When it comes to buying video conferencing devices, platform lock-in is a real concern for businesses today.
You might want to switch platforms to get better features or save money. The platform you use today might go away tomorrow. You might need to change to better integrate with clients’ needs. There are many reasons to want to avoid platform lock-in.
Put short, having video conferencing devices that work across platforms is a real benefit.
That’s where BYOD devices for video conferencing come into the picture.
In this blog, we clearly explain what video conferencing BYOD devices are, what the benefits of BYOD devices are, and what kinds of BYOD devices are available.
Let’s get into it!
Video Conferencing with BYOD Solutions
BYOD stands for Bring Your Own Device.
There are two types of BYOD video conferencing devices.
The first type is USB devices that are only used as audio/video peripherals with video conferencing platforms. For example, Yealink UVC40 E2 is a USB video bar for small rooms that you use simply by plugging it into a computer and selecting it as a peripheral — a webcam, microphone, and speaker all in one.
These devices might not be referred to as BYOD devices, though they often are. They might just be called USB devices. Either way, they’re BYOD solutions.
The primary benefit of this type of BYOD device is simplicity. They’re literally plug-and-play solutions.
Oftentimes, they’re USB video bars, but there are other devices like the Yealink UVC86 Video Conferencing Camera that are also USB BYOD devices.
And with some of these USB devices, you can build out whole BYOD video conferencing systems by connecting peripherals like expansion microphones to the BYOD device.
The second type of BYOD device is video conferencing devices that can run in multiple modes, including BYOD Mode, which makes them usable as audio/video peripherals with virtually any platform.
This type requires a bit more detail.
BYOD Mode is contrasted with running the device in a mode that’s specific to a platform, like Zoom Mode, or running a native application on the device, like the Microsoft Teams Rooms app.
Because this is the tech world, terminology can be confusing. BYOD Mode might be called something else like Device Mode or USB Mode.
Whatever it’s called, BYOD Mode means the device can be used by the platform as a USB peripheral like a webcam or headset.
It enables cross-platform device interoperability. In other words, by supporting this mode, a BYOD video conferencing device eliminates platform lock-in.
The primary benefit of this type of BYOD device, in contrast to pure USB devices, is flexibility: you can use it in multiple modes with multiple platforms, whatever suits your needs.
What Are the Benefits of BYOD Devices?
Whichever type of BYOD device you use, you get the features and performance of professional video conferencing equipment.
Depending on what BYOD equipment you’re using, that means advanced camera technologies like Automatic Framing, HD content sharing, beam-forming microphone array voice pickup with noise reduction technologies, and more.
One major benefit is that, with BYOD devices, you don’t need to pay for a room license to use your professional video conferencing service. Instead, you just use a user's computer with their existing account. That is really convenient and can save you money.
You can use any computer you want to run the meeting room software, which is perfect for impromptu meetings, focus or huddle rooms, and small businesses who don’t want to pay for dedicated conference room equipment.
If you have an existing computer that you want to leverage for your video conferencing, with a BYOD solution, you can. If you want to bring your laptop into the meeting room and get collaborating right away while retaining professional audio/video performance, you can.
Often, BYOD Mode also simplifies cabling, because you’ll be connecting the BYOD device to a computer directly using just a USB cable or at most two common cables: USB and HDMI.
What Kinds of BYOD Devices Are There?
There are many kinds of BYOD devices for video conferencing.
Some devices support BYOD Mode natively, while other devices need an adapter to be used in BYOD Mode.
Most BYOD devices can be used in both BYOD Mode and other modes.
For example, Logitech Rally Bar Huddle can be used PC, Appliance, or BYOD Mode. PC Mode means a dedicated computer runs the meeting application. Appliance Mode means the video bar itself runs the meeting app. BYOD Mode means the video bar is used as an audio/video peripheral by a platform. (Logitech also calls it BYOC Mode or Bring Your Own Computer Mode.)
The most important BYOD device to know about is the video bar. A video bar is a video conferencing device that combines a camera, speaker, and microphone into one unit. Many video bars also are codecs, which means they can run applications without needing external computers.
Let’s use Rally Bar Huddle as an example again. In BYOD Mode, the video bar acts as a camera, speaker, and microphone — all in one. And all you need to do is connect a USB and HDMI cable from the video bar to a laptop or PC that runs the meeting room software — simple.
There are many video bars that support BYOD Mode natively from the major manufacturers, like Poly Studio X32 and Yealink MeetingBar A40.
Others require an adapter like the Yealink MVC-BYOD-Extender. We cover adapters in our blog, “Multi-Platform Video Conferencing Hardware Prevents Lock-In and Preserves Business Flexibility.”
There are also modular BYOD video conferencing systems with separate video conferencing cameras, microphones, speakers, touch controllers, and computers. These systems will require an adapter.
For example, if you’re using the MVC BYOD-Extender, you connect your MVC video conferencing system with an MCore mini-PC to run the software. Then you connect the system to a computer via the BYOD-Extender. In this way, you can even establish a multi-camera BYOD solution using the Yealink AVHub for multi-device management.
If you want to build out a BYOD video conferencing room solution for your business, many manufacturers provide room configurators that recommend devices based on room/group size and platform, including BYOD solutions.
Here are links to video conferencing room configurators (external links):
If you’d like to learn about what video conferencing devices are available and what features to look for, check out our detailed and up-to-date Video Conferencing Buyer’s Guide.
Are There Limitations to BYOD Devices?
There are two primary disadvantages to using BYOD devices: complete feature-sets and native integration.
Because you’re using devices as USB peripherals, you might not be able to use every feature that the device is capable of handling. For full information, you’ll have to check the feature compatibility for each platform and device, unfortunately.
On the other hand, you’ll still get premium audio and video quality with many advanced features. For example, when you use a Yealink MeetingBar in BYOD Mode (what they also call Wired Device Mode), the video bar still supports Auto Framing and Speaker Tracking.
It can also be simpler to just run the meeting room software on a video bar that can act as a codec, rather than using the video bar in BYOD Mode.
For example, Poly video conferencing devices support Poly Partner Mode, which means you can run third-party video conferencing applications on the devices, including (depending on the device) Microsoft Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms, Google Meet, Dialpad, GoToRoom, and RingCentral Rooms.
Another drawback to using BYOD devices for video conferencing is that you don’t get seamless, native integration with certain platforms.
Several video conferencing platforms — most notably Microsoft Teams and Zoom — have certification programs. That means that the platforms work with manufacturers to guarantee performance, feature support, security, and management.
The devices certified act as native Teams or Zoom devices, which is wonderful if you use that platform all the time.
And just to make things more complicated, some devices can be used in Microsoft Teams Mode, for example, to get that native integration — and also in BYOD Mode to use it with third-party applications. An example of this is the Yealink MVC Microsoft Teams Rooms Systems, which work natively with Teams but also, when used with an MVC BYOD-Extender, in BYOD Mode with other platforms.
With options like these, you get the best of both worlds!