BOSE Videobar VB1 All In One USB Conferencing System User Guide
- June 3, 2024
- Bose
Table of Contents
- BOSE Videobar VB1 All In One USB Conferencing System
- HARDWARE OVERVIEW
- SOFTWARE SUITE OVERVIEW
- VERSION 1.2 NEW FEATURES
- MANUALLY ADD DEVICES BY IP ADDRESS
- ADD MONITORING COLUMNS TO THE DEVICE LIST
- THIRD-PARTY MONITORING VIA REST API
- REVERBERANT ROOM COMPENSATION
- NEW FEATURES OVERVIEW
- References
- Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
- Download This Manual (PDF format)
BOSE Videobar VB1 All In One USB Conferencing System
HARDWARE OVERVIEW
Welcome to the Bose Videobar™ VB1. It is an all-in-one USB conferencing device
that incorporates an onboard camera, microphones, loudspeakers, amplifier,
processor, and network card – all inside this slim device. 
To gain optimal functionality, the Bose Videobar VB1 comes with a best-in- class suite of software with each application serving a specific purpose. Learn about the software applications on the next page.
SOFTWARE SUITE OVERVIEW
| BOSE WORK CONFIGURATION| BOSE WORK CONFIGURATION WEB
UI| BOSE WORK MOBILE APP| BOSE WORK MANAGEMENT
---|---|---|---|---
| | |
Description
|
Provides user control of the camera and audio settings via the homepage and password-protected configuration settings via the Administration tab
| Provides administrators remote management of a single Bose Videobar™ VB1|
Provides an end usercontrol over camera position presets, autoframing,
microphone mute, volume, and Bluetooth connectivity| Provides enterprise-
level remote management and system admin access to multiple Videobar™ VB1
devices installed on a local network.
Intended users| System admins and end users| System admins| End users| System
admins
Operating system| Windows and MacOS| Web browser| iOS and Android| Windows
Download location| PRO.BOSE.COM/VB1|
PRO.BOSE.COM/VB1| App Store℠ or Google Play™|
PRO.BOSE.COM
Connection method| USB| Wired and wireless network| Bluetooth LE| Wired and
wireless network
Remote management| No| Yes| No| Yes
Firmware updates| One device at a time| One device at a time| No| Single-
device or multiple-device updates
Profile upload and download| One device at a time| One device at a time| No|
Single-device download, with multiple-device upload
VERSION 1.2 NEW FEATURES
Bose is pleased to announce our Version 1.2 new features, enhancing the Bose Videobar™ VB1 experience.
The Bose Work Configuration App major feature upgrades:
- External control and monitoring via REST API integration
- Reverberant Room Compensation
The Bose Work Management App sees major feature upgrades:
- Add devices via IP address or IP address range
- Additional monitoring data columns in the main device list
- Shared new features with Bose Work Configuration App
- External control and monitoring via REST API integration
- Reverberant Room Compensation
Our partnership with Microsoft has brought new integrations for Microsoft
Teams through:
Anonymous people-counting Full Teams Telemetry support
The Bose Videobar VB1 is now fully Zoom Certified!
This allows full peripheral recognition within Zoom Rooms and a host of other
features.
MANUALLY ADD DEVICES BY IP ADDRESS
New Feature Explained
Bose Work Management has a new feature that lets you manually add Videobar™
VB1 devices via IP address. Users can easily type in one or multiple IP
addresses into the text field or by uploading a CSV file containing the list
of IP addresses.
Purpose
This allows Videobar™ VB1s to be added to a network infrastructure without the
need to broadcast-scan the network via Multicast Device Discovery (mDNS).
Benefits
IT integrators installing Bose Videobar™ VB1s can manually add them without
having to use the app’s automatic discovery tool.
IT administrators can assign and provide specific IP addresses to the
equipment installer prior to onsite commission. The installer can then set up
the Videobar VB1s IP address assignments while offsite using Bose Work
Management or Bose Work Configuration. During system commission, the installer
can upload the addresses to the local version of Bose Work Management to be
used by the IT administrators without scanning the network.
How to configure
Open Bose Work Management. From the home screen, click on the + Add New
Devices button at the top of the window.
A pop-up window will appear. Choose one of the following:
Enter the IP addresses in the larger field at the top of the window. Use one
line per IP address or per range of IP addresses (click the “i” icon in the
upper-right corner to view the acceptable formats of IP addresses to enter
here).
Drag and drop a file containing the IP addresses over the smaller field at the
bottom of the window. The acceptable file formats are CSV, XLS, XLSX, or XLSM.
After entering the IP addresses of all desired VB1s, do one of the following:
Click Scan for Devices to scan the network for VB1s with those IP addresses.
When the network connection of each VB1 is scanned, it will appear in the
Device List (VB1s that are not online will not appear in the list). You may
then rescan or add discovered VB1s to the Device List.
Click Add Devices to add VB1s with those IP addresses to the device list
without scanning the network for them. The new VB1s will be added to the
Device List whether they are online or offline.
Click Cancel to exit the process without adding any VB1s.
ADD MONITORING COLUMNS TO THE DEVICE LIST
New Feature Explained
A second new Bose Work Management feature is expanding the available
monitoring and alert statuses within the Device List. Users can now view each
Bose Videobar™ VB1’s active state of the Bluetooth connection, USB connection,
camera, audio, call status, and more.
Purpose
Gain more live data to better monitor and service your Bose Videobar™ VB1s.
Benefits
IT administrators and support technicians can remotely manage and check the
primary functions of all Videobar VB1s on their network. This provides faster
and more accurate support by indicating how the user has connected to the
device and its active states.
As an example, when a room meeting is in session, the computer’s USB
connection has been inadvertently unplugged from the Bose Videobar VB1. The
remote technician can real-time view the disconnection via Bose Work
Management. Having this information, they can instruct the in-room user to
reconnect the USB cable and restore connection without the need to be onsite.
How to configure
The Device List enables you to monitor the status of all Videobar™ VB1s on the
network. You can add or remove several optional columns to customize the
Device List.
Choose which information is made visible by clicking on the Columns button.
| Default and always visible | Optional | Optional: Added in Version 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| Device name | Building | Capacity |
| Network status | Floor | Call status |
| IP address | Room | USB connection |
| Firmware | MAC address | Device type |
| Profile | Audio state | |
| Bluetooth state | ||
| Camera state |
From the dropdown menu, select/deselect a checkbox to add/remove that column
to/from the Device List. You can select Show All to select all columns. As you
click on each checkbox, the chosen selections will populate in the Device
List.
Please note: You cannot remove the columns for Device Name, Network, IP
Address, and Firmware.
THIRD-PARTY MONITORING VIA REST API
New Feature Explained
REST API support allows third-party room control systems, such as Crestron and
Control4, to connect and communicate with the Bose Videobar™ VB1. REST API is
an industry-standard programming language that provides a standardized method
for control and monitoring.
Purpose
Many businesses utilize room control systems for their conferencing spaces.
The room control system communicates to all the room devices and controls
them. When REST API is enabled, the Bose Videobar ™ VB1 can seamlessly
interface with most third-party room control systems.
Benefits
Leveraging a room control system simplifies the user experience by providing a
single interface to control all room devices from a touchscreen or mobile
device. The Bose Videobar™ VB1 can be seamlessly controlled by the room
control system and its interface can be customized to the specific user needs.
Unused features can be hidden to remove complexity.
How to configure
Connect to the Bose Videobar™ VB1 using the Bose Work Configuration Utility.
Sign into the Administration tab, select the Network tab, choose the API tab,
and enable the API toggle.
Click the REST API Documentation (Web UI) hyperlink.
This will open the Swagger user interface for the REST API integration in the
Bose Videobar VB1. In short, this means that all of the commands and responses
integrated into the VB1 are viewable within the browser.
On the next page, steps to test the API are provided. For instance, the VB1’s
mute can be toggled on and off so its control can be verified through the
Swagger UI.
How to test functionality
Open the Bose Work Configuration app to the API tab. Make sure the username
and password are visible.
Scroll down to the Put command row and expand it.
Select the Lock icon and authenticate your browser session using the credentials found in the Bose Work Configuration app.
How to test functionality
Select the Try it out button.
Type the following command into the data field {“2”:”1”}
This code uses command ID #2 which is the mute functionality, and sets it to
True or in this case the number 1.
Click the Execute button to see the response code and the VB1’s red mute icon
turn on.
REVERBERANT ROOM COMPENSATION
New Feature Explained
Room Compensation is a setting that will increase the VB1’s ability to provide
speech intelligibility in reverberant spaces. This means that if a room is
particularly “echo-ey” the VB1 can have this setting enabled to help the
participants of that meeting space be understood more clearly on the far side
of the call.
Purpose
Current advancements in Bose DSP technology have allowed the user to customize
conferencing products to a greater degree. This means that we can now provide
an option to customers placing Bose conferencing products in acoustically
challenging environments and still maintain the great sound they expect from
Bose.
Benefits
The reverberant room compensation setting uses a high-pass filter to remove
the negative effects of a reverberant space while maintaining intelligibility
of the meeting participants’ voices.
How to configure
After logging into Bose Work Configuration administration section, select the
Audio page from the sidebar. Click on the Controls tab.
Click the Room Compensation toggle to enable.
NEW FEATURES OVERVIEW
Bose has achieved fast market adoption within the unified communications and
video conferencing markets. This success can be attributed to our network of
strategic partnerships. It is a rich ecosystem of UC providers, technology
partners, and collaboration specialists. With these partners, Bose can deliver
complete collaboration solutions with brands that you know and trust.
Together, we ensure our combined solutions are certified and compatible with
the industry’s most popular UC environments that offer superior user
experiences wherever you are.
Our Microsoft Teams Certified solutions offer fully tested and verified
conferencing experiences. They require less design time, deploy reliably, and
operate easier with best-in-class clear communication.
This means Microsoft customers have the added assurance that our certified
solutions provide a great technology experience.
The new V1.2 features include full Microsoft Teams telemetry device management
and anonymous people-counting.
Bose works closely with Zoom to fully validate and test our solutions to
ensure they deliver an optimized and easily repeatable conferencing
experience.
People can hear more, see more, understand more — and work better.
The Bose Videobar™ VB1 is now fully Zoom Room certified! It meets the quality
standards and connectivity requirements to effectively support Zoom
conferencing spaces.
This means the VB1 can be added and recognized by a Zoom Room installation.
LEARN MORE AT PRO.BOSE.