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Recommendations for one-off Hybrid Meeting setup
Hello All. Thanks in advance for sharing your ideas and experience. I've been asked to help a small organization set up a hybrid meeting experience in about a month. There will be perhaps 20 pe...
I think the biggest challenge will be capturing everyone's audio. Even in U-shape, 20 people will be pretty spread out. The Poly Sync 40's can have two paired - that may give you extra coverage but you should also check out the room acoustics to see if it'll work.
I'd also utilise the external camera as well for your speaker. Laptops are usually placed a pretty low angle for presenters so it'll look odd if you were planning on using the laptop camera.
A second laptop could also be helpful. It means the presenter doesn't need to deal with any technical issues that may come up and gives you some more control over the speakerphones and projector.
If the Poly's are suitable, you could do something like this:
Set up meeting:
- Presenter laptop
- Connect external camera (and external mic if needed)
- Joins meeting with audio on, camera on (using external camera)
- Uses laptop mic or external mic so presenter is heard online
- Presents screen to meeting
- Control laptop
- Connect Poly 40's via Bluetooth and daisy chain them
- Connect projector
- Join meeting, with projector as second screen.
Running meeting:
- During presentation
- Control mutes speakers and mic on Poly 40's (to avoid delay between the presenter and the speakerphone speakers and potential feedback from speakerphones and presenter's mic)
- Online people hear presenter via laptop mic/external mic, in-person people hear presenter un-amplified (if this is an issue, we're adding more complexity)
- In-room sees presentation via the Control Laptop's screen, projected (use Focus on Content to hide other participants being on screen if needed)
- During discussions
- Enable speakerphones for everyone.
- Mute presenter's mic to avoid feedback. If presenter needs to participate, they could join a table
- Turn the external camera around so online people can see the room
That's assuming the speakerphones will be sufficient and you have someone in the room who can juggle things.
- Presenter laptop
Challenging! It would be good to understand a bit more about what your client needs.
What’s the style of meeting?
Is it an actual meeting where there’s discussion and everyone needs to be seen and heard? Or it’s it more like a conference/presentation with key speakers and an audience? (The latter would be easier!)
Is your mic cabled or wireless?
Do you have an emcee or other people to help with on the day?
What’s the style of meeting?
Is it an actual meeting where there’s discussion and everyone needs to be seen and heard? Or it’s it more like a conference/presentation with key speakers and an audience? (The latter would be easier!)
Is your mic cabled or wireless?
Do you have an emcee or other people to help with on the day?
HelloBenTeoh - thanks for the reply.
The meeting is primarily presenter-led, but there will be some discussion from the room and from the remote participants.
Having participants visible while speaking is actually not critical at this point. Most important is being able to share the presentation, having all participants in the room and remote able to see the presentation and allowing audio discussion amongst those in the room and remote with everyone being able to hear.
The room will be set up with the participants sitting around the outside of conference tables in a "U" formation with a podium, laptop, projector and projection screen at the open end of the "U".
The meeting will be about 4 hours long with breaks.
The idea of a USB-connected speaker phone seems compelling. Does anyone have experience with these? I find a link here: Speakerphones for Conference Calls | Teams devices (microsoft.com) but none seem quite right (none seem to be for a larger room). Amazon has a lot of them to cull through.
We could have the speakerphone hooked up to the presenter's laptop and be a mic for the presenter/room and a speaker for the remote participants when they come off mute. The presenter's laptop would also be responsible for sharing out the presentation to the remote participants as well as projecting in the room (we'd probably want to have a second monitor there so the presentation could be on one screen and the Teams console on the other.
What's the reaction to that setup? Any suggestions on a speakerphone that would fit the bill? (I know I said there was no budget, but I meant there was not an appetite for an elaborate Teams Room A/V setup).
Thanks
I think the biggest challenge will be capturing everyone's audio. Even in U-shape, 20 people will be pretty spread out. The Poly Sync 40's can have two paired - that may give you extra coverage but you should also check out the room acoustics to see if it'll work.
I'd also utilise the external camera as well for your speaker. Laptops are usually placed a pretty low angle for presenters so it'll look odd if you were planning on using the laptop camera.
A second laptop could also be helpful. It means the presenter doesn't need to deal with any technical issues that may come up and gives you some more control over the speakerphones and projector.
If the Poly's are suitable, you could do something like this:
Set up meeting:
- Presenter laptop
- Connect external camera (and external mic if needed)
- Joins meeting with audio on, camera on (using external camera)
- Uses laptop mic or external mic so presenter is heard online
- Presents screen to meeting
- Control laptop
- Connect Poly 40's via Bluetooth and daisy chain them
- Connect projector
- Join meeting, with projector as second screen.
Running meeting:
- During presentation
- Control mutes speakers and mic on Poly 40's (to avoid delay between the presenter and the speakerphone speakers and potential feedback from speakerphones and presenter's mic)
- Online people hear presenter via laptop mic/external mic, in-person people hear presenter un-amplified (if this is an issue, we're adding more complexity)
- In-room sees presentation via the Control Laptop's screen, projected (use Focus on Content to hide other participants being on screen if needed)
- During discussions
- Enable speakerphones for everyone.
- Mute presenter's mic to avoid feedback. If presenter needs to participate, they could join a table
- Turn the external camera around so online people can see the room
That's assuming the speakerphones will be sufficient and you have someone in the room who can juggle things.
A quick tie out. The hybrid meeting based on this configuration was a success!
The Poly 40+s worked very well and the remote participants were able to both hear and participate in the meeting intuitively.
We did not use an external mic for the presenter, nor did we use an external camera. We never had to mute/unmute the speaker phones - they remained live the entire time and remote participants were able to interject easily. We DID have to be very careful that none of the other participants in the room had their mic or speakers unmuted - we were punished with brutal feedback until everyone figured it out.
On the Control laptop, we set up the projector (or big screen TV) as an EXTENDED monitor. Once sharing started from the presenter laptop, we clicked "Pop Out" in Teams on the control laptop, dragged the resulting sharing window to the second screen and maximized it. It worked great and seamlessly transitioned when different presenters shared from their laptops. We simply lost a little real estate at the top of the screen for the "Take Control" icon - not sure if there is a way to get rid of that or not. Once the control laptop was set up this way, we didn't need to touch it again.
Thanks for the support and ideas - it went very well.
Dale
- Presenter laptop
- Based on the setup you described, it sounds like using a USB-connected speakerphone would be a good solution for your needs. It can be connected to the presenter's laptop and serve as a microphone for the room and a speaker for the remote participants.
In terms of recommendations for speakerphones, there are many options available on the market. Some popular brands include Jabra, Poly, and Logitech. When selecting a speakerphone, consider the size of the room and the number of participants, as well as the features and capabilities you need. It may be helpful to read reviews and compare specifications to find the best fit for your specific needs and budget.
Regarding your setup, it sounds like using a second monitor in the room for the presentation and Teams console is a good idea. Another option to consider is using a wireless presenter remote to control the presentation from a distance, rather than having to click through slides on the laptop.
Overall, your setup should work well for your needs and provide a good hybrid meeting experience for both in-room and remote participants.
