Rooms Systems vs. Airtame Conferencing

Welcome to our hybrid conferencing product comparison series, where we’ll be comparing Airtame’s conferencing offering to the three most popular conferencing approaches: wireless conferencing, Rooms systems, and traditional cabled conferencing.

Historically, conferencing was traditionally found in the boardrooms of large organizations, but as the technology evolved, it became more accessible and widely used by businesses of all sizes. Platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, and WebEx have become industry leaders, replacing many in-person meetings in this era of hybrid work.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of video conferencing, with many businesses shifting to remote work and virtual meetings (turning it from a nice to have, to a necessity).

With this shift, several different approaches emerged. In this series, we’ll be breaking down the pros and cons of each conferencing approach.

Rooms Systems vs. Airtame Conferencing

When searching for conferencing solutions, a Rooms system might seem like the way to go. Products you might be familiar with include Zoom Rooms, Microsoft Teams Rooms, Google Meet hardware, and more. These tools allow you to join calls hosted on specific conferencing services. But what if your organization uses multiple systems? How many times have you tried to join a video meeting with an external partner and encountered a multitude of issues as they were not using “your” conferencing system? As an example, your company uses Microsoft Teams but you got invited to a client’s Zoom meeting. Joining calls from other services can be difficult, or not even possible.

One of the biggest advantages of Airtame is that it’s truly cross-platform – you’re not tied to any one video call provider, making it great for all organizations. Many Room solutions are also tied to a hard-to-navigate tablet – with Airtame, there’s no need for a tablet to control the call. It’s easily controlled from your computer, and the call is run through the Airtame Hub – removing the heavy lifting from your device. Calls run stably, without worrying about performance, or if your laptop has enough battery to last through the call.

Screen sharing is also very simple with Airtame, as it allows in-room meeting participants to share their screens without having to join the call from their personal device. With Rooms Systems, screen sharing can be slow and cumbersome, especially when multiple people are trying to share simultaneously, which can lead to the dreaded audio feedback loop.

Airtame’s flexibility means you can use the peripherals that best suit you and your organization. Many Rooms systems are also tied to each meeting room’s calendar, so if the room hasn’t been booked (an added step and potential error point for your users), it can prevent you from joining your calls altogether. Airtame has personal calendar integration, there’s no need to invite the meeting room to the call, or go looking for the right meeting link. The Airtame app integrates with your calendar, so all you need to do is click “Join Call,” and you’re in!