Video Conferencing
Tips for Setting up your Video Facilities
How can you create the best meeting environment for your video conference? By
taking on these recommendations, you can create an environment for your
participants to work together just as effectively as if they were in the same room.
1. Location
A room that works well for ordinary meetings will typically
work well for a video conference. When selecting your
video conference facility, ensure that it is in an area away
from noise distractions such as lift shafts, air conditioning
plant, high speed photocopiers and noisy corridors.
If the corridor outside the room carries significant traffic,
you should consider ways to deaden any traffic noise.
One recommendation is to carpet the corridor section
outside the room. You should also look into the acoustic
properties of the adjoining entrance and exit doors and
door seals.
It must be able to accommodate all the people you wish to
participate in the conference, and have few or no windows
to reduce the glare of natural lighting.
2. Room Access
It is a good idea to plan for two doors on either side or in
the back of the room to allow for entering and exiting the
conference room so that the camera's field of vision is not
obstructed and conference participants are not distracted.
This will also help access for installation and maintenance
of your video conferencing systems.
3. Room Size
Rectangular-shaped rooms are ideal for meetings with
four or more people. Square rooms are suitable for
meetings with three or less people. When setting up your
room, ensure that all participants are visible in the
camera's field of vision.
4. Room Acoustics
Because audio is the number one criterion for an effective
video conference, it is important to pay attention to your
room's sound quality.
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The walls and ceiling of your room may need to be treated
to help reduce noise and acoustic reflections. You should
test the ambient noise levels and if it exceeds 42 dBA
apply treatments such as fabric panelling on the walls and
acoustic perforated ceiling tiles. Ideally an NC-35 noise
rating specification should be achieved.
Wherever possible, it is strongly recommended that airconditioning package units and Variable Air Valves (VAVs)
not be located in your video conferencing meeting room,
especially if ceiling microphones are part of your audio
visual design.
Also, these devices should not be near a motorised screen
ceiling aperture. The forced air will create unsightly
"screen rippling" during projection presentations.
If you are looking at using ceiling microphones you should
engage an acoustic consultant. This person can advise
you on the best method of reducing acoustic reflections
and noise within your room to enable the system to
perform correctly.
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You should also address the noise from inbuilt equipment
in the room, such as fridges inside joinery units, by
insulating them.
What is on the floor of your room can also affect the sound
quality. A dense pile carpet with a heavy felt underlay is
recommended to provide additional acoustic damping.
5. Room Decor
Lighter shades of blue or grey are the best choice for
background colour as white will reflect the light and make
it difficult to see the participants faces. If colours other
than these must be used avoid shiny surfaces or strong
bold colours.
Ideally, finishes should be free from patterns that may
create difficult working conditions for cameras. That is,
the patterns will create more detail in the image causing it
to become difficult to compress and result in jerky images.
The curtains and wall coverings in your room should be as
simple as possible. Medium to pastel blue tones provide
good skin toning on video cameras. If this is not possible,
you should consider video conference specific backdrop
blinds that can be lowered when required.
The furniture in your room should have a matt (or at worst
satin) surface and should not be lighter than oak or darker
than medium teak. Particularly, the furniture should not
have any chrome or bright metal finishes which could
reflect light into the camera lens.
6. Table, Shape & Placement
The best table shape is the trapezoidal which features a
wide end closest to the camera and a narrow end furthest
from the camera. This shape allows every participant to be
seen by the camera without leaning forward or blocking
the person in front. This creates a more natural meeting
environment with everyone on the near end being viewed
by every participant on the far end.
7. Room Lighting
The ideal source of lighting is indirect fluorescent lighting.
Lights should shine upward to reflect off the ceiling, rather
than pointing downward directly onto the participant's
faces, which can cause a shadow effect.
You should ensure that all the tubes in the room are the
same colour temperature.
Ideally, your lighting should be switchable in banks. This
is so you can switch the bank of lights positioned directly
over the projection or television screens on or off to avoid
glare, independently from the rest of the lighting in the
room.
It is also important to control natural light coming into the
room. To ensure consistent lighting conditions use
blackout drapes on your windows.
8. Camera & Display Positioning
Positioning the camera to get everyone in view is one of
the most important things to keep in mind when setting
up your video conference. Successful and effective
meetings depend on whether the 'far end' can see and
hear all of the meeting participants.
In smaller meeting rooms or boardrooms the video
conference camera should ideally be located as close to
the centre line of the display device as possible. The
height of the camera should be approximately 1200mm
above finished floor height placing it close to eye level of
a seated person.
The device your video conference is displayed on should
be either a direct view type such as a CRT television or
plasma screen or a rear projection type. Front projection
systems may be used but care must be taken to avoid
ambient light adversely affecting the image quality in
smaller rooms.
9. Equipment Cabinet / Rack
The best way to house your video conferencing equipment
is in a purpose built cabinet. This provides a tidy system
for cabling and easy access to the equipment for servicing.
If you have a number of audio visual components as part
of your system, ideally they should be housed in a 19"
equipment rack inside the cabinet. The rack can be rolled
out of the cabinet, or have rear access, for servicing.
Where possible, cool ducted air-conditioning should be
used inside the rack to avoid the equipment overheating.
The optimal lighting level is between 450 and 600 Lux on
the faces of the meeting participants. Suitable fluorescent
tubes have a colour temperature of 3000K to 3500K.
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