Review: Video Comes Around

Microsoft Corp. has added another layer to unified communications with its RoundTable videoconferencing unit. For $3,000—roughly the cost of a few airline tickets for one executive—RoundTable offers high-end, plug-and-play videoconferencing that is cost-effective and easy to implement.

Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has designed RoundTable as an add-on to its unified communications platform, Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007. The device can also be used as a stand-alone product with Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 or other conferencing services such as Cisco Systems Inc.'s WebEx.

CRN Test Center reviewers connected the device to a Microsoft Vista PC via its USB connector. Testing was done using Live Meeting. Once the RoundTable connection was complete, Live Meeting automatically detected the RoundTable device.

RoundTable is networkable, with RJ-45 and RJ-11 jacks. It is about the same size as a typical conference phone, with a 360-degree camera unit atop a stem protruding from the base. It has a futuristic look that led one reviewer to reminisce about the ship from "Lost in Space." The camera unit looks like a giant diamond, but it's not as tough: it is the most likely part of the device to be subject to damage and is not covered under the limited warranty.

A recommended firmware upgrade was applied via a command-line utility, the RoundTable Management Tool. Although the software confirmed that the firmware had been applied successfully, the firmware did not take until the device was rebooted. A test conference call was initiated via Live Meeting with audio and video. The video was sharp and image delay was very limited. Even rapid hand gestures did not result in more than a fraction of a second delay on-screen (minimum video card RAM of 128 Mbytes is recommended).

RoundTable's camera unit is outfitted with five cameras. Each camera is situated at the base of five inverted triangular mirrors that reflect light into the cameras. In Live Meeting, the cameras capture images from around the room and thread them into a 360-degree panoramic image. Camera resolution is 3,700 x 600 and the panoramic resolution is 1,056 x 144.

Audio was tested in a room adjacent to a noisy server room. Even with that significant level of background noise, meeting participants were able to hear one another clearly via the loudspeaker and microphones.

RoundTable in conjunction with Live Meeting offers some neat conferencing functionality. Presenters can share files and whiteboards. Polls can be created for attendees to participate in and there is a built-in Q&A window. Meeting invitations can be sent by the host directly from inside the meeting window, or calls can be made to a contact by integrating OCS with Microsoft Outlook, which requires the conferencing add-on for Outlook.

The device also functioned well with WebEx, except that panoramic viewing is not available. When that feature was chosen, the displayed image was distorted and blurred. Outside of panoramic view, the image was fine, though a bit less crisp.

Configuration of RoundTable is somewhat cumbersome. Most Web cameras, even Microsoft's own LiveCam, feature some sort of interface to allow users to make adjustments for lighting: balancing, dim light correction and such. The same adjustments can be made in RoundTable, only they must be done in an InfoPath forms template, meaning InfoPath needs to be installed. The template is saved and then uploaded to the device through a command line using the management tool. This template actually allows for many configuration options to be adjusted, from changing the password to uploading to a share on OCS.

However, those are minor complaints. Microsoft RoundTable adds another level to unified communications and manages to do so by making the device easy to set up and acquire at a relatively low cost.