Technology Help - Hybrid Meetings

Small Size Meetings

Small Room Hybrid Scenarios – (Typically For Small Interest Group Meetings)

Setup for Small Room Hybrid Meetings (e.g. 10-15 members)

This could be a large room in a member’s house or a small Committee Room for example:

A group of up to 15 meets face to face in a large domestic or hired Committee Room. Remote members join the meeting as previously for Zoom meetings.

The room has a long table used by the group, with limited options for a screen either on a wall or freestanding, but a small projector, or wide screen TV with HDMI is available that can take the sound output from the laptop.

If a TV with HDMI (sound & vision) is not available, then a pair of basic mini speakers could be used to give enhanced sound volume in the room, and a projector with a VGA or HDMI cable can be plugged into the laptop to show the laptop screen output on a light coloured wall or on a projection screen.

Many HDMI projectors have a built-in loudspeaker, and if so, the pair of mini speakers would no longer be required for sound.

If a TV is suitably positioned, a USB webcam with a USB repeater extension cable connected to the laptop could show a wide angled view of the room for the Zoom participants.

It is essential that the room has direct wired router access or a decent high speed wi-fi signal, and electric sockets are available for the use of extension leads if necessary.

Say that the group coordinator currently leads discussions with PowerPoint presentations using a newish Windows laptop or Mac Pro. In the meeting, instead of presenting the PowerPoint directly to the screen, the presentations are shared to Zoomers using screen sharing, and these will then also be viewable on screen in the room and audible through the mini loudspeakers.

Diagram of a typical Small Room Setup

Small Room Setup Pictogram

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Photos of typical Small Room Hybrid Setup

Small Room Setup

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Video of a Typical Small Room Setup

John Butler describes an alternative Home / Small Room setup with a cheap Cardoid lapel microphone plugged into an external USB Audio adapter, PC speakers for sound & an old VGA Projector for a larger visual display than the laptop screen.

View the video at https://youtu.be/HmLonwx9dNg
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Tonor USB Conference Microphone For better audio sound quality an omni-directional USB table conference microphone would be a better option.
Conference-Omnidirectonal-Microphone
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Facebook Portal TV System

A new system, Facebook Portal TV, came on to the market in late 2021 and is being heavily promoted by Facebook, but is also designed to work with Zoom.

You can see how simple it is to set up and work with a widescreen tv by watching this video "How the Facebook Portal TV System Works" at How Facebook Portal TV Works

Reference Information and Equipment Recommendations

Refer to Reference Articles/Links/Equipment for examples of typical equipment

Laptop with Zoom (https://zoom.us) & Iriun app loaded (www.iriun.com)
USB HD Webcam with USB extension cable or Smartphone with Iriun app loaded (Apple
Appstore or Google Play)
Mini Camera Tripod with Smartphone spring mount
Conference Table Omnidirectional USB Microphone