Yes, the time has come. Simple to
use, inexpensive, and effective, wireless technology has come to the conference
room. Enterprises and individuals can now enrich the experiences of meeting participants
and presenters with little additional equipment and the right technical
understanding.
Overcoming Previous Limitations –
The Wireless Dream Is Now a Reality
Wireless conference systems free
presenters from the need to be tethered to one location and add additional
flexibility to installed systems. That has been a longtime dream.
There are challenges though,
including distance limitations and interference between the broadcasting device
and the receivers. Presentations with multimedia-intensive content and large
file sizes consume bandwidth when steamed over the network. Security concerns about who else is looking
at my presentation are real. All of these limitations are now being resolved
with the current generation of wireless presentation systems. Emerging
solutions are continuing to improve the available options so that wireless has
become a must for most meeting situations.
The Bring Your Own Device
Revolution is here, and wireless presentation systems make adjusting to the
increasing demands of collaboration easier.
Which Wireless Presentation System
Should You Choose? – It Depends
Wireless Presentation Technologies
Selecting the best wireless option
for you will be determined by a number of factors. Here are seven questions you
should ask as you move toward a wireless conference room:
1.
How many conference rooms do I want wireless presentation in?
Physical distance, obstructions,
and airborne interference can impact the reliability of wireless transmissions.
Some systems are designed to overcome these drawbacks and others are limited in
the way they can be deployed.
2.
Do I need to interface with mobile devices including smart phones,
tablets, and laptops on different operating systems?
As we discussed last month, to
accommodate the collaborative needs of organizations, a full range of
communication formats and devices should be compatible with the Wireless Presentation System. Many
systems, including Google Chromecast and Apple TV, only work with corresponding
devices/browsers making interfacing with them challenging. Others are much more flexible and some of
these solutions provide a way to upgrade legacy analog systems to accommodate
digital only devices and can extend the life of older systems as the analog
sunset approaches.
3.
Will more than one presenter using different devices need to be able to
contribute materials to the presentation?
Some new wireless systems like
Crestron’s AirMedia can easily access and display a full range of materials in
any format on any portable device. Up to 32 presenters can seamlessly
collaborate using any kind of smart phone, tablet or laptop to share files, videos,
or presentations.
4.
Will video conferencing participants need to be included?
If you are using videoconferencing
as part of your collaboration strategy, wireless presentation technologies can
easily be integrated into video conferencing rooms, but the right precautions
need to be taken. EDID and HDCP
management issues must be properly addressed when using a wireless presentation
system in conjunction with video conferencing.
5.
Will a dongle or additional device be required?
Dongles are often the simplest
wireless systems to deploy, do not require network connectivity, and are great
for isolated Conference Rooms. Unfortunately, they are also small, easily
misplaced, have distance limitations, and can be difficult to deploy and manage
in large numbers.
6.
Do you need an app for that?
Most dongle style
transmitter/receivers don’t require any software or an app. Apple TV and Google Chromecast require
specific devices or Google Chrome to be used. Some systems require the user to
download a free mobile app to work with an iOS or Android device.
7.
How much bandwidth will my presentation materials require?
The quality of video playback and
download speeds depend upon the available bandwidth. Google Chromecast and
Apple TV are designed to facilitate home entertainment on HDTV. They work
exceptionally well with video from compatible services and computer files in
specific formats but they are not flexible enough for most enterprises. Other
choices are designed for enterprise deployment.
Compression technology has come a long way in addressing network
bandwidth concerns and there are solutions from Crestron, Barco and Teqavit
that are built with Enterprise networks in-mind.
Your answers to these questions,
and others that are unique to your organization, will determine which wireless
presentation solution is best for you as you upgrade your conference room
technology. At Integrated Media Systems
we know that the right choice will depend upon the technical needs of your
users. To help you understand the different technologies we referenced in this
article, we have created the comparison chart above. Soon, wireless conference
rooms will be the rule rather than the exception. To insure you are not left behind and deploy
the right wireless presentation system, please contact IMS today.
For more information Wireless Interactive
Presentation System
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