 – and interactive displays – like the Cisco
Sparkboard and the Microsoft
Surface Hub. These
types of huddle room systems exhibit a certain elegance, with nothing to
connect or attach, but they might have their drawbacks as well. Users need to ensure that they are clear on
what infrastructure or licensing is required to operate them; what conferencing
platforms, systems and/or software they are compatible with; how difficult they are to operate; and how good the images
and sounds are that they produce. Not
all single display systems are created alike, so end-users need to try them and
speak with current users to understand any issues they’ve experienced.
o
Complete,
Multicomponent Systems – Legacy videoconferencing manufacturers
have a number of systems available that get ordered on a single SKU, get
installed in hours and not days, only require power and a network port to
operate, and perform splendidly in a huddle room environment. Cisco’s
MX300G2 is one such system that can be
unboxed, installed and making calls in less than an hour. Systems such as these provide the greatest
ability to be remotely monitored within an enterprise, drastically reducing
end-user issues. They often connect to a
central management system that provides a dashboards and alarms. Of course, however, this usually means that
organizations need to have purchased and installed these management systems as
a prerequisite. Polycom’s
Medialign Systems are another example of this type.
The
general benefits of All In One systems include:
o
Nothing has to be brought into the room for
them to work. They are ready to go once
someone walks in, and some of the systems can be remotely monitored because
they are always connected.
o
They generally eliminate the concept of system
troubleshooting that legacy AV devices had.
If there is any question about the condition of the equipment or any
component then the entire system can be easily replaced. No programming, staging or compatibility
checking is required.
. The general drawbacks of All In One systems include:
o
They are often more expensive than BYOD
solutions
o
They may require additional infrastructure
components or costly services
Mini
Full System Rooms:
These systems represent the custom AV
Integrators’ response to the huddle room hype.
The recommendation is to build a smaller custom designed, custom
programmed, multi-component system using best-in-breed AV and collaboration
components - just as was traditionally done in the AV model – but in this case
done smaller.
The
general benefit of Mini Full Systems is
the specific ability to have the technology, user interface and displays
customized to exactly what the end users require.
The
general drawbacks of Mini Full Systems are plentiful:
o
There is little to no cost benefit – each room
still needs to be staged, assembled, and installed in the field. Only the custom programming can be repeated - and only to
a certain extent.
o
Patches and updates still need to be applied on
a per component basis, with each component likely coming from a different
vendor.
o
In-room failures need to be remedied using
traditional AV troubleshooting processes.
The problematic component or cable needs to be identified, ordered and
replaced – which can be a time-consuming process.
Trade-Offs
It is important to realize that there
are inherent trade-offs for each of the huddle room solution types categorized
above – and the trade-offs are not always evident. Can the system connect to all conferencing
platforms you use? Will the camera
deliver an adequate shot in your specific room?
Is the system compatible with the cameras or other accessories you want
to use? Is quality sacrificed for cost
savings? Understanding the trade-offs
and how they map into your organization’s collaboration needs is a crucial step
to success. Independent technology
consultants with experience across multiple platforms can provide valuable and
cost-effective advice.
The
Future
All the systems detailed above will
continue to improve as technology advancements are brought to market. This is the nature of the electronics
market. We can already envision a number
of these improvements in price, performance, and feature sets.
o
Voice First user interfaces (UIs) are now
universally available on mobile smartphones and home devices. If you tell your phone or home device to
“Call Helen” it places the call. That
technology requires an always-on microphone connected to an AI engine in the
cloud – which is a significant security issue for most organizations. (There are in fact conferencing services -
such as Zoom - that offer this feature today, but it is often not permitted by
enterprise compliance teams.) There is
no doubt that the security issues can be overcome, and we’ll soon be able to
start meetings just by asking.
o
Meeting rooms will likely make more use of AI
than just voice control. Room systems
will be able to identify the people in the room (either by smart device
proximity or facial recognition) identify the meetings scheduled on their
calendars, obtain the needed presentation materials, and set all of it up to
begin with a single request to “start my meeting.”
o
Manufacturers are preparing to bring improved
audio algorithms to the market. Audio
performance has long been acknowledged as even more important than video in a
video conference. With sketchy video,
users will hang in; with unsatisfactory audio they simply hang up. Future speaker/microphone devices will likely
be programmable to pick-up sounds from a specific distance that can be
set. Depending upon the circumstances,
huddle room walls may not be needed for sound isolation. Noise suppression and echo cancellation
performance will continue to improve.
Polycom has already introduced an “acoustic fence” feature that
significantly improves audio performance in huddle room situations.
Final
Thoughts
Whether you are an information worker in
a large enterprise or an SMB, huddle rooms are likely to play a role your
business communications future. IT
professionals will need to wrestle with the myriad of technology choices
available. Our advice to all readers is
to start by assessing your actual user needs (not as easy as it sounds) and
then identifying the best approach or approaches to meet those needs along with
key concerns. The second step is to outline
priorities – start by considering price, performance, ease-of-use,
compatibility with already-deployed technology, training and adoption
requirements, and manageability. These
will vary depending on the number of rooms you are considering, their location,
your IP network bandwidth, and other factors as well. The optimal choice may not be just one
solution, but rather a blend of them.
Our guide above details the types of
solutions that the different vendors have brought to market and our assessment
of their strengths and weaknesses. Many
of the solutions are sufficiently low cost that trialing them is a reasonable
step. Be careful, however, not to expose
large groups of end-users to systems that are being tested. End-user adoption is a critical component of
a successful collaboration strategy, and confusing the users - or exposing them
to technology they will not be using - is rarely a good step. Nothing good comes from showing users
technology they will not like, or technology they did like but will not be
using. We strongly urge organizations to
decide upon a single strategy based upon actual user needs and go forward with
it, deploying huddle room technology that is consistent with all of their
collaboration experiences. This will
create a stable and uniform user experience across any environment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the authors
This article was
written by Andrew
W. Davis and David Danto and expresses
solely their own, personal opinions.
The co-founder
of Wainhouse Research, Andrew has been reporting on the visual collaboration
industry since 1994. He has published
numerous reports, opinion pieces, magazine articles, and newsletters and has
presented at numerous industry events over the years.
David has over
three decades of experience providing problem solving leadership and innovation
in media and unified communications technologies for various firms in the
corporate, broadcasting and academic worlds including AT&T, Bloomberg LP,
FNN, Morgan Stanley, NYU, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan Chase. David is the IMCCA’s Director of
Emerging Technology and a noted industry analyst and consultant. He can be
reached at DDanto@imcca.org, and his full bio and other blogs and articles can
be seen at Danto.info. Please
reach-out to David if you would like to discuss how he can help your
organization solve problems, develop a future-proof collaboration strategy for
internal use, or if you would like his help developing solid, user-focused
go-to-market strategies for your product or service.
About the IMCCA
The Interactive Multimedia &
Collaborative Communications Alliance (IMCCA) is a not-for-profit user
application and industry focused association with membership comprised of
service and product providers, consultants, and users. Members benefit from the
understanding and the use of various interactive and collaborative
communications technologies in their professional and everyday lives.
For further information please contact Carol Zelkin, IMCCA Executive Director,
at 516-818- 8184 or czelkin@imcca.org. Visit the IMCCA web site at
www.imcca.org