Jabra has introduced Jabra Reach, a single-cable BYOD extension solution designed to help businesses deploy and scale meeting room video installations more efficiently and consistently, regardless of size. This news is accompanied by the announcement of new firmware functionalities for the Jabra PanaCast portfolio, designed to increase the customization, control and management capabilities of the video bars.
BYOD model: scale without adding complexity
As organizations extend Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) video collaboration to more spaces to support hybrid work, delivering the same user experience from room to room is becoming increasingly complex.
The variety of cables, adapters and configurations can lead to inconsistent installations, increase the risk of connection problems and add management burden for IT and AV teams.
In this context, Jabra Reach was born, a solution that responds to these challenges by replacing fragmented configurations, based on several cables, with a single connection for video, audio, USB and, optionally, power. Now, users simply connect their laptop via USB-C to access the display, camera, microphones and speakers in the room.
Based on HDBaseT technology, Jabra Reach extends this connection up to 100 meters, facilitating homogeneous experiences in rooms of different sizes. This enables installation teams to perform faster, more orderly deployments, with fewer potential points of failure, and simplifies the replication of large-scale installations.
“Walking into a room and plugging in your own laptop should be the easiest thing in the world, but most of the time it’s not. You have the wrong cable, the wrong connector, a signal loss or a table full of adapters,” says Holger Reisinger, senior vice president of Jabra’s video business unit. “Jabra Reach solves this problem from the infrastructure itself. Users have a single cable to connect, compatible with any video bar or room system, without modifying the operation of the existing configuration. Thus, the connection is reliable and easy to replicate in all rooms.”
Flexible mounting options allow for neat, discreet installations, both on the table and behind the display. Plus, hidden ports and secured cables create a tamper-proof setup. Optional power via USB-C, up to 100 W, also allows you to keep your laptop charged through the same connection.
Jabra Reach can be managed through Jabra Plus Management, providing centralized visibility and control so IT teams can configure, monitor and support meeting rooms from a single platform. Designed to work with all Jabra room video solutions, Jabra Reach helps organizations maximize the value of their current meeting room investments.
New capabilities for the Jabra PanaCast portfolio
Together with Jabra Reach, the company expands the Jabra PanaCast portfolio through firmware updates. These add new functionality to Jabra’s current video solutions, offering greater visibility, customization options and large-scale device management.
Firmware updates include four improvements:
• People Count: Gives organizations greater visibility into room occupancy and usage.
• Custom Wallpaper: allows you to personalize meeting room screens with your brand image and company information.
• Web UI over USB: Provides device configuration and management from the browser over USB.
• CLI functionality: Enables IT teams and AV integrators to deploy and manage devices more efficiently and at scale.
Firmware updates will be available for the entire Jabra PanaCast portfolio before the end of the year.
Jabra Reach Key Features
• BYOD extension using a single cable: A USB-C connection provides access to video, audio and peripherals in the room, without the need for multiple cables and adapters.
• Designed for scalable deployments: Allows flexible installations in various room sizes and meeting environments.
• Driver-free plug-and-play experience: Users can start using the video bar directly by connecting their laptop, without the need to install additional drivers.
• Designed for professional audiovisual environments: HDBaseT technology delivers reliable performance and consistent experiences across rooms and locations.
• Centralized management: Jabra Plus provides visibility, monitoring and control of devices in compatible Jabra video deployments.
• Optional laptop charging: Supports USB-C power up to 100W.
• Neat installation: Flexible mounting options, hidden ports, and secured cables help create professional, clutter-free setups.
Major firmware improvements for the Jabra PanaCast portfolio
• People Count: information about the use of the rooms.
• Custom Wallpaper: Custom wallpapers for meeting rooms
• Web UI over USB: device configuration and management from the browser.
• CLI functionality: large-scale device deployment, integration and management.
