Badly equipped meeting rooms all look alike: five minutes lost at the start of every call, someone hunting for an adapter, and a remote participant repeating "I can't hear you".
Budget has almost nothing to do with it. It is a problem of priorities.
Sound comes before picture
This is the rule everyone inverts. People invest in a 75-inch screen and a 4K camera, then keep the laptop's built-in microphone.
A remote participant forgives a mediocre picture and leaves the call over bad audio. Listening fatigue is real: following a conversation through room echo is exhausting within twenty minutes.
In practice:
- One microphone per three or four people, or a soundbar with a microphone array for small rooms.
- Treat the acoustics before adding electronics. A glass-walled room with a glass table rings: a few absorbing panels, a rug or curtains do more than a more expensive microphone.
- Avoid the all-glass conference table. It looks good and it is an acoustic disaster.
One cable, nothing to install
The test of a successful room: an outside visitor walks in, plugs in one cable, and their screen appears. No app to install, no code to type, no account.
In practice that means a single USB-C carrying picture, sound, camera and charging, plus an HDMI adapter left permanently on the table. Wireless is comfortable for regulars and frustrating for visitors: keep it as a supplement, never as the only option.
The camera: framing beats resolution
A wide-angle camera that sees the whole table beats a 4K camera that frames three people out of eight. For a room under six metres, an all-in-one bar placed below the screen is plenty: above it, it films participants from above, which is unflattering and unnatural.
The screen, bigger than you think
Simple rule: the diagonal in inches is roughly four times the distance in metres between the screen and the furthest person. At five metres you need 75 inches, not 55.
A shared document nobody can read from the back of the room will never be used.
What kills a room, and costs nothing to avoid
- Trailing cables. Routed under the table, recessed sockets, lengths cut to fit. That is what separates an installation from a pile of equipment.
- Missing power. Count one socket per seat. A two-hour meeting drains batteries.
- The lost remote. Prefer a system that wakes on presence or from a wall button.
- No instructions. A five-line laminated card on the table prevents half the support calls.
The budget
A small room for four to six people is done properly for CHF 3,000 to 6,000 including the screen. A boardroom with dual screens, ceiling microphones and touch control runs to CHF 15,000 and beyond.
The best return stays the same: put the money into sound and cabling, not into screen inches.
