Skype Room System Showdown
As co-owner and solution lead at Symity, where we specialise in Skype for Business telephony and video solutions and after a fair bit of involvement in Skype Room Systems I thought it worth putting my thoughts down on paper about the various SRS options out there.
The Skype Room System has now been around for 1-2 years and is getting a really good foot hold in the video meeting room market, but to date has been better suited to smaller meeting room spaces, courtesy of the USB audio peripherals generally being of lower specification. However, the SRS market is moving on and a greater range of SRS options and peripherals are becoming available every quarter, particularly from Logitech which seems to have grabbed the lion’s share of the market.
Here’s a quick overview of the key features that are common to all SRS:
- Login based on Skype for Business Exchange room accounts
- Simple optimised Skype for Business based touch screen experience that is easily understood by users
- Device and associated room bookable from Outlook
- Ad hoc meet now meetings from the console
- Directory lookup
- IM messaging within a call
- Click to join meetings
- Participant controls in a meeting (mute, remove user, lock spotlight)
- HD audio and video calling
- PSTN calling (meaning the conference phone can be replaced)
- Multi person viewing based on the active speaker video stream (limit of 4 viewable participants)
- Content share both from in room users and from remote Skype for Business participants
- Viewing of PowerPoint uploaded content
- Support for dual screens with video on one screen and content on the second screen
- Fully supports MS Teams client and the above features
- Sweet spot of small to medium sized meeting rooms (4 through 12 person)
- Potential for large rooms through the availability of newer USB audio system
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Potential for complex room support (lecture theatre, split rooms, training room etc) with ceiling speakers, ceiling mics, lapel mics through the addition of higher end integration equipment
Here’s a few key items that other VC systems support that the SRS codecs do not support:
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H323 or standards based SIP calling
- A video interop service like Pexip is required for this
- Whiteboarding or polls
- Front of room touch screen displays
- Camera controls via the console
- Wireless content sharing (unless you join a call via Skype for Business and share content)
At Symity, we’ve been rolling out Logitech SRS v2 for a while now and bar some early reliability issues, which have been actively worked by MS, the devices have been really popular due to the ease of use for end users. This is a very cost effective way to video enable huddle and small through large meeting spaces with Skype for Business video.
I’ve recently had the opportunity to put 3 SRS systems side by side to see how they fair against each other, courtesy of Tech Data Maverick. I’ve listed all of the features that I consider to be key differentiators on the SRS platforms in the table below, there’s plenty to consider when selecting the best system for your meeting room:
Lenovo ThinkSmart 500 | HP Elite Slice | Logitech SRS V2 | |
Spec | Core i5 7th Gen 8GB memory | Core i5 7th Gen 8GB memory | Surface Pro 5 spec (Core i5 7th Gen 8GB memory) |
Sweet Spot | Small rooms Good in large rooms with extra audio peripherals |
Small rooms Good in large rooms with extra audio peripherals |
Small through large (no built in audio peripherals) |
Control screen quality | Very good | Very good | Very good |
Touch screen responsiveness | Very good | Very good | Very good |
Touch screen ease of viewing | 180 swivel base viewing
Heavy means it is not made to move much Low viewing angle means it needs to be pulled closer to user |
360 viewing due to screen being light and easily moved
A negative point is that the screens wobbles a little when touched in ‘upright mode’ as the base is not heavy enough, so really it neds to stay in ‘flatter mode’ |
180 swivel based viewing
Heavy means it is not made to move much |
Table top cabling neatness | 6 x discrete secured cables leads to a messy table top and poor manoeuvrability | 1 x short flat umbilical cable leads to poor manoeuvrability, but the main codec/speaker unit does not need to be moved
There is potential to hide the codec/speaker and cabling away if using separate AV kit, touchscreen USB cable would need extending in this scenario but would lead to a very tidy solution |
3 x discrete secured cables (power, network and cat 6 umbilical) leads to poor manoeuvrability but is easiest to move of all the devices. This approach is only available with the SmartDock Flex base unit at extra cost.
