The actual webcam is a plastic ball, which you attach to the heavy weighted base either directly or via the tall plastic stem. With the stem attached, the BCC950 ConferenceCam and it has a 78-degree field of view, plus 180-degree video pan, tilt, and zoom, so you can gather a small group around a table.
The small, black remote features a glossy plastic front panel, and a rubberized rear panel that wraps over to the bottom front edge. The remote lets you control pan, tilt, and zoom, as well as adjust volume, mute, and answer or end phone calls. The rubber buttons are large and easy to find, even with the lights dimmed, although there’s no backlight.
The base is particularly well designed. It’s angled upward at approximately 40 degrees, which makes it easy to access the controls, and lets the speaker project properly into the room. On the left is a six-way control pad, with direction and zoom keys. Call Answer and End buttons sit in the center, while the right side features a mute button and volume rocker switch. All of the buttons are rubber, and click silently when you press them, which means you can make adjustments without alerting the other party.
According to Logitech, the BCC950 is compatible with Adobe Connect, Avaya, Cisco WebEex, Citrix GoToMeeting, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Office365, Vidyo, and Skype; we tested with Skype HD.
Logitech webcams typically perform very well, and the BCC950 is no exception. The Carl Zeiss lens features continuous autofocus and handles various lighting conditions well, and live video looks surprisingly balanced and sharp in Skype HD. Caller voices are quite loud through the base speaker as well.
Touch the movement keys, and the BCC950 cam will move in short steps in the indicated direction, either left or right, or up and down. Press and hold a direction button, and after half a second, the cam will move smoothly and quickly to the end of its travel. Since the remote and the base contain an identical set of controls, you don’t have to reach for the base when the remote is nearby. And if someone else wants to adjust the webcam, they can do so without figuring out who has the remote. It’s a really flexible setup.
Overall the Logitech BCC950 ConferenceCam is a perfect webcam for both small business and corporate and enterprise use and really gives a professional image when embracing technology to stay at your desk but be virtually 500 miles away.
