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Volume 2 Issue 8September 1998

TIPS on Videoconferencing:

How Do I Arrange the Room?

- This information is reprinted from Site Planning for Videoconferencing, part of the Videoconferencing 101 series. For more information, contact PictureTel at 1-800-716-6000
©1995 PictureTel Corporation

Here is the most important design goal to reach when you arrange your videoconferencing room: Make sure that the PictureTel system can “see” and “hear” all of your meeting participants.

Plan For the Camera’s Field of View
The first thing to consider as you plan your room arrangement is the camera’s field of view, which is the area that the camera sees.

The camera’s field of view increases with the distance between the camera and meeting participants. The more participants that you plan to have in your videoconferences, the farther you need to place the camera from the participants.

For desktop videoconferencing, you’ll be sitting at your desk with the camera placed right on top of your computer monitor.

For group videoconferencing, arrange the room using this simple rule: For every participant that you plan to have in the camera’s field of view, add at least .6 meter (2 feet) to the distance between the camera and the participants. For example, if you plan to have four participants facing the camera, locate the PictureTel system at least 2.4 meters (8 feet) from the participants.

For large venues with fixed seating, you might want to locate the PictureTel system on on a raised platform or stage for better viewing.

Remember that you can always use an auxilliary camera in your room, either mounted on a tripod or installed in the ceiling. An auxilliary camera can view anything that falls outside the field of view of the PictureTel system’s camera, such as additional meeting participants, a whiteboard, or a flipchart.

Plan for Microphone Placement
Sound is just as important as the picture in videoconferences, so you’ll want to think about microphone placement as you plan your room.

If you have a PictureTel desktop system, you’ll have a microphone or speakerphone on your desktop within arm’s reach. Or you might have a headset or earpiece that has a microphone.

If you have a PictureTel system for group meetings, plan to:

• Place the system’s keypad with a built-in microphone on the table in front of the meeting participants. The keypad’s microphone can pick up sound from as many as four participants
  
  
• Use a supplementary microphone, such as the PictureTel PowerMic™, for videoconferences with more than four participants. The PowerMic is a smart microphone that can single out anyone who is speaking within a 4.3 meter (14-foot) diameter circle
  
  
• Use a lapel microphone when someone is giving a presentation

If you plan to use a PictureTel system in a lecture hall or auditorium, you might want to install ceiling microphones to pick up audience responses.

As a rule, use as few microphones as possible to meet your requirements, because the more microphones you have, the more background noise you’ll pick up.

Room Acoustics
In most rooms, the existing acoustics are fine for videoconferencing. But if you have a room where people sound like they’re talking into a tin can, you can always add things to the room to absorb the annoying sound reverberation. For example, if your videoconferencing room has large windows, which can cause sound to reverberate, install curtains, drapes, or blinds.

Tile floors and ceilings of hard materials can also cause sound reverberation. Consider installing a carpet and adding acoustic ceiling tiles.