We were forced to custom-construct the rooms, put in place extraordinary lighting and tables, and much more. Each new room required an additional overhead expense. We have to confess, though, the end result was overwhelming. Collaborating with your teams over immersive telepresence, we pretty much overlook the technology behind it after a few minutes, and we are not actually conscious of anything else but being present in the same room with the team members in front of us.
The Cisco TelePresence SX Series allows us take advantage of preexisting, standalone video displays (or standard home High Definition HDTVs) to produce low-cost, high-definition video conferencing endpoints. As there are a large number of rooms in our organization that don’t have preexisting video display screens, we are starting to use the Cisco TelePresence MX Series to create video conferencing in just a couple of minutes, without needing to rearrange and restructure a complete conference room from scratch. Not just that, but the Cisco Telepresence MX Series utilizes less bandwidth, so it is a comparatively inexpensive to support. The Cisco Telepresence MX Series is ideal for business startups, small to medium sized businesses, and people just starting out with video and hoping to save expenditures in locations where internet bandwidth is costly: Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia are good examples of regions with expensive bandwidth. But it also is ideal for large companies that need to install broadly all over their companies. Cisco’s talented IT teams are in process of accomplishing just that, adding to their videoconference proficiencies worldwide at a decreased cost.
The Cisco Telepresence MX Series are incorporated systems which have their own dedicated video screens. The Cisco Telepresence MX200 and MX300 are extremely simple to use, put in place and deploy for small-to-medium sized rooms. You can take it from box to call in as little as 10 minutes, but I’ve seen people do it in less than five minutes. The Cisco Telepresence MX700 and MX800 are larger and higher performance solutions – giving high definition (HD) audio and video experiences for medium-to-large sized rooms. They are lightweight considering their size, but you will still need help getting them out of the box, configuring and setting them up.
As an end user, we like how the Cisco Telepresence MX systems look so visually pleasing, and just like other Cisco telepresence hardware, they are still extremely simple to use. Being an IT person, I must appreciate the plug-and-play facility. Once you have planned out where you would like to put everything, and after you have done it a few times, it only requires around 10 minutes to set up the Cisco Telepresence MX200 or MX300 units. There is still a bit of planning involved: it is a lot like configuring a good entertainment system. You need to think about having windows and access to bright light in the room, and position the monitor to minimize glare. You must place the microphones in close proximity to where staff will be seated but far enough from each other to avoid interference. You are advised to place the speakers in a location where attendees will have access to the best sound quality. And when you are done setting it up, the video and sound quality is extremely impressive.
There is a bit more to it than all this though. For the optimal experience, you should set up the system preferences and settings for the audio equipment and cameras/visual apparatus, network connections, and security. The good news is that there is a simple web user interface to utilize and also some helpful user documentation that comes along with the system and walks you through it. Once you have done it yourself a couple of times, it comes quite easily.
The display screens are all high definition (HD) and are available from 42-inch to 70-inch options, so the Cisco Telepresence MX Series can accommodate just about any room or conference meeting size.
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