The What: Logitech has introduced its next generation of appliance and PC-based videoconferencing solutions designed to work with today’s leading services such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom: the new Rally Bar, Rally Bar Mini, and RoomMate.
The What: The new Logitech Rally Bar, purpose-built for mid-sized rooms, and Logitech Rally Bar Mini for small rooms, transform meetings with high-quality video and clear audio in an all-in-one design. Rounding out large meeting rooms, the new Logitech RoomMate is a computing appliance that allows customers to run videoconferencing services on Logitech conference cams like Rally Plus without a PC or Mac.
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With smooth motorized pan and tilt in a video bar form factor and sharp optics up to 4K, Rally Bar features lossless image quality up to 5X optical zoom, which will be digitally enhanced up to 15X total zoom. Both video bars feature ultra-low-distortion speakers for clear, room-filling sound. An adaptive beamforming mic array picks up voices at every seat with clarity, focusing on the active talker and auto-leveling louder and softer voices while suppressing unwanted noise. Further, a patented anti-vibration suspension system minimizes speaker vibrations that can travel through walls, stands, and tables.
Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini feature sleek, rounded edges for an elegant, minimalistic look. Featuring recycled polyester fabric on the speakers, both video bars are available in Graphite or White to complement the aesthetic of modern conference rooms.
Both video bars come equipped with Logitech RightSense technology and AI Viewfinder, a second camera dedicated to computer vision. The camera detects human figures and processes where they are in real-time, enhancing the precision of Logitech RightSight auto-framing and camera control so meeting participants are always in focus, whether they are late joining or moving about.
Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini come with cable management and flexible mounting options for installs with minimal footprint. Setup is designed to take just minutes out of the box, and tech managers can monitor and manage the video bars from a single platform using Logitech Sync or their preferred device management dashboard. The devices also provide insights into how conference rooms are being used with metrics like people count, especially important for room occupancy limits in the hybrid workplace.
“We’ve always methodically focused on what customers want, and that’s products with premium quality at a reasonable price,” said Scott Wharton, general manager and vice president, Logitech Video Collaboration. “From ease of use and manageability, to bringing scale to businesses, we want to make products bigger and better, while reducing complexity. Our goal is to put video in every meeting space in the world. In order to do that, we need to make it easy, simple and cost-effective, which is what we believe we’ve achieved with this new portfolio of products.”
The Bottom Line: As videoconferencing continues to become an integral part of every business, Logitech’s latest portfolio aims to help organizations become more flexible. Users can run supported videoconferencing applications natively on Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini, like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, or connect them via USB to virtually any room PC or Mac. The devices also support BYOD (bring your own device), enabling users to plug in a laptop and run their chosen video service.
Logitech Rally Bar is the first from the next generation appliance portfolio that will be broadly available at the end of this quarter. Rally Bar also comes with built-in support for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android and Zoom Rooms appliances, with Zoom available immediately. Rally Bar Mini and Logitech RoomMate availability will follow. Pricing for Rally Bar starts at $3,999; Rally Bar Mini starts at $2,999; and Logitech RoomMate starts at $999. Logitech’s portfolio will also work with GoToMeeting, Pexip, and RingCentral.
