Meeting Owl 3 - any good?

[sarahstacey]

Hello,

 

It's been recommended that we purchase a Meeting Owl, I know, expensive!

 

I've been reading the Amazon reviews which are mostly positive but some not so.

 

Has anyone had any experience of these, it would be great to know the opinion of a fellow techy.

 

Many thanks

 

Sarah

[Discovery1031]

Hi Sarah,

 

We bought the Meeting Owl Pro about a year ago now and have also just purchased the Owl 3. When we first used the Owl we had a few issues, but I think that was down to the placement of the owl, it works best when placed central to everyone. We also noticed it did struggle a bit with the face tracking when multiple people were talking but that does seem to have gotten better, I think that might be down to software updates though.

 

Other than those two issues they have been perfect, voices and the video is very clear, they are very easy to setup, and they have both been used across our trust at different schools without issue.

 

If you have any other questions let me know.

 

Thanks

Callum

[Andrew_C]

There were security questions with Owls. Might have been fixed; I've not been following it.

 

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/security/228029-owl-videoconferencing-cameras-security-vulnerability.html

[Sylv3r]

We've got two in our head office - both work really well.

 

As has been mentioned above, there was initial security concerns which have been resolved through a firmware upgrade, although that's not to say there's more issues that go undiscovered.

[sarahstacey]

Thank you all for your replies, that's really helpful.

[Brax]

Resurrecting this thread. Is the Owl still as good as people say it is? The user is looking for a 360 solution like the Owl. Is it really plug and play does it work with teams that way? Or does it need its own software installing? Would love some feedback from those who have used it.

[mitchell1981]

We've got one in our conference room. (Large very long table) and it sits in the middle. It works well. Good sound and the tracking works well for us, even if someone is walking around the room. No software is needed as it just plugs in as a USB camera and appears in it's own window. As far as the PC is concerned it's just a normal webcam with one input. Works fine in Teams. I think there is software you can run to add more features, but we've not needed that.

 

(Also it hoots when you switch it on which for some reason is very popular!)

[SamanthaD]

As far as we're concerned the Owl is a piece of junk. The users in the room like it but the end user experience is awful. You lose the engagement as people are looking at the screen, not the camera, so the end user feels they're being ignored. The movement can make people seasick, and since the security issues (they have been resolved) I just don't trust it.

 

Stick an all in one video bar below the screen and be done with it, it works and doesn't come with any of the above problems. Logitech Meetup is a great little product and I've been impressed with the Sennheiser TC Bar (they come in 2 different sizes, small and medium). That's where I'd spend my money.

[Brax]

As far as we're concerned the Owl is a piece of junk. The users in the room like it but the end user experience is awful. You lose the engagement as people are looking at the screen, not the camera, so the end user feels they're being ignored. The movement can make people seasick, and since the security issues (they have been resolved) I just don't trust it.

 

Stick an all in one video bar below the screen and be done with it, it works and doesn't come with any of the above problems. Logitech Meetup is a great little product and I've been impressed with the Sennheiser TC Bar (they come in 2 different sizes, small and medium). That's where I'd spend my money.

 

Thank you, I’ll find out more about whether it’s going to be a roaming thing or not. Don’t work in education anymore but people can’t help going for the big shiny thing lol. I’d never heard of the owl before so it’s good to know whether it’s actually good or not considering his price!!

[dapaulio]

I have a couple schools with this in the middle of a classroom / conference rooms. The 4 camera allow for full 360 vision and accurate on tracking and zooming to the speaker.

 

Yes plug and play using teams and google meet.

 

Only thing is you have to let your browser access the camera and mic which some users had trouble with as they ignored the prompt.

 

Definitely worth the cost in my eyes and definitely trumps other like conference cameras

[DalekSec]

We have one, had over a year now and not had a single issue and is used a lot in a medium sized meeting room.

[Ratcliffepg]

We have one, many people comment on how good it is !!

[dapaulio]

Iv already positively commented but thought I’d add to it having just used one myself just yesterday in a teams meeting of 3 in the room plus remote guest. the owl was responsive to the speaker and seemed very clear to our remote guest. (Our remote guest never asked us to repeat what we said anyway)

 

Now it maybe just me but I thought to myself where do I look when I am speaking as the tv where my guests were on were on the wall and the owl was in the middle of the conference table and when I’m speaking it looks like I’m looking for flies around the room.

 

Poll- Do you look at the owl (straight in the camera) or the tv where my guests are.

[SamanthaD]

Iv already positively commented but thought I’d add to it having just used one myself just yesterday in a teams meeting of 3 in the room plus remote guest. the owl was responsive to the speaker and seemed very clear to our remote guest. (Our remote guest never asked us to repeat what we said anyway)

 

Now it maybe just me but I thought to myself where do I look when I am speaking as the tv where my guests were on were on the wall and the owl was in the middle of the conference table and when I’m speaking it looks like I’m looking for flies around the room.

 

Poll- Do you look at the owl (straight in the camera) or the tv where my guests are.

 

At the screen. And Owl must recognise that themselves as they have a videobar themselves!

[MartinT]

We have two in our Conference Room, they work together on either end of a long table and are much appreciated by governors and SMT.

 

We've had no reliability problems so far.

[dapaulio]

We have two in our Conference Room, they work together on either end of a long table and are much appreciated by governors and SMT.

 

We've had no reliability problems so far.

 

Jeez two in one school is unheard of. [emoji23] As good as they are they are expensive to buy

 

The things I had to do to convince the slt to buy one of these was well beyond but I didn’t want them to buy cheap and slate it for the next couple years giving me no end of grief

[DrCheese]

Jeez two in one school is unheard of. [emoji23] As good as they are they are expensive to buy

 

The things I had to do to convince the slt to buy one of these was well beyond but I didn’t want them to buy cheap and slate it for the next couple years giving me no end of grief

 

haha - The age old "Buy cheap.. buy twice!" thing (I am very much the same - Buy the right thing.. first time)

[dapaulio]

At the screen. And Owl must recognise that themselves as they have a videobar themselves!

 

Ahhh I like it. But now they made something that defeats the object of having the owl in the first place. Which is strange why they sell them together as a package

 

Anyone tested the bar on its own for Voice clarity and mic pickup