Everyone who's ever had the pleasure of being at the airport at the crack of dawn to shuttle between different cities for business meetings will know there's got to be a better way for businesses to bring employees together face-to-face.
Software maker Microsoft believes it has the answer. The company has just released its RoundTable device in South Africa - and product manager Danie Gordon believes it will take the world of teleconferencing by storm, by offering an affordable, easy-to-use alternative to video conferencing systems, let alone business travel.
RoundTable combines the features of a speakerphone with the functionality of video conferencing into a device that Microsoft expects will retail for around R27 000 - the cost of a few business class tickets from Cape Town to Johannesburg.
The device sits in the middle of a conference table and creates a 360-degree, panoramic video of everyone who is taking part in the conference. It tracks the flow of the conversation, so the video and voice of the person who is speaking are spotlighted. People across many locations can attend meetings together virtually.
RoundTable allows companies to integrate virtual presentations, shared whiteboards and file sharing into their audio/video conferences. If someone misses a conference call, the RoundTable sessions can be recorded and viewed later. This is not only very useful for company and board meetings, but also for corporate training.
Anybody who has struggled through an audio-only teleconference will appreciate the beauty of RoundTable. On a normal teleconference, if several people get on the call, you can't tell who's talking nor can you see any of the non-verbal communication that can be so important when people from different cultures try to communicate.
Gordon believes the system's ease of use will be another major selling point. RoundTable is plug-and-play. Users need almost no training to set it up or use it. All one does is connect the device to a PC that's running Office Communications Server 2007 or Live Meeting via a USB connection. RoundTable offers synchronised voice and video conferencing and does not have to be confined to custom configured meeting rooms, which have to be booked days in advance of a conference call.
“RoundTable also removes background noise so you can focus on what the speaker is saying, not the sound of someone in the conference who is typing notes on a laptop. It's hard to imagine a much better meeting experience, apart from having everybody in the room together,” says Gordon.
RoundTable is ideal for two types of business conferencing scenarios. First, there's the meeting with two (or more) groups of people in different conference rooms in different locations. If there's a RoundTable in each room, the devices will capture a 360-degree view of each, and meld together images of each person on the monitor. If someone has a PowerPoint or other document to share with the group, it appears on the screen alongside the images of the people.
The second type of meeting is also very common: You have one or more conference rooms full of people and several other people who are dialled in from the offices, home or a hotel. The remote attendees can use a RoundTable device or a standard Web cam to include their image in the meeting. If not, they can dial in from a standard phone, and their voice will be added to the session; if they have an online connection, they can see everyone in the conference rooms.
Should you require more information about Microsoft RoundTable, please visit www.microsoft.com/uc or www.microsoft.com/southafrica/roundtable.
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