[jaxisland]

I need to setup video conferencing between the US and Canada. I have a permanent VPN between the offices, but I would like to hear recommendations or hardware / services that have worked for other people.

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i've got a polycom VSX7000 kit....really nifty if you do a lot of video conferencing...you can do IP calls as well over your VPN no problem.. of course it's a $5k setup

what are your requirements? what's you budget?

[dsenette]

i've got a polycom VSX7000 kit....really nifty if you do a lot of video conferencing...you can do IP calls as well over your VPN no problem.. of course it's a $5k setup

what are your requirements? what's you budget?

[jaxisland]

The problem is it was stated to just do it. Im sure I can allocate a couple thousand for it but we have a projector on a 120" screen that will be on both sides. We would also need cameras that cover conference rooms, not individual people. We have polycom phones in there now, so we would just use those, we just need to add video capabilities.

[dsenette]

personally i'd check out either the polycom systems or the cisco systems...cisco is more expensive but their creeping up on market supremacy...the Polycom VSX series is very good....the upper and mid range kits are very customizable and you can do one to many or many to many conferences as well....the systems RARELY come with their own TV/projector deal...and the room systems are capable of doing large rooms

the cisco telepresense systems are freakin nifty...makes it look like everyone is in the same room

[jaxisland]

Since Cisco is giving us crap in our industry right now I dont think buying their hardware would please anyone

But now I was told to tone down the cost and find a video solution that works for minimal cost. Any other ideas?

[dsenette]

i've actually been in touch with LifeSize Media recently...they claim to offer a much lower cost solution for individual and room sized conferencing systems...i've not gotten full pricing or anything...however a google search is showing the 10 to 12 k range

a quick search on google for the vsx7000 (like i've got) shows more in the 5 to 10k range depending on the seller....for a decent quality room sized system this is going to be the average...

[jaxisland]

Ill bomb around and check it out. Thanks for the info!

[jaxisland]

Webex seems to have video conferening built in. Have you ever tried using that?

[dsenette]

yeah webex is great....it's also affordable....it can get funky trying to show a whole room on a webcam though

[jaxisland]

Now I just need some help on some inexpensive hardware. haha.