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Conference in a box
Clipped to the Drawing Board by George Tan  

Polycom's new desktop video conferencing system lets you look colleagues in the eye no matter where in the world they are. The HDX-4000 is built around a 20-inch, 1680x1050 widescreen monitor.

 Above the display is a built-in 5-megapixel webcam that can pan, tilt and zoom. The monitor also has four speakers and two microphones. Low-frequency speakers face downwards to bounce sound off your desk, creating richer bass tones. What really sets this monitor apart is the dial-pad built into the base, allowing you to easily make and receive video calls.

...click the link to read more 

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Mary () Newbie | 2007-12-17 02:14:21
Looks like a fun toy, definitely better than the standard webcams most people use today.

For conferences I think you really need the clarity. You need to be able to be able to read the non verbal communication and you really need good quality video to pick up on those things. Would have been good to see some pics or examples.
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Toby () Newbie | 2007-12-17 02:15:50
Ask and you shall receive, find more information here:

http://www.polycom.com/usa/en/products/video/video.html
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Caleb () Newbie | 2007-12-17 02:17:31
Haven't been a fan of video conferencing up until now. Maybe that would change if the quality improved but I'd really have to play with one to find out.
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Tony (166) Newbie | 2007-12-17 02:20:19
Know what you mean. Thankfully I haven't had much to do with them as I really think that it just doesn't compare to actually being in the room with the person. I know that sometimes it can't be avoided but I'm just worried that as the technology improves there'll be a trend towards using it more often.
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Will () Newbie | 2007-12-17 02:24:38
Yeah, I might be showing my age a bit here but it seems to me that a lot of technology is being used today without any thought into whether it actually improves the process or not. People just jump to the conclusion that if it's technology then it must be better.

Personally, nothing beats pen and paper for exploring ideas personally, a face to face actual meeting for discussion and a huge whiteboard for collaboration.
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Kylie () Newbie | 2007-12-17 02:27:33
Amen to that, forget all that fancy dancy software, whiteboards rock. We have these things called breakout rooms at our work that are fabulous. Each wall is floor to ceiling white board and there's a huge table in the middle. These rooms are awesome for fleshing out ideas.
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Mark () Newbie | 2007-12-17 02:29:18
I suppose bandwidth is always getting cheaper but you're going to need quite a connection to maintain a decent picture on one of these. I think it's going to be out of reach for a lot of people.
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Roy () Newbie | 2007-12-17 02:30:06
That may be true but I think their target market is large corporations, and for large corporations I don't think the bandwidth requirements are going to be an issue.
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Steve () Newbie | 2007-12-17 02:31:39
I think maybe you're not up to speed on current trends. With ADSL2 you can easily get multimegabit connections for reasonable prices. This is going to be accessible to a lot more people than you think.
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Doug () Newbie | 2007-12-17 02:34:06
Actually maybe not. They advertise those speeds but those are theoretical maximum speeds and even if you do reach those speeds they are usually not sustained. I could be wrong but I fear you'd need a more reliable pipe to maintain a decent quality for a meeting.

I know the system will adapt to changing bandwidth but I also think that constant changing would get annoying after a while.
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Charlene () Newbie | 2007-12-17 02:36:17
Well just as a guide I know that the Education Department in NSW Australia will be trialling some video conferencing system in some of it's schools next year and some of them will be bumped up to 100mbit connections. The speeds are definitely available for people that want it.
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Monday 17 December, 2007 06:04 AM
 
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