Standard SRS with no Flex unit uses 6 discrete cables leading to a messy table top |
Robustness | Very robust | Robust but touch screen moves too easily on table top in upright mode, but fine in flat mode | Fairly robust once all components put together |
USB extension cabling options | Requires USB extender for cable runs greater than 5m (Ikron extender for example) | Requires USB extender for cable runs greater than 5m (Ikron extender for example) | Optional SmartDock Flex extender solution carries USB within a Cat 6 cable up to 15m long |
HDMI extension cabling options | Requires HDMI extender for cable runs greater than 5m (WyreStorm HDMI extender for example)
Note that HDMI cable runs can run 10-20m if not running 4K resolution (SRS app does not drive 4K) |
Include a wireless HDMI Tx/Rx unit that connects behind the screen for easy HDMI cabling, but as the camera is USB wired then a cable is still required from table top to screen area. However this does save on an HDMI extender kit which reduces cost for longer cable runs | Optional SmartDock Flex extender solution carries HDM within a Cat 6 cable up to 15m long |
Video camera options | YES
Via any supported USB camera |
YES
Via any supported USB camera |
YES
Via any supported USB camera |
Microphone quality | Tested to 3m without issue | Tested to 3m without issue
Pre-release version microphone wasn’t testable |
Dependent on audio peripheral used, recommended with:
|
Microphone options | YES
Via any standard USB peripheral but less likely to use as mic built in, unless it is a larger room requirement |
YES
Via any standard USB peripheral but less likely to use as mic built in, unless it is a larger room requirement |
YES
Via any standard USB peripheral, but typically:
|
Speaker options | YES
Via any standard USB peripheral but may not use in smaller rooms as the speaker is built in |
YES
Via any standard USB peripheral but may not use in smaller rooms as the speaker is built in |
YES
Via any standard USB peripheral, but best options:
|
Speaker quality | Perfectly acceptable quality for smaller meeting room scenario
Slightly tinnier than Logitech and HP |
Bang & Olufsen speaker with rich sound and good base but only suitable for smaller meeting rooms | Dependent on speaker option chosen:
|
Dual screen support | YES
2 x HDMI |
YES
Support for dual screen via HDMI and DisplayPort |
YES
2 x HDMI |
Touch screen support | NO
SRS does not support the main screen as a touch screen |
NO
SRS does not support the main screen as a touch screen |
NO
SRS does not support the main screen as a touch screen |
SfB Presence | YES | YES | YES |
IM Capability | YES | YES | YES |
Content Sharing via HDMI Ingest | YES | YES
HDMI cable is not secured so likely to be removed by users |
YES |
Content Sharing via Wireless Ingest | NO
|
NO
|
NO
SRS build does appear to have a wireless content share ingest application built in o the OS but this is not exposed to the SRS application, maybe one day ! |
Wireless Networking | Supports wireless networking but not recommended for a VC meeting room experience | Supports wireless networking but not recommended for a VC meeting room experience | Supports wireless networking but not recommended for a VC meeting room experience |
Power button | YES
Slight concern users will find the power button easily and reboot to try and fix any “issues”! |
YES
Accessible to users but fairly well hidden |
YES
Accessible to users but fairly well hidden |
Small Room Suitability | YES
Good fit as all in one unit for huddle and small meeting spaces |
Good fit as all in one unit for huddle and small meeting spaces | YES
Good fit as modular with small room audio and video options |
Medium Room Suitability | POSSIBLE
Extra USB mic and speaker required for large rooms, but not as good a fit as the base unit has the all in one speaker that cannot be hidden |
POSSIBLE Extra USB mic and speaker required for large rooms, codec base unit can be hidden when adding extra AV kit to replace the speaker |
YES
Good fit as modular with medium room audio and video options |
Large Room Suitability | POSSIBLE
Extra USB mic and speaker required for large rooms, but not a good fit as the base unit has the all in one speaker that cannot be hidden |
POSSIBLE
Extra USB mic and speaker required for large rooms, codec base unit can be hidden when adding extra AV kit to replace the speaker |
YES Good fit as modular with large room audio and video options |
Ease of Deployment | Very easy to deploy as pre-built | Fairly easy to deploy | Takes time to put together
Fiddly to add the SmartDock Flex due to very tight cabling |
Overall Reliability | Not known as this is new to market but initial impressions are good | Not known as this is new to market but initial impressions are good |
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Remote Management | Standard Windows 10 OS options
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Standard Windows 10 OS options
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Standard Windows 10 OS options
|
Warranty | Not checked | Standard: 2 yr
HP 3 yr 4 hr on site – £70 |
Complicated as Surface Pro is separate to the Logitech SRS base unit
Standard: 2yr for base uit, 1yr for Surface Pro MS Business Care available for Surface Pro (approx. £90 3yr) OneConnect available for the Logitech hardware and also to cover the whole SRS software package |
Price | Approx. £1600 | Approx. £1400 | Surface Pro & SRS base approx. – £1600 FlexDock additional cost – £600 |
Here are some useful web links to the devices:
Lenovo ThinkSmart 500 – https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/virtual-reality-and-smart-devices/smart-office/thinksmart/Hub-500/p/11SP1TSH500
HP Elite Slice – http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/getpdf.aspx/c05966671.pdf & https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-elite-slice-p-3zh60ut-aba-1
Logitech SRS – https://www.logitech.com/assets/64799/16/smartdockdatasheetweb.ENG.pdf & https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/smartdock
Having looked at all the options, due to the use of the same SRS app on each system the end user experience is near enough identical on the devices, so the key differentiators really comes down to:
Room Size Suitability (small, medium and large)
All of the SRS devices work very well in a small room but for larger rooms you need to select the correct peripherals and this is where it is key to recognise that the choice of speakers, mics and camera are based on room size. Our approach is to work with either Logitech or Polycom devices to provide these solutions as they provide the market leading solutions in these spaces and here’s how we typically build the AV peripherals:
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Huddle Room
- Logitech MeetUp due to it’s all in one build, super wide angle camera perfect for small spaces, excellent mic and speaker
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Medium room
- Logitech Group with PTZ Pro for good audio and video (zoom camera) for a budget conscious room
- Logitech Rally camera for excellent video, including auto participant framing, combined with the Polycom Trio for a really good audio experience
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Large room
- Logitech Rally camera for excellent video, including auto participant framing, combined with the Polycom Trio and extender mics for larger room mic pick up
It’s also well worth noting that Polycom also provide an SRS model under the MSR100 to MSR500 branding based on a range of packaged camera and audio options, full details below. We’ve packaged the Trio camera with other SRS systems on a number of occasions as it offers such good audio.
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Here are a few pictures showing the key areas of interest of the three different solutions I tested:
Lenovo ThinkSmart 500 | HP Elite Slice | Logitech SRS V2 | |
SRS Components | Simple solution, one piece of kit!
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Many components, but easy to slot together
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SRS dock with extra options:
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SRS in Action | ![]() |
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Cabling Solutions | Robust but untidy cabling
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Robust cabling, but not very elegant.
The outer dock does slide over the top of the actual connectors so it’s not quite as messy as my picture implies.
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The simplest cabling solution with desktop HDM, desktop USB, cat 6 umbilical cable and network. The desktop USB is a special feature of the SmartDock Flex allowing the USB camera, audio and HDMI to be passed direct through to the connected PC so you can use your laptop with smart VC room peripherals if you want! Think guest PC with Zoom, WebEx, BlueJeans etc. requiring in room peripherals.
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Cabling Solutions | ![]() |
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Presence Status | Neat touch showing in room participants whether they are in a call.
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Table Screen Angles | ![]() |
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If you want more info on SRS then Graham Walsh has written a good overview:
Skype Meeting Broadcast – Working with 3rd Party VTC to Present Content
An excellent article that should be refreshed for Microsoft Teams
Thanks !
Agreed on the Teams point, things have moved on lots! Much still applies to the base platforms but there are now many more options and of course Teams offers a host of different features. Would love to present another post so hopefully get there one day. We’re deploying Crestron, HP Slice, Logitech, Yealink as well as watching all the new releases from Poly and others so loads to choose from.