LogitechBCC950 Desktop Video Conferencing Solution, Full HD 1080p B23 Video Calling, Hi-Definition Webcam, Speakerphone with Noise-Reducing Mic, For Skype, WebEx, Zoom PC/Mac/Laptop/Macbook - Black

Been waiting for a webcam that is designed for small group as well as individual conferencing, and this is it! Has several key features that are absolutely unique at this price point, and the quality of hardware, audio and video is top notch.Key points:+ Pans, Tilts and (digitally) Zooms for easy adjustment of image during conference.+ PTZ function is via wireless remote, NOT software, which is a huge plus! Nobody wants to be fooling around with software for a camera while conferencing! The remote puts this function right where it belongs, in a purpose-built unit that is super simple and quick to use.+ HD images are excellent, with great ability to adjust to ambient light automatically.+ Audio sending and receiving quality are remarkable. Speakers are crystal clear on reception, and easily fill a large conference room without distortion.+ Driver-free operation! Plug it in and go!+ Compatibility with Microsoft Lync was excellent. Just had to choose the Logitech as my source camera.+ Raising camera on stalk makes for more normal viewing angles for folks around a conference table.+ Dual power options - USB or AC adapter+ The digital zoom quality is pretty good, given that you're essentially cropping the image.Improvement areas/wish fors...* Charging port on camera should be standard USB mini or micro, NOT barrel type, so that other power sources could more easily be used to power the camera, e.g., an external battery or any of the millions of USB chargers folks have laying around.* Camera cannot be operated until connected to computer, even though the AC power is connected. Would be handy to be able to PTZ before connection to get ready for a conference or specific shot, say of a product.and in a moderately higher priced companion...* Optical zoom for full res image as one zooms in* Would love to see ports for add-on boundary mics for use on larger tables via standard 3.5mm audio in jacks* Would be useful to be able to daisy chain a couple of cameras set in different locations with different views, and have the camera hardware join the images into a collage, with the remote then able to switch from collage to single camera view and back again (again, keeping all the functionality in the hardware and remote, not the PC or custom software).Overall, the best webcam for conferencing I've ever found, worth every penny when it comes to on-line collaboration. Highly recommended for small group or high quality personal conferencing.***********Update 2013-01-23 Plug and Play for Win and Mac laptops**********The Conference Cam continues to work extremely well. Can now confirm simple, plug and play operation on range of both Windows and Mac laptops. I just leave this sitting out in our team room, and folks have no trouble connecting and using it for group conferences. The remote is not only intuitive, but kinda fun to play with as well!

I have used this for a book club with on site and online members. What I was most surprised by was the audio quality. We have a group of five in the room and the camera easily fits us all in. We are well over nine feet from the camera and everyone can hear. Easy to set up with computer and tv or monitor.

This is being used to webcast community and club meetings from a large common room. It is really asking the camera/microphone to do more than it was designed to do but there are some workarounds to make this actually seem like a professional system. For those interested, here is what I did to make it suffice.First, if you are doing anything more than just peer to peer in a couple of small rooms, assign an operator to the system. They will be able to pan the camera appropriately, adjust volumes and sensitivities and, perhaps most importantly, "call on" people who raise their hand from remote locations via whatever conferencing software you are using.Our meetings use either a central microphone system or, if it's a smaller club meeting, a portable speaker system. The microphone on this is sensitive enough to pick up either system although the portable speaker system needs to be placed with 15-20 feet of the camera to get the best sound quality. The problem that we encountered was people wanting to speak remotely. The built in speakers are just not sufficient for a large room (nor were they ever intended to be) and even switching sound over to computer speakers (using the control panel function) isn't going to provide enough volume for a 2000 square foot open room.Fortunately, the unit has an audio out jack that is 3.5mm. We bought a 50' audio cable with the 3.5mm on one end and a standard 1/4" headphone jack on the other. That 1/4" jack plugs into our Anchor Audio portable speaker and so now the incoming sound is being piped through our portable system. You can only have one remote party speaking at a time (this is a GOOD thing!) and thus the need for an operator to call on people as they "raise their hands" to be heard.It took a couple of tries at webcasting some smaller meetings before we got all the settings correct for our environment but now we've had as many as fifty remote users viewing various neighborhood meetings and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. It's not ever going to mirror a professional $10K system like a Tanberg setup but for our needs, it works quite well.Why not five starts then? The video quality is not as good as expected and transitions aren't as smooth as they should be - we're running a consistent 25MPS wireless connection and so throughput isn't the issue. I wasn't expecting high-def but think the quality should be better. The ambient light sensor is about worthless - it doesn't read an average or even spot readings but seems to detect the brightest part of the picture and adjust everything based on that which darkens out the people almost completely. We've just learned to not have anyone sitting/standing directly in front of an unshaded window.The one thing that would really make this camera a five start device is to make the remote a radio signal instead of infrared. As it is, you have to be pretty much straight in front of the camera and within 10-15 feet for the remote to work. Because we use and operator, it's easier for them to sit right next to the camera with the controlling laptop but then it doesn't pick up the remote signal. With a RF remote, they could station themselves further away, completely out of the meeting and still control the camera.If you're trying to do remote conferencing on a budget, this appears, for the money, to be the best solution on the market. Our technology club did research several different cameras before settling on this one and it will serve its purpose for the next couple of years. By then, I suspect the professional type cameras that can follow the speaker and do a host of other things will have come down greatly in price and that's what this will eventually get replaced with.