Meeting Owl Pro

I ordered one for my meetings. It isn’t available in EU yet, so I bit the bullet and shipped it international. Remote people have instantly commented on dramatic improvement in meetings... as you can probably expect. Several day trip meetings are now been postponed to “Owl It”. Quality is very good, so I can comment on how much this Pro version is versus the earlier one. I use Skype and MS Teams. I do want to add a note about the case. It is a shame that Owl Labs don’t have a convenient case that comes with it. This isn’t the sort of hardware you want lying loose in a bag during transit. I did discover that most Oculus Rift VR carry cases available on Amazon are an excellent dimension to fit he Owl (Pro or Regular) in with its power supplies and cables. I attached some photos of one Oculus Rift case I ordered. I cut the foam out and glued in some new foam to match the Owl. Works like a charm. I now can carry it separately to meetings or throw the case inside my larger everyday backpack. I just wish Owl Labs did include a case, even if it was an additional purchase option. I honestly cant fault this for much, since there really isn’t anything else in the industry quite like it at the moment.

After much effort to connect with Tech Support, they did reach out to me and did send me a US power cord. I'm pretty pleased with it now. Here's my technical commentary: The image resolution is nowhere close to my Logitech Brio, and the audio sound is not close to my Bose bluetooth speaker. BUT... BUT... since it now sits in the middle of the conference table it is close to everyone. The Owl multi-microphone array is very satisfactory at picking up the voices and is quite audible to the Zoomers. The echo-canceling speaker system seems flawless and sounds quite good. Their adaptive SW uses the microphone array to determine who the dominant speaker is and cleverly frames that person in the visual panel - a kind of closeup. It may show one or two other panels of other recent speakers - the pattern recognition SW that recognizes a human form is impressive. While the resolution isn't 4K, the fact that it provides closeup panels of the current speakers is a better visual than my former high-res videocam at the far end of the room showing all the tiny faces somewhat inaudibly. It's an excellent solution for our group and committee meetings. You can read but ignore my earlier review, below: Arrived quickly as it was fulfilled from here in the Bay Area - just in time for my important meeting to use it. BUT... I can't plug it in! Comes with its power adapter and two power cords - one for Europe and one for Asia - but not the US. Amazon support could not supply me with solution - said I'd have to go shopping for an adapter to US outlet. Owl Labs does not answer phone for Sales Support or Technical Support. No idea how device performs. Blew my important meeting here in the USA.

I purchased the Meeting Owl Pro to make joining meetings a more interactive experience for remote users than just a speaker alone. So far, I have found this product extremely easy to set up and use. I have been told that the sound and video quality of meetings have been wonderful, and users have really enjoyed being able to feel more a part of meetings they are unable to attend in person. I do not keep my Owl in one location; rather, I travel to client locations and set up the owl so that my team members and others can join the meeting. I've had no issues setting it up each time. It is quick and easy through the app. I use GoToMeeting to run the meetings, which the Owl also very easily works with. I do wish there was a carrying case I could purchase for my needs, as I usually end up packing the Owl in a checked bag when traveling. If you're looking for a way to close the gap between your virtual and in person meeting attendees, I cannot recommend this product enough. It delivers exactly what is promised.

The Meeting Owl Pro is a very clever and useful way to turn a small-to-medium space into a usable conference room. It allows remote participants to be more aware of the entire room by providing a 360-degree view in addition to intelligently switching between speakers, which it does rather impressively, showing up to 3 speakers at a time. Sound pickup is good, and the camera quality is good enough for its intended use. A few things to know: The management of the unit (updating firmware, changing audio and video settings, etc) is only done with a mobile app. The microphone can pick up sound in a good-sized space very well, and the quality is above average, but depending on the size and audio dynamics of that space, you will very likely need to dial in the unit's audio settings for crosstalk/echo and noise cancellation. The camera quality is advertised as being 1080p, but because of the nature of the 360-degree camera and the digital zooming and cropping that the unit does to frame multiple participants, the image quality will be a bit grainy and noisy, especially at a distance or under harsh lighting. It is not unusable, but there are many instances where the image quality will not appear to be great. Even with these caveats, the Meeting Owl Pro is a great tool to upgrade a meeting space without spending several thousand dollars. It will not provide the quality that a professionally-installed, dedicated in-room system will allow, but for the price, it provides a lot of flexibility and utility that will improve the immersion and engagement of your remote meeting participants.

A simple review: A great all-in-one solution. We no longer have to identify ourselves because we put it in the middle of the table and it tracks our faces. Very easy to use Great video quality (getting a good image on a 40 mb connection.) Great sound (mic and speaker) The office has used it on multiple platforms but Zoom and Webex are the preferred applications On initial setup, in the apps you will probably have to set the OWL to be the default camera/mic/speaker but it was a piece of cake.

The Owl Pro will cover up to 15ft distance on all sides when placed in the middle of a conference table. . We love how this camera focuses in on the speaker and yet still can zoom in on others sitting within a 15 distance. For those who are joining the team via zoom, they can see each individual as though they were sitting in front of their laptops but yet in a good distance that is comfortable for everyone, even those who are more shy and don't want to be in the limelight. :-) The voice and picture are clear and for us, it seems to be the next best thing to meeting in person. Very nice camera and a good investment for a team of people that can fill a table 15 ft from the camera.

I bought this cutting-edge meeting room appliance with the idea that if it worked I would install it in every meeting room we have, which is a dozen or so. It worked fine as an appliance, though setting up with various computer in the meeting rooms was a challenge. Also the software was a bit erratic and worked well on good days, but dreadful on bad days. No idea how a piece of hardware/software could be so dramatically prone to changes. After not even a year it stopped working. Point blank. We wrote to Owl labs and before even saying hello, they wanted to see the invoice, the serial number, proof of payment. They were totally annoying and trying to avoid service. We just wanted to know if there was some troubleshooting we could do, some stuff that often breaks. It does cost a $1000 so you don't just chuck it and buy a new one. We never got an answer. We never got any acknowledgment of our questions. Their appliance, which has been sitting for less than a year on a table, in a cozy room, with a total of maybe 200 hours of operation, is just a total let down. I do not recommend you buy this and focus on simpler/cheaper systems that are reliable.

Perfect for small to medium, the sound pick up is good for groups around it but for larger rooms or echos its not so good. it took time and was hard sometimes for the camera to idetifiy the speaker(s) and would go to empty frames. Not a bad thing but more of a limitation. I know they could do something with bluetooth additional speakers if they wanted or would "think" of it. The software part wouldnt even be that hard to write. BUT still a win and a good price for its roles. PTZ cameras alone are $500 a piece, this does not even include the mics, cables, etc. So good product and perfect.