How to Design a Conference Room AV System: Step-by-Step

A well-designed conference room AV system is invisible, it works first time, every time, and nobody in the room has to think about it. A poorly designed one generates IT support tickets, shortens meetings, and creates lasting frustration. This guide walks through the complete design process, from measuring the room to commissioning the final system, with specific guidance on where to spend and where to save.

Step 1: Define the room’s purpose and user profile

Before specifying any equipment, answer these questions:

• What is the primary use? Internal meetings only, client-facing presentations, video calls, all three?
• How many people use it? Maximum occupancy drives display size and audio coverage.
• Is video conferencing the primary function? If yes, this changes the camera, microphone and display priorities.
• What platform do users run? Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or platform-agnostic (BYOD)?
• Is content sharing from personal devices required? This determines whether you need wireless presentation capability.

Answering these questions before touching specifications prevents over-engineering (expensive) and under-engineering (frustrating).

Step 2: Size the display

The standard formula: display diagonal in inches = room viewing distance in feet × 8. For a room where the furthest viewer sits 12 feet from the screen, the minimum display size is 96 inches. In practice, most IT teams round to the nearest standard size (86″ or 98″).

Secondary display considerations:

• Dual displays, for video conferencing rooms, a second display shows the remote participants while the primary shows content. Strongly recommended for rooms used heavily for video calls.
• Touchscreen vs standard, interactive flat panels (IFPs) add whiteboarding capability but cost 30-50% more than standard displays. Worth it for creative or workshop spaces; overkill for standard meeting rooms.
• Commercial panel only, never specify consumer TVs for rooms used more than 4 hours per day. See our commercial displays guide.

Step 3: Specify the audio system

Audio is the element most frequently under-specified. Poor audio quality, echo, dropout, clipping, is the most common complaint in post-installation reviews. Options by room size:

• Small rooms (2-4 people), all-in-one conferencing bar (Logitech Rally Bar Mini, Poly Studio, Neat Bar). Handles camera and audio in a single unit. Simple, reliable, cost-effective.
• Medium rooms (6-10 people), conferencing bar or tabletop speakerphone (Jabra PanaCast 50, Poly Sync 60). For rooms over 7m long, ceiling microphones provide better coverage.
• Large rooms (12+ people), ceiling microphone array (Shure MXA910, Biamp TesiraFORTE, QSC Q-SYS) with a separate DSP processor. Do not attempt to cover a large boardroom with a tabletop speakerphone.

Acoustic treatment matters. Hard surfaces (glass, concrete, wood) create reverberation that makes remote participants struggle to understand speech. Basic acoustic panels on parallel walls significantly improve call quality, budget for these in large rooms.

Step 4: Select the camera

Camera selection depends on room size and whether you want auto-framing:

• Small rooms, wide-angle (120°+) USB camera built into a conferencing bar, or standalone wide-angle (Logitech Rally, Poly Studio E2)
• Medium rooms, PTZ camera (Logitech Rally Camera, Jabra PanaCast 20) or wide-angle bar with AI auto-framing
• Large rooms, PTZ camera with presenter tracking (Poly Eagle Eye Director, Sony SRG series, PTZOptics) placed at the far end of the table

Step 5: Connectivity and signal distribution

Define how signals get from sources to displays. Options:

• Simple HDMI direct, fine for single-display rooms with one or two sources
• HDMI matrix switcher, multiple sources to multiple displays, selected by control system or manual buttons
• Wireless presentation, Barco ClickShare, BenQ InstaShow, Mersive Solstice for BYOD content sharing without cables
• AV over IP, appropriate when the same sources need to reach many rooms or when scaling across a building

For most meeting rooms, a simple HDMI switcher or wireless presentation system is sufficient. AV over IP is a building-level decision, not a per-room one.

Step 6: Control system

Decide whether you need a dedicated AV control system. For small and medium rooms running Teams or Zoom appliances (Rally Bar, Neat Bar, etc.), the appliance itself provides the control interface and no additional system is needed.

A separate AV control system (Crestron, Extron, QSC) earns its cost when:

• The room has multiple input sources that users switch between
• One-touch “start meeting” needs to control display, camera, blinds and lighting simultaneously
• Centralised monitoring across 20+ rooms is required

See our AV control systems buyer’s guide for full decision criteria.

Step 7: Networking and power

Ensure the room has:

• At least one wired network port per AV device (camera, control processor, displays if network-managed)
• PoE ports for IP cameras and room scheduling panels
• Sufficient power outlets at the table for laptop charging (a frequent oversight)
• UPS protection for control processors in rooms where mid-meeting power failures are unacceptable

Step 8: User acceptance testing

Before signing off the installation, run a structured UAT with real users, not the AV integrator:

• Join a Teams/Zoom call from the room and verify remote participants can see and hear clearly
• Connect a laptop via HDMI and wireless, both should work first time without configuration
• Verify camera auto-framing tracks correctly when users move
• Verify one-touch room start works reliably
• Check that every function in the control system works as documented

Issues found during UAT cost much less to fix than issues found after handover.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Under-specifying audio in large rooms, always check microphone coverage maps
• Installing consumer TVs, false economy over a 5-year horizon
• Forgetting wireless presentation, BYOD is the norm, not the exception
• Over-engineering small rooms with complex control systems they do not need
• Not planning cable management, a room that looks great but has visible cable runs creates maintenance problems