Solstice Conferencing Overview
Solstice Conferencing is the software-based capability to wirelessly connect the Solstice content sharing and collaboration space, as well as audio and video devices connected to the Solstice Pod, to a video conferencing service running on a meeting host's laptop. This adds rich, multi-participant Solstice content sharing to video conferencing and delivers a better meeting experience between onsite and remote users. The Room Camera + Mic section of the Mersive Solstice app for Windows and macOS pairs Solstice with room audio/video devices to delivers the convenience of a traditional video room system with the flexibility to use the meeting host's preferred video conferencing service.
Watch Solstice with conferencing overview video
You can use Solstice with most laptop-based conferencing apps to add meeting support for remote attendees in Solstice-enabled rooms. Solstice Conferencing can be enabled on Gen3 Solstice Pods running Solstice version 5.0 and higher. A current Solstice Subscription is required to use Solstice Conference with Pods running Solstice 5.4 or earlier.
Key Capabilities
- Leverages video conferencing applications running on local users’ laptops.
- Enables meeting hosts to wirelessly connect to plug-and-play USB devices attached to the Pod to share room audio/video in the web conference.
- Uses integrated room and personal calendars to support quick starts for scheduled video conferences.
- Allows the meeting host to share the full in-room display to the video conference so remote users can see everything happening on the display, including multi-source content sharing, markup, and more.
System Requirements
- Gen3 Solstice Pod running Solstice version 5.0 or higher (latest Solstice version recommended), connected to network via Ethernet
- Current Solstice Subscription for Solstice Pods running Solstice versions 5.4 and earlier
- Meeting host laptop (Windows or macOS; recommended specs below)
- Latest version of the Mersive Solstice app with the corresponding version of the Solstice Conference drivers installed (required for meeting host)
- Third-party video conferencing application for meeting host and remote users (not required for other on-site meeting participants)
-
- USB room camera and/or audio devices (optional) -
- Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft 365, or Google Workspace room calendars integrated with Solstice Pod (optional)
Meeting Host Laptop Specs
Solstice Conferencing capabilities are supported on laptop devices that meet the following recommendations. Meeting host laptops that do not meet the required minimum specs are not supported. Other on-site meeting participants can wirelessly share content to the Solstice display using the Mersive Solstice app installed on their laptops or mobile devices. Solstice Conferencing is not supported on mobile devices.
Using the Mersive Solstice app only for wireless content sharing, control, and markup does not require the device to meet the minimum specs listed below. Learn more about the
Hardware Minimums and Recommendations for Meeting Host Laptops
Solstice Conferencing on Windows
|
Spec |
Recommended |
Required |
|---|---|---|
|
Operating System |
Windows 10/11 |
Windows 10 version 1903 or later |
|
Hardware |
Intel i7 quad core processor (8th generation or later) @ 2.4 GHz 16GB memory |
Intel i5 quad core processor (6th generation or later) @ 1.6GHz 8GB memory |
|
Support Note |
CPU priority management in version 5.5.2 and higher of the Mersive Solstice app for Windows may support Solstice Conference on some devices with less than a quad-core processor and 8 GB of memory. |
|
To check your Windows laptop specs, open Command Prompt and enter the dxdiag command.
Solstice Conferencing on macOS
|
Spec |
Recommended |
Required |
|---|---|---|
|
Operating System |
macOS Monterey 12.3–12.6 |
Solstice 6 app - macOS Monterey 12.3 or later Solstice 5.5.2 and earlier apps - macOS Big Sur 11.X or later |
|
Hardware |
Quad-Core i7 (8th generation or later) @ 2.4 GHz |
Intel i5 quad core processor (8th generation or later) @ 1.2 GHz 8GB memory |
|
Support Notes |
- Video conferences with Solstice are supported on Mac M1 and M2 devices running macOS Ventura 13.X. - Due to a compatibility issue with virtual cameras, Mac laptops with Intel processors running macOS Ventura 13.X are not currently supported for video conferences with Solstice. - Macbook Air 2021 laptops and newer can be used for video conferences with Solstice; older Macbook Air laptops are not supported. |
|
Supported Conferencing Services
The table below lists the video conferencing (VTC) services Mersive recommends, which are regularly tested on Windows and macOS devices. Full support indicates Mersive has validated the VTC experience with Solstice functionality in the dedicated video conferencing service app. In some cases, the browser-based version of a video conferencing service may offer better functionality. For best results:
- Check that your video conferencing app is updated to the latest version.
- Avoid running video conferences with Solstice in power savings or low power mode. If possible, the meeting host laptop should be plugged in to external power and running in a high performance mode.
- Don't run video conferences as virtual applications and/or in a VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure). This can cause unpredictable results and is not supported by Mersive.
- If using a 4K laptop, scale screen resolution down to 1080p when connecting to a video conference with Solstice.
|
Recommended VTC Services |
Windows |
macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom |
Full support |
Full support |
|
Microsoft Teams |
Full support |
Browser-based version |
|
Google Meet |
Full support |
Full support |
If your preferred video conference service is not listed:
- Try your preferred video conferencing app.
Many other video conferencing app versions have been found to work with various versions of Solstice.
- Try the browser-based version of your preferred video conferencing service.
Using the web-based version of a video conferencing service (such as teams.microsoft.com) sometimes avoids issues with sharing and connecting to Solstice room devices experienced in downloaded Windows or macOS apps. Past testing has found this for versions of Microsoft Teams, WebEx, Blue Jeans, Chime, RingCentral, and Slack, particularly on macOS.
Supported web browsers for browser-based video conferencing services are Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari.
In some browser-based video conferencing services, the Solstice display may be labeled as the Solstice Pod name.
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