Item: Cisco Room Series
Rating: 10
Author: Steve Demetrious

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have begun upgrading older conference room systems companywide to the WebEx Room Series. We have implemented the Room Kit for small rooms and the Room Kit Plus for our medium/large rooms. The endpoints are a fantastic all in one solution for video and audio conferencing needs. They also eliminate the needs for many external AV devices because the units can handle a majority of the signal processing needs.

Pros and Cons

Video Quality.
Great Sound.
Easy/simple user interface.
Speaker Tracking.

Allowing 3rd party audio connections without the need of a 3rd party DSP.
Please standardize your mic/line inputs and outputs to allow users to connect any 3rd party microphone or speaker.
Add a built-in microphone option to the Room Kit Plus model.

Return on Investment

The units are very cost effective and have allowed us to simplify our conference room designs.
Its low maintenance has allowed us to cut down on AV service calls.
The call quality has given us more confidence to schedule video conference calls more frequently, decreasing the need for employee travel.

Alternatives Considered

Zoom and Microsoft Teams

The Zoom Rooms are a nice product line but they are bulky and require a lot of wired connections. The Cisco Room Kit series is simpler and the all-in-one models are much more practical. Plus the Cisco Room Kits don't require an additional PC/Tablet to run.

Support Rating

The room kit series, for the most part, are easy to work with and integrate. However, they aren't very friendly with 3rd party equipment such as microphones and DSP systems. I would also love to see a Dante audio option on the standard and plus kits.

Usability

We like our Cisco endpoints a lot. However, the technology is getting better in the Zoom room market and we are interested in exploring those options. I'd really like to see some new improvements in the room kit series such as wireless controllers and the ability to mount the room kits in multiple configurations. I would also like to see the Room Kit and Room Kit Plus series standardize their audio line inputs to accommodate 3rd party microphone and DSP solutions.

Key Insights

Do you think Cisco Room Series delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco Room Series's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Room Series live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cisco Room Series go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco Room Series again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Zoom, BlueJeans, Cisco Webex Meetings

Likelihood to Recommend

The units are well suited for small and medium conference rooms where you would prefer a minimal and clean set up. The units can also be mounted above/below a TV on a mobile cart if you would like a mobile option or use the units for high-end telehealth.

Both the Room Kit and Room Kit Plus units are not suitable for very large conference rooms that require split/combine functionality.

Ease-of-Use

My organization has benefited greatly from the ease-of-use of the Cisco Webex Room series. The simplified UI on the Touch 10 makes it easy for users to join a meeting, make a call, and share content. The smaller room kits have also allowed us to create high-end huddle rooms for small group meetings. The all-in-one soundbar of the Room Kit and Room Kit Mini allows for easy installation, implementation, and general maintenance.

All-in-one Platform

We have not implemented any products beyond the Webex cloud registration as of yet. However, we are currently setting up Cisco Expressway and plan on integrating Exchange to push meeting data more efficiently. We are also going to experiment with Jabber for easy wireless sharing to the endpoints.

Security

Overall, the Cisco Room Kit Series is a good set of products. However, I am disappointed that Cisco still doesn't offer wireless Touch 10 controllers and/or the ability to run the UI on an iPad or tablet device. Also, the Room Kit standard model can only be mounted above a display, whereas the Room Kit Plus and the Room Kit Mini can be mounted above or below a display. If you mount the Room Kit standard below a display then the ugly cables will hang underneath and there is no way to neatly hide them. Another disappointment is not having the option to turn off HDCP on the Room Kit standard or Mini models. This option is available only in the Plus and Pro models. I have had lots of trouble with 3rd party content sharing systems like ScreenBeam with recent CE 9 updates.

Users and Roles

300 - Our Cisco WebEx Rooms are used on a variety of different scales. They are used from small huddle rooms to executive meeting rooms to very large staff training rooms. They allow for many of our staff members across multiple states to meet virtually on a frequent basis.

Support Headcount Required

10 - We have 1 main audiovisual technician and a general technical support team that will assist if issues come up at various sites.

Business Processes Supported

Large staff training
Executive meetings
Team huddle meetings

Innovative Uses

We've cut down on travel expenses
Allowed our organization to get familiar with video conferencing before the covid-19 pandemic.

Future Planned Uses

We've considered using the room kit mini series for telehealth endpoints.
We're considering reducing out office space and converting current offices into small meeting spaces for employee drop-ins.

Likelihood to Renew

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Easy to use Technical support not required Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using	Unnecessarily complex

The Webex Room Kits are a great next generation video endpoint from Cisco!

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Webex Room Series