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Logitech Group

A classy and comprehensive
videoconferencing kit
that gives you the big
picture at a sensible price
SCORE ✪✪✪✪✪
PRICE £686 exc VAT from
morecomputers.com

I

f you’re looking for a large-scale
videoconferencing solution,
Logitech’s Group is an all-in-one
package that contains everything you
need. It comprises a big 1080p camera
with motorised pan and tilt and a 10x
optical zoom; a large speakerphonebase station, with internal omnidirectional mics; and a powered
central hub to link them all together.
It’s right at home in big meetingrooms, covering up to 14 participants.
The camera and speakerphone eachhave 5m mini-DIN cables, thesupplied USB cable is 2m long, andthe power supply has a 3m cable. Its
range can be expanded yet further
with two additional microphonestations, which connect directly tothe speakerphone base. Costingaround £175 exc VAT for two, thesehave their own mute buttons andinclude 2.4m cables.

Group improves on Logitech’s
older ConferenceCam cc3000e unit,
as its speakerphone is of a more solid
metal construction, which reduces
vibration. It also doubles the numberof internal microphones to four.
The touch panel has been replacedwith a set of rubberised buttons forcontrolling calls and setting thevolume, Bluetooth pairing, camera
position and zoom.
The speakerphone has threebuttons for quickly moving thecamera to preset locations and zoom
settings, while the included remotecontrol handset offers five, so you
can quickly switch focus between
different speakers or areas of theroom during a meeting. The presets
are exceptionally easy to program:
simply set your view, then hold down
one of the preset buttons until thespeakerphone beeps.
As well as Bluetooth, thespeakerphone supports NFC,
making it a cinch to pair your own
smartphone with it. Bluetooth pairing
is activated by holding down thecontrol button until the blue LED
status strip surrounding thespeakerphone’s button recess flashes
blue. We tested this with a Microsoft
Lumia 640 Windows Phone and foundit paired flawlessly. We also paired
it with an iPad and, in both cases,
found audio output quality to be bothclear and loud enough to fill a large
meeting room.
Physical deployment is a breeze.
The two mini-DIN cables that link
the camera and speakerphone to thecentral hub are colour-coded, so it’s
obvious what goes where. We had
everything working without having
to refer to the setup guide at all.
Installation on a Windows 10
desktop was simple too.
Since the Logitech Groupis UVC-compliant, all thenecessary drivers are
already built into the OS,
and we were ready to go
seconds after plugging itin. You can use Windows’
own tools for running
diagnostics and tweaking
camera settings; Logitech
also provides a Skypeplugin to enable the Call
Accept and Call Endbuttons on the base unit
and remote.
We found it all
worked seamlessly.
Skype picked up thecamera as soon as it had been
installed, and video calls worked
without issue, as did inbound andoutbound voice calls. The remote’s
Accept and End buttons worked
perfectly. GoToMeeting was justas simple to use: the software

The Network Reviews

spotted the camera automatically andoffered us a range of controls for it,plus a choice of picture formats,including a 16:9 widescreen option.
WebEx worked fine, with thevideo placed in the meeting windowwhere the host and participants
could switch to full-screen modeand back again. Microsoft Lync andCisco Jabber will work too, andLogitech is promoting a collaboration
programme with software developers
to allow their apps to take direct
RECOMMENDED
control of the camera.
One particular strength of Groupis video quality. Our meeting feeds
appeared in sharp focus, withgood contrast and colour balance –although we did find the camera
had problems compensating forbrightly lit windows“We paired Group with an in the background.
It all adds up to a
iPad and Windows Phone,classy and comprehensive
and in both cases foundvideoconferencing setup,audio output quality toat a fraction the priceof typical enterprise
be clear and loud”
solutions. It’s easy to
use and extremely versatile, withexcellent video and audio quality
to give your meetings that allimportant professional touch.
DAVE MITCHELLABOVE Image quality
is one of Group’s
biggests strengths –as you’d expect froma Carl Zeiss lens

LEFT Logitech Group
is very versatile andworked flawlessly
with the GoToMeetingcloud service

SPECIFICATIONS
Motorized PTZ camera ● 1080p Carl Zeisslens ● 30fps ● 10x optical zoom ●speakerphone base with quad omnidirectional mics ● H.264 ● NFC ● Bluetooth ●hub with camera/base/USB 2/power ports ●external PSU with 3m cable ● 5m camera andbase cables ● 2m USB cable ● remotecontrol handset ● 2yr limited hardware
warranty. Option: 2 x expansion mics, £174101

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27/07/2016 16:43