Buying Guide: Which All-in-One is Perfect for You?

Over the past year, there has been an explosion of high quality video conferencing products at exceptional prices. Everyday I'm amazed that we can equip a conference room or huddle space for a third of the price it would have cost just a few years ago.

One of the most exciting areas is in the bundling of camera and audio into one complete product - the All-in-One - giving you a high quality camera and superior audio, in one sleek package. They were created for huddle rooms, but in our opinion, they also work well within a lot of conference rooms. Most of these products are designed to be easily mounted either above or below the display for a more natural feel to setup of the meeting space. The cameras are wide angle and high resolution. The audio is fully integrated speakers and microphones, providing all the benefits of a table-top speakerphone, creating a perfect environment for a "conversation".

Currently, we stock four of the industry's best All-in-One video conferencing cameras from AVer, Logitech, Yamaha Group and Owl Labs. Each of these include a high quality, video conferencing camera and an integrated audio system (speakers and microphones) specifically engineered for the demands of video conferencing.

AVer VB342 (MSRP $999)

AVer makes some of the highest quality video conferencing cameras on the market today, so when they announced the VB342, we knew it was going to be completely awesome. What we didn't know, until we had the opportunity to get our hands on it, was just how awesome. The quality of the picture is exactly what we expected - it works in low light, just as well as it does in a room with direct sunlight, the angle of view (with the help of some PTZ magic) is 180 degrees, and it outputs a full 4K resolution. The stunning part is how they incorporated the audio into the VB342 - it really does a great job of projecting sound (voices) through the front-facing speakers, picks the person speaking in the room, and does that without any weird jitter or cut off. And the other side of the conversation (those not in the room), feel like they are in the room - instead of isolated away from the conversation.

Logitech MeetUp (MSRP $899)

Logitech understood the need for a high quality meeting space camera, purpose built for video conferencing. And the MeetUp, introduced last year, is a perfect example of blending the demands of the meeting room with the simplicity of our plug-and-play world. It sports a sleek (smaller) design, with impressive technical capabilities, including a camera with 4K resolution, 120 degree viewing angle, and three noise reduction microphones. The front facing speakers provide excellent audio, and there is an optional expansion microphone for larger rooms. It's a great product for huddle rooms, and looks great mounted either above or below the display (the mounting bracket is included).

Yamaha Group CS-700 (MSRP $1,299)

When the CS-700 came out in 2017, it was obvious to us, there was going to be an explosion in the all-in-one market. Why? Because they designed a beautiful and sleek "bar" design perfect for those small meeting spaces, huddle rooms, team rooms and small conference rooms. At first we were skeptical, we had seen several attempts in the past, and most of them had missed the mark - but CS-700 didn't disappoint. It's quality all the way around - from the camera with 120 degree viewing angle, to the integrated audio with superior white noise reduction for clarity. And it was a breeze to setup, test and operate. It's a great solution for all your meeting rooms, but specifically for your huddle rooms.

Owl Labs Meeting Owl (MSRP $799)

The Meeting Owl is a different design. It is a table top unit, providing a full 360 degree view. You place it in the middle of your table, and any participants can see everyone within the room, but when someone is speaking, it directs its focus to that person in separate small window. And the audio is designed to clearly pickup anyone speaking (in-room or remote) without cutting out. It's an interesting design that many of our customers really like for their conference rooms. It's easy to setup and use, and the firmware is automatically updated, making it easy to maintain, too. It takes one of the major complaints of video conferencing off the table (so to speak), in that you can see everyone within the room at all times, but when someone is speaking, you can see them automatically and clearly. It's a very cool innovation, which is why we brought the product in for our customers.

The All-in-One market is set to explode. Gone are the days of products that are excellent at either being a camera or audio system, and not good at the other. These products represent the best on the market today, they are sleek, and designed to be easy to use, and easy to setup. They fit perfectly within any room, and have some serious innovation and technology integrated into a small package. Personally, we believe they can fit into most of your meeting spaces, and are at a price point that it makes sense to video enable all of them.

Combined with your video conferencing platform (Zoom, RingCentral, Skype for Business, Google Meet), they create a full solution, while eliminating many of the support issues of products from just a few years ago. We suggest you get one and start testing it for yourself. You'll be convinced, just like we've are.