Logitech brings collaboration to the Huddle Room

 June 2017 – Logitech has introduced a new integrated conferencing camera system for the small area meeting rooms, also known as huddle rooms. The segment is one of the fastest growing and is targeted at the 4-6 person collaboration space. These small rooms are typically converted “hard offices” that have been left on the peripheral edge of new open office layouts. Rather than tear down the walls, they are becoming the core of the “unscheduled meeting space” that is needed for client discussions or to have a discussion with another group without disturbing your co-workers.

Logitech Meetup Huddle Room Conference Camera Unit

These rooms are usually converted spaces that have an asymmetric furniture layout, in many cases without a central table, and a whiteboard / written discussion wall on one side. The short rooms (typically under 8 ft) also have not been designed to have even lighting or a structured cable management plan. As a result, they need a wide field of view camera and microphone system that can be mounted on one side of the room. The new MeetUp conference camera system has as 120 degree field of view, a digital pan/tilt/zoom control with 3 integrated beamforming microphone systems. The camera is controlled either by a smartphone app or an RF remote control.

For simplicity the system is a single USB3.0 cable for all the data transfer and control, it use an HDMI cable for the video output and a power cable. The system is designed to be mounted on or around a TV monitor so all the cabling can reside in the existing wall connections that would have been formally used behind a desk for the IT connection. For tight space applications and aesthetic applications that do have a table in the room, there is an optional VESA mount kit to put the device on the top of a flat screen.

The all in one system uses the same 4K /13MP camera module as the Logitech Brio 4K webcam. The system features a lossless 5X digital zoom when set into 1080P mode. The 1080p/60fps unit, has a motorized Pan & Tilt for maximum versatility and view in the small rooms. The 1080p/60 mode is only available with the USB3.0 connection. With legacy USB2.0 connections, the camera auto-adjusts to FHD or 1080p/30fps as the maximum resolution. The system has a BT wireless connection as an additional control method. For rooms where there is a White Board or visual discussion surface across the room , the unit supports an optional external microphone which can be mounted on the other surface for improved sound, as the speaker will generally be facing away from the until to write.

The new Meetup system will be available through he distribution and installer channel in July 2017.