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Logitech: new all-in-one video bar conferencing solutions
Mon, 18th Jan 2021
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Logitech has announced a new portfolio of appliance and PC-based solutions that work with video conferencing services such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

The new Logitech Rally Bar, purpose-built for mid-sized rooms, and Logitech Rally Bar Mini for small rooms, bring audio and video to meetings in an all-in-one design.

For large meeting rooms, the new Logitech RoomMate is a computing appliance that allows customers to run video conferencing services on Logitech conference cams like Rally Plus without a PC or Mac.

It offers simplified setup, management, and use of video conferencing equipment for meetings in the hybrid and evolving work environments.

“We've always methodically focused on what customers want, and that's products with premium quality at a reasonable price,” says Logitech video collaboration general manager and vice president Scott Wharton.

“From ease of use and manageability to bringing scale to businesses, we want to make products bigger and better, while reducing complexity. Our goal is to put video in every meeting space in the world. In order to do that, we need to make it easy, simple and cost-effective, which is what we believe we've achieved with this new portfolio of products.

The additions to the portfolio can run supported video conferencing applications natively on Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini, like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, or connect them via USB to a room PC or Mac.

Users can BYOD (bring your own device), which enables plug-in for laptops running a video service.

The new products also support other popular video conferencing services such as GoTo, Pexip and RingCentral.

They include a second camera on the video bars dedicated to AI and room analytics and extensible audio coverage with Rally Mic Pods to allow for scalability and flexibility.

Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini features include:

  • Resolutions up to 4K – smooth motorised pan and tilt in a video bar form factor and optics up to 4K. Rally Bar claims lossless image quality up to 5X optical zoom, which will be digitally enhanced up to 15X total zoom.
     
  • Voice clarity – Both video bars feature ultra-low distortion speakers delivering clear, room-filling sound. An adaptive beamforming mic array picks up voices at every seat with conversational clarity, focusing on the active talker and auto-levelling louder and softer voices while suppressing unwanted noise. Plus, a patented anti-vibration suspension system minimises speaker vibrations that can travel through walls, stands, and tables.
     
  • Design – Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini feature sleek, rounded edges for an elegant, minimalistic look with recycled polyester fabric on the speakers. Both video bars are available in Graphite or White.
     
  • Built-in AI – Both video bars come equipped with Logitech RightSense technology and AI Viewfinder, a second camera dedicated to computer vision. The camera detects human figures and processes where they are in real-time, enhancing the precision of Logitech RightSight auto-framing and camera control so meeting participants are always in focus.
     
  • Simple set-up, management and monitoring – Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini come with cable management and flexible mounting options. Monitor and manage the video bars from a single platform using Logitech Sync or your preferred device management dashboard. Plus, insights into how conference rooms are being used with metrics like people count.

Logitech Rally Bar is the first from the portfolio that will be broadly available at the end of this quarter.

Rally Bar also comes with built-in support for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android and Zoom Rooms Appliances, with Zoom available immediately.

Rally Bar Mini and Logitech RoomMate availability will follow.

Pricing for Rally Bar starts at NZ$6,999.90 / AU$6,199.95

Pricing for Rally Bar Mini and Logitech RoomMate not yet available.