Specifications

Room Design and Layout
Polycom, Inc. A–13
wish to “show” or “view” must be translated to video, most often with some
sort of camera mechanism. Document cameras, 35mm slide-to-video units,
video scanners and scan conversion devices all are designed to take one format
of source material and convert it to a standard video signal that can be
digitized, shipped to the far-end(s), and converted back to composite video for
display. Which devices are selected and how they are used depends entirely
on the needs and goals of the end-users of the system(s) and the format of their
source materials.
Room Control Elements
To give all participants the easiest use of the room for any and all presentation
or conference purposes, a fully integrated room controller is recommended. It
is important that one controller operate all devices in the room so that only one
user interface needs to be learned by those managing the facility. The common
controller also makes it much easier to expand and enhance room capabilities
over time by adding or upgrading equipment. A proper room controller can
operate and coordinate the use of lighting, curtains, displays, audio devices,
VCRs and slide projectors, as well as all the conferencing equipment,
including any network-related control needed. In lieu of a complete control
system, a limited functionality controller can be located at the presentation
interface panel to control the switching and routing of the computer graphics
and configure the overhead camera video paths.
It is strongly advised that at least 20 percent of the time spent developing a
videoconferencing room be devoted to this important sub-system, as it will
complete the integration of the conference and presentation environment.
And remember that simpler is always better. People do not pay for technology.
They pay for the benefits that technology can bring. The doorway to those
benefits is a simple, straightforward and intuitive user control.