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Steven Collier's avatar
Steven Collier
MVP
Mar 08, 2017

Experiences with SRS/Logitech SmartDock

David Phillips asked me to share out experience with the Logitech SmartDock and SRSv2 in another thread, I thought I would start a new post to collect other people's experience.   We are refurbishi...
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Markus Krolinski's avatar
Markus Krolinski
Copper Contributor
Jul 06, 2018

Hello Steven,

 
thanks for the great information that you provided !!! 
 
I got two questions regarding your setup for the 14 person room: 
 
1. How did you handled the cabling of HDMI output from the Smartdock to the 2 screens ? What is the cable length you used and was it necessary to use some HDMI booster/extender ?
2. And basically the same question regarding the connection of the Groups USB camera to the Smartdock: What is the cable length you used and how (if necessary) did you extended the cable ?
 
One topic that is bothering me is how to use a SRS in a large room where the USB specification of max. cable length 5m is not enough. I've seen that there are "active" USB cables available and then in a different price range also active extender boxes using USB to Cat6 converters. I'm aware of Logitech's "Smartdock Flex" solution using exactly such a USB to Cat approach but if I would prefer the SRS solution of a different vendor e.g. the Lenovo Hub 500 than there is not such a solution available by Lenovo (as of right now).
 
Many thanks in advance !
 
Markus
  • Steven Collier's avatar
    Steven Collier
    MVP
    Jul 06, 2018

    Hi Markus Krolinski

     

    No, nothing active, just 10m HDMI cables and USB extensions. Our installers have plenty of experience and knew which ones to pic to ensure they worked reliably. We've not had issues due to cable length.

     

    We have had some issues with the Logitech docks not retaining cables very well, no cable locking means the cables can just work themselves loose.

     

     

     

     

    • Jayson-L's avatar
      Jayson-L
      Copper Contributor
      Aug 21, 2019

      Steven Collier 

      Hi Steven, I hope your still updating this, it's been awhile.
      We are in the process of updating our conference room and was looking at the Logitech smartdock. But I need to know if the Surface pro that is being placed into the hub, if it retains it's ability to work as a normal computer if we needed to do a in house presentation without using Skype.

      Also, what content formats does SfB with the smartdock, display natively within the conference call? 
      As an example, if I have a powerpoint presentation to make with SfB and it's stored locally on the Surface, can I display it in a conference call? And what file types are supported natively this way. 

      The end goal of this is to replace a desktop computer for presentation and Skype with one Smartdock/surface device that can both present in multiple formats and conference call with multiple formats. We like to avoid using another separate computer for this. Thanks in advance.


      • JonasBack's avatar
        JonasBack
        Iron Contributor
        Aug 22, 2019

        Jayson-L No, it's not possible to continue using the Surface in the SmartDock as a normal Windows computer. It will at boot automatically login and start the app automatically in fullscreen and you can't minimize it. You either need to bring a laptop or have another dedicated computer where the users logs in and connect it using HDMI or actually join the Skype meeting from there.

         

        I've heard that there are plans for you to be able to attach PowerPoints to the meeting invite and present them in the meeting. Discussion regarding that here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Teams/MTR-Device-Attached-PowerPoint-Not-Showing/m-p/376065

         

        We don't yet support PPT control in Teams meetings on MTR (we do in SfB meetings though).  That's on our roadmap for sure.  With Teams meetings, in the future, you'll be able to not only add a PPT file to the meeting invite but also just add a cloud link and we'll be able to open the PPT on MTR.

         

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