Using Network IP cameras with Teams Rooms

Since the early days of Teams Room solutions on both Windows and Android, peripherals devices such as cameras, microphones and speakers have been connected using USB2.0/3.0 standards. The future of AI-assisted work is in creating scalable and manageable room systems by connecting spaces equipped with multiple smart cameras and diverse audio devices using IP connectivity for efficient integration. With the release of PolyOS 4.4, this is now possible with Modular Room (MR), which is HP Poly’s strategy to meeting customer demands for rapid scalability and ease of management for Teams Rooms. This blog post will provide a comprehensive guide to setting up and configuring the Netgear ProAV line of switches for modular room deployments for Teams Rooms.

Why IP over USB?
​Using network cameras over USB cameras in Teams Rooms offers several benefits that enhance the overall meeting experience. Here are some key advantages:

	IP Connection	USB Connection
Cable Type	Cat5e/6/7	USB 2.x/3.x
Deployment Cost	Low	High. Often time USB extender is needed
Maintenance	Low	High. USB cable breaks easily when bent
Number of Devices supported	High (not limited by the number of physical ports on host)	Low ​Limited to physical host ports
Flexibility	Cabling readily available in various lengths	Cabling tends to be problematic at lengths longer than 3m

Overall, network cameras offer a more robust, scalable, and secure solution for Teams Rooms, providing high video quality with easier management, and greater flexibility in deployment.

​Poly Studio E70 and E60 camera support for IP connectivity
In the latest PolyOS 4.4 release, HP Poly supports connecting one Poly Studio E60 or E70 camera to a Poly G7500 LLN port or up to three Poly Studio E60 or E70 cameras to the Poly Studio G62 LLN port using a supported Ethernet switch. However, only one IP connected camera is officially supported in Teams provider mode at this time of this writing, but more is planned for future releases.

Note: Poly Studio G62 and Poly G7500 systems don't support mixing IP LLN and USB-connected cameras. To connect multiple cameras to the codec, note the following:

• Poly Studio G62 systems support connecting up to three IP LLN cameras using a supported Netgear switch.
• Zoom Rooms and Poly Video mode support up to three IP LLN cameras. Teams Rooms supports one IP LLN camera.
• Poly G7500 supports connecting one IP LLN camera only. To connect multiple cameras, use USB connectivity.
• Poly Studio E60 IP LLN connectivity is supported in Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms, and Poly Video Mode. Poly Studio E60 IP LLN connectivity is not supported in other provider modes. 

Which Network Switch to use for LLN
For connecting IP network cameras and other peripherals the codec's LLN, HP Poly supports the Netgear ProAV line of switches, specifically the M4250-9G1F-PoE+ (GSM4210PD) and M4250-26G4F-PoE+ (GSM4230P) models. These switches are chosen for their compact size, cost-effectiveness, and ability to support PTPv2 timestamping. This timestamping is crucial for maintaining synchronization in audio use cases, ensuring that audio and video signals remain in sync. These switches are trusted by AV integrators worldwide and provide a stable and reliable experience for IP-connected peripherals.

The Netgear switch configuration steps involve downloading the necessary files from Poly Lens, connecting a laptop to the switch, update the firmware and load the configuration files. This process ensures that the switch is set up with all the features and functions enabled to provide a stable and reliable experience for video and audio peripherals.

Step-by-Step guide
1. Download the latest supported firmware and configuration file from Poly Lens under the Manage->Software Version menu and search for "Modular Room Switch". Then download the zip file:

2. Unpack the zip file into any folder in the laptop and connect the laptop to the AV management network and connect the Netgear switch OOB (Out-of-Band) port to the same network.On the new Netgear switch that I had, the OOB port was set to DHCP so I simply obtained the IP address of the switch from the list of address leases on my DHCP server. Note that on some older firmware, the Netgear switch OOB port has a static IP of 192.168.0.239. If this is the case, set a static IP address on your computer for the ethernet interface of 192.168.0.200 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. Leave the default gateway blank. Open up a Command Prompt and make sure it can ping the IP of the switch at 192.168.0.239. 

3. Open a web browser and navigate to http://<IP Address of Netgear OOB>.  Type 'admin' in the Login Name field, leave the password field blank, and click AV UI Login. When prompted, change the password as desired. Re-login to the switch with the new password. You should be presented with the home page as shown below:

4. On the left menu, click Maintenance under the Configure section, within the "Configuration Management" section, click on the "Download Configuration" button to make a back-up copy of the existing config.

5. In the "Firmware Update" section, click in the middle of the box titled "Browse File", a file chooser window appears. Browse to the folder you extracted the files in step 2 and pick the file named M4250(L or H)-v13.0.4.19.stk, then click Upload within the webpage. This may take a few minutes to complete. Reboot the switch when upload has completed.

6. Login back to the switch after bootup using the "AV Login" button. ​On the left menu, click Maintenance under the Configuration section. In the Configuration Management section, look for the box labled "Restore" which has a "Browse File" and click within the blank space, this will open a file chooser window.  Browse to the folder where the files are that you extracted in step 2, and choose the file named 'Poly-MR-16.cfg' and then click the Upload button. Once the progress bar turns green and reaches 100%, click "Restore Now" in the pop-up window

7. On the top right corner of the page, click Reboot.  When asked if you want to save the configuration settings and are given the options of Cancel/No/Yes, choose No.

8. After a few minutes refresh the web browser window and login again to the switch and check the screen for the following things:

• In the Device Details section, the firmware version should be 13.0.4.19.
• In the same section, you should see a system name that begins with Poly-MR - if those match, then your switch is upgraded to the correct firmware level and has the appropriate configuration loaded, and you can proceed to connect the IP cameras.

Connecting the IP Cameras
Once the switch is configured, you can connect your peripherals to the powered ports on the switch. These include various peripherals, such as IP table microphones, IP ceiling microphones, E60 and E70 cameras. The switch can be paired with a G62 or X72, or an X52 built-in RJ-45 port which would require a USB to Ethernet adaptor for the corp network. 

Connect one end of an ethernet cable to port 9 on the switch, and the other end to the codec. We recommend port 9 (or port 26 on the large) as it is a non-powered port, so that you can use the left 8 (or 24) powered ports to connect your IP peripherals On a G62 or X72 system, connect to the second port that is not labeled POE, this is the leftmost of the 2 RJ-45 ports on the back right of the system.

Connect your IP cameras or other peripherals to any of the powered ports (ports 1-8, or 1-24 with the large).  If you have Dante peripherals you'd like to connect, you can also connect those at this time too.  The build & configuration steps you followed earlier pre-configured this switch to support Dante traffic with the appropriate treatment for a stable experience.

Below shows a line diagram of a sample IP camera setup:

Finally, we can pair the cameras and other IP peripherals to the codec. This is done the usual way via the device's Web Admin UI under the Device Management section. The screen capture below shows 2 IP Cameras paired to the system along with the touch panel and speaker/mic. Note: Do not connect the cameras via USB to the codec!

Conclusion
In today's fast-paced digital world, ensuring seamless connectivity and reliable performance for video and audio peripherals is crucial. The HP Poly Modular Room technology allows IP cameras and other network peripherals to be connected to Teams Room on Android. In this blogpost, we have provided a comprehensive guide to setting up and configuring the Netgear ProAV line of switches, specifically the M4250-9G1F-PoE+ (GSM4210PD) and M4250-26G4F-PoE+ (GSM4230P) models for a supported configuration.