HD Meeting and OfficeSuite Live - Tech Essentials for the “perfect” Home Office Setup

Jason Huffey

In the world of hybrid work that exists now, it is crucially important to avoid fatigue when attending virtual meetings. The primary way to do this is by having pleasing interactions with your technical footprint.

Windstream OfficeSuite product management set out on an endeavor to offer work-from-home device kits for our virtual meeting solutions and tested several options successfully.

The following are some recommendations on the devices that we have tested successfully in our virtual meeting solutions (HD Meeting & OfficeSuite Live) with work-from-home accessories that will provide a pleasing experience.

There are three basic rules to having the perfect Home Office setup that applies so let's start there!

1. Set up your desk area
   • Find a quiet, dedicated area for a desk where you have a large monitor, comfortable chair, mouse, and keyboard.
2. Get a good webcam
   • Find a good quality webcam that’s placed at eye level, and ensure you’re well lit. Try and use a webcam light to make sure you always have good lighting. It makes a huge difference!
3. Get a good headset/speakerphone
   • Choose a comfortable headset that blocks out background noise. If you’re in a pinch, Airpods or earbuds with a mic go a long way and typically sound better than your laptop audio system.

As far as manufacturer recommendations go here is what we have found in our testing.

 Cameras:

1. Poly Studio P5 – My preferred option, the area of the shot is spot on, the autofocus works really well, the color balance is natural and more “cinematic”, and it produces a very warm area of presentation
2. Yealink UVC30 – Good option for advanced image controls or a larger area being projected. Small huddle/conference rooms. Not as crisp of sharpness and color balance is bright white not as cinematic.
3. Logitech C920 – This is affordable and it performs very well, I have no complaints about it and would recommend it as the best budget-driven item on this list
4. Boom Mini – The shot/framing is excellent. Low light is the BEST camera we tested. So if you like your vibe “chill” this is the one for you!
5. Poly Studio 21 – This device is high $$ but it is an awesome workhorse. The camera is the same as the Studio P5, and it has integrated high-quality speakerphone and microphone capabilities. If you are serious about working from home and want to make a solid investment in your experience, I can tell you this is worth it.

See my video review of all these devices HERE.

Speakers & Mics:

1. Poly Sync 20- this unit has an excellent user interface, and a superior microphone, and it's decent for listening to music as well as it has an embedded subwoofer. If multimedia is important to you through your speakerphone device this is the one you want. Pairs well with Bluetooth and also connects directly VIA USB to a Mac or PC
2. Yealink CP700 - This is a fascinating little unit that is great for travel. I enjoyed the voice quality clarity through this unit and so if your primary use is for voice calls in virtual meetings this is the unit to go with. Pairs well with Bluetooth and also connects directly VIA USB to a Mac or PC
3. Boom GIRO - we tested this device it works fine with HD meeting and OfficeSuite Live, but I do not recommend it. The audio quality was subpar both listening to a conference call or virtual meeting and playing content. If a great deal is available I could see this making sense. Battery life was excellent with the lithium-ion battery Bluetooth pairing was solid as well. Connects directly VIA USB to a Mac or PC

Wireless Headsets:

In this section, I'm only going to define the ones that I have personal experience with and my preference surrounding them. There are many usable options for use with HD meeting or OfficeSuite Live. This is just a guide to provide information on the findings and full integration with our virtual meeting products.

1. Poly Voyager 5200 - this is an excellent small on-ear Bluetooth headset with long battery life and excellent noise canceling capabilities. Also available and highly recommended are the companion charger case. I have had this for many years and can't say enough about its longevity.
2. Poly Voyager 4220 or 4210 - (depending on the preference of monaural or binaural) - noise canceling, excellent microphone, mute switch easily accessible while roaming around and Long battery life make this a fine choice for a long day of meetings. Comes with a USB Bluetooth adapter that seems to work better than pairing it directly to your device in the use of a Mac or PC so I recommend using the USB dongle specific to the unit.
3. Poly SAVI 7300 - if you need long range and to connect to a physical phone as well as a PC this is the device for you. Line of sight can go up to 580 feet and this comes in binaural or monaural preference. I would not recommend this device if you're listening to a lot of audio content or have a high preference for high-quality audio. But if you desire to be free range on a headset this is the one for you!
4. Poly Savi w740 - this particular headset is discontinued but I'm still going to recommend it if you can get it refurbished. This is the triple threat it can connect USB to a computer, pair Bluetooth to a cell phone, or connect to a physical phone if that is still needed. The range on it is excellent up to 300 feet. I would not recommend this device if you're listening to a lot of audio content or have a high preference for high-quality audio. if you need range at a low-cost point, that works with all of your technologies this unit is excellent.
5. Jabra Evolve2 65 - long battery life is at the focal point of this up to 37 hours. This unit is primarily best for listening to audio in high quality. I found this to be a pleasing fit and comfortable.

 That will wrap up this solution brief for virtual meeting experiences that are not only high quality better more enjoyable. Looking forward to seeing (and hearing) many of you on our virtual meeting platforms!