EPOS Expand Vision 3T Review - In-depth Unboxing - Conference Call Webcam; Microsoft Teams Certified

[00:00:00] Rolando: In this unboxing video, I'm covering the EPOS Expand Vision 3T Video Collaboration Bar. Let's dive right in. So let's unbox this EPOS 3T. Let's talk a little bit about what you've got in here in this box from EPOS. And by the way, it's always worth saying that EPOS is formerly Sennheiser, now known as EPOS. It's the same exact thing now with a new label on it. As you see in the box here, it says EPOS, but this is essentially a Sennheiser company. It's complicated. They've renamed and rebranded.

[00:00:36] So you get several things in this box, not just the video conferencing unit, but you get several components, including the speakerphone, and in this case, you're getting SP30T.

[00:00:48] The T stands for Microsoft Teams, as well as what's inside. This kit is specific for Microsoft Teams users. If you're not a Microsoft Teams user, you'll want [00:01:00] to wait for the release of the UC version coming out in Q1 of 2022. All right, so let's take this box and open it up, show you what's in here. What you've got in this box, and we're gonna take that off.

[00:01:16] You've got your 3T, your Expand Vision 3T video camera. You've got the SP30T. I'm going to move the accessories to the side and just tell you about those as well. We've got a cable run that's a cable, that's a USB-C. And we'll talk about that in a moment. We also have an HDMI cable, and we've got a USB-C adapter.

[00:01:49] And inside are all the power all the power things that you need, all the power supplies and what have you. And that's what's in your box. Let's put that to the [00:02:00] side. So let's talk about what we've got here. Put the cables on the side. We've got the three, the Expand Vision 3T, and it says collaboration bar on the front.

[00:02:13] Again, this is Microsoft Teams edition, and in the box, you've got the power supply. Here we've got the accessories for mounting. So if you're gonna mount this on the wall, typically underneath the monitor, you've got all the mounting plates right here. All the screws you don't have to worry about.

[00:02:37] Yep. There we go. These are really big screws. In case you got to put those inside a wall and fortify that bad boy. Okay, I'm going to put those accessories to the side.

[00:02:51] You've got a remote control, and this remote control is very straightforward and basic, [00:03:00] and we'll talk about that in a moment. And we also have a video collaboration bar. Let's take that out of the box.

[00:03:15] Now that we've taken all the parts and pieces out of the box, what we wanted to take a look at is the speakers. So let me take, give you a little bit of background here on what you've got with this setup. Because this is a Microsoft Teams setup for Microsoft Teams certification, all the elements normally need to be Microsoft Teams certified.

[00:03:36] Now, get this. Microsoft has a really quirky little thing. Although this speakerphone is a Bluetooth speakerphone, as well as the USB-C speakerphone, the certification applies to the hardwired capability so that you have this long cable run connecting it to the video bar. Now, that doesn't mean you can't use it in Bluetooth mode [00:04:00] or other devices in Bluetooth mode.

[00:04:02] It just means that Microsoft, if you call them for support and you have an issue, and you say, "I've got my speakerphone connected via Bluetooth," they just won't help you. That's just the way that the Microsoft team rolls. So just know that ahead of time. And now, if you stick around for part two of this video, I will show you how to get set up using a Bluetooth device on this video collaboration bar.

[00:04:25] For now, let's take a look at what is inside this box as well. So the SP30T comes with a carry case, and it comes with a Bluetooth dongle. It comes with a USB-C cable. I'm going to move this to the side. So this USB C cable is meant to be used with this long cable that's, that came inside the box so that if you had to put this video bar in down on the end room of a conference room, you'd be able to do this cable run. I've even known customers that have used this long [00:05:00] cable run with the USB-C, and some others have used longer cables in order to satisfy their requirements. But essentially, what you've got here is this USB-C. You plug it into that end, and this will go on the back of the video bar.

[00:05:15] Okay. You've got an HDMI cable so that you can connect your video bar to your monitor, and that's just your standard HDMI. If you have a preference for some gold-plated very expensive monster cables or anything like that, go ahead, and knock yourself out. But you've got HDMI cables included in the box. Now let's also talk about this remote for a second.

[00:05:38] I highly advise you to get oriented with this remote it's really handy. It's kind, it's got a gyro built in so that you can point to the screen when you've got it connected and use it so that you can be, 10, 20, 30 feet away in a big conference room or as close as my screen. If you've got your monitor and your video bar [00:06:00] connected, maybe three feet away.

[00:06:01] It really helps as well. So I'm going to put this here, and let's talk a little bit about specs. It's, there are a couple of things I'll point out to you. Uh, Some highlights when we're talking about specs on here, you get a two-year warranty on the video collaboration bar, as well as a two year warranty on the speakerphone.

[00:06:19] Obviously, things like accessories that are cables, those don't come with a warranty for two years on it. You've also got a microphone coverage for 360 degrees. Now, one thing that I've found with most collaboration bars there are a few exceptions. But when you're talking about webcams or cameras, the microphones aren't the best, and that's why you have the SP30 included in the kit for Microsoft Teams.

[00:06:49] But you certainly can use other microphones if you wanted to, but you get, so you get two microphones built into this video collaboration bar. The microphone range on the [00:07:00] SP30T is about 10 feet. So if you've got this in a small room or a huddle space, that's where you're gonna get your best audio. This is really not intended for those large conference rooms.

[00:07:11] There are a few other solutions that are more appropriate for that, but this is really meant for that small space or that huddle room where you have maybe four or six people inside of it. On the SP30T, it is also branded EPOS. It's also a Sennheiser rebranded from the Sennheiser Days, now known as EPOS.

[00:07:31] The video bar is about 19 ounces and 550 grams. So it's got a little bit of weight, but not, it's not overly heavy at that Like I said, it comes with two years. You've got four gigabytes of RAM. It comes with a five-volt power supply. It only consumes 15 watts, so it's a very low-power device.

[00:07:51] On it, you've got a 4K camera using a Sony sensor. Now, if you know anything about Sony cameras are really good. This picture right here that you're [00:08:00] looking at me is a Sony. This picture over here is a Sony, and the pictures in here are going to come with Sony as well. Sony is known for having good sensors and good cameras, so you're getting good-quality hardware.

[00:08:12] You get also 1080p at 60 frames per second in terms of resolution. You get a zoom that's four times and is using digital, and it's also using a pan tilt zoom that's built-in. Now, there is a toggle mode inside of the 3T that allows you to do the automatic AI tracking. So if you're moving about in a room or you're just even left to right or back and forth, the AI will track your movement so that you stay in focus.

[00:08:43] Now, if you don't want that, you could disable that, but that's what you get built-in. So that's really cool that you get some of that built into the video bar. With the EPOS 3T, you have a codec that uses 264. H. 264 [00:09:00] is the standard codec that's inside of there. It will decode 264, MPEG1, MPEG2, H.263, 265. So you've got a couple of different flavors of that built in. So it's very robust in terms of its software capability. The AI is powered by EPOS, or what they refer to as Intelligent Picture framing. That will, that's the capability to allow you to track your movement so that you stay centered and focused if you're moving up. This is great if you're in a classroom type of setting and you have a professor or somebody that is doing presentations, and they do use a whiteboard or something like that or even just moving around in this small area I tend to move in my office here. Sometimes I get up out of my chair, I'm talking to customers. If you have the ability to do that on video, it just makes it more lifelike when you have the ability to move around instead of being planted dead center in a seat like I'm doing right now, talking to you. So those are some of the features worth mentioning.

[00:09:56] Some other noteworthy features that are part of the [00:10:00] 3T by EPOS are the wifi that's built into the unit and Bluetooth. The Bluetooth is running Bluetooth 5.0, and you have the ability to run the 2.4 as well as a 5G wifi capability if you want to connect wirelessly. That's a great thing to have if you don't have the ability to do cable runs because this thing is essentially a built-in Android computer that's inside of the EPOS unit. You get the ability to essentially go plug and play. And there is no need for a computer to be plugged into this.

[00:10:34] You just plug it in with either wifi or the LAN or Ethernet connection on the back, and you should be able to use it as a network endpoint. So the remote management of this endpoint is done through Microsoft Office 365. And within 365, there's a Teams management capability for devices. And in part two, I'll discuss more of that, but essentially all the functionality with regard to [00:11:00] remote management and updates, those are done on the Microsoft side of things.

[00:11:05] When it comes to hardware support, EPOS can support as well as Global Teck. We can provide you with support. One of the things that we do for all of our customers on all products we provide is provide world-class support. So if you want us to hold your hand and have the confidence that you have somebody there for you to guide you through installation, Global Teck is here for you.

[00:11:25] Now, a couple of other things that are worth mentioning on this is that it's got a wireless sharing technology that EPOS calls Miracast. It does have dual-screen support as well as touchscreen support. So you're covered either way with tons of different support options and different connectivity options, as well as wires and hardware that you can connect to it.

[00:11:49] In order to provision the EPOS Expand 3T, you'll want to be inside of Microsoft's admin center, and this is what allows [00:12:00] you to provision the device, enable it, give it names, permissions, and all of that. So the admin center is where you'd wanna be in order to do some of that. I'll cover that a little bit more in a separate video.

[00:12:12] One last thing that I wanna point out is that on this particular video bar, you do not see any kind of privacy screen, but you have some buttons on the top, and these are buttons that will allow you to essentially kick it into privacy mode. Either the microphone, and you can mute that here as well as the video being sent out. That will also send it into privacy mode. So once you hit that, there are some lights that will turn different colors, and they will light up red so that you know that you're not sending out images as well as the as well as the audio. You have the capability to also mute the audio within teams, right with the EPOS remote control, and you have the ability to turn it off. You have the ability to [00:13:00] disconnect and answer. So when you're getting a call through Microsoft Teams for this endpoint, you can answer as well as disconnect, as well as use this as a pointer within the screen. We'll cover that more in a separate video.

[00:13:15] The last thing you want, I want to point out here, is that you have the ability to turn the volume up and down that you're listening to through the remote control. And on the back of this video collaboration bar by EPOS, I'd want to go ahead and point out the different ports you have. You have your power or reset button.

[00:13:33] You've got the ability to add a micro SD card in here. Here's your Ethernet port. This would be your power supply. You have your HDMI going to your monitor. You have a USB port so that you can plug in devices via USB-A. And then you also have, so if you wanted to connect the keyboard here, you could. I've found that very helpful when setting it up, and I'll cover more of that in part two, but you can connect a [00:14:00] keyboard or use a keyboard with this, so that'd be really interesting to do. You also have the USB-C where that's where you would plug in the audio from the EPOS SP30, and there's a reset button in here. So if you had to essentially reset the whole thing, something went goofy or bad, it doesn't happen very often, but essentially your fail-safe and your reset are here.

[00:14:23] And then you have some exhaust to keep the thing running smoothly. You've got the ability to mount it on a standard tripod. So if you had to put this on a cart, a medical cart, a healthcare cart that's really popular these days, you have the ability to go ahead and screw that, into the standard camera tripod or some setup that uses the same type of setup that you would on a camera that you would put in a still position.

[00:14:51] So that is the EPOS Expand Vision 3T unboxing. And if you found this video helpful, don't forget to bump [00:15:00] the like button, as this video will be shown to more people that are looking for content like this. And that's been an unboxing of the EPOS Expand Vision 3T Video Collaboration Bar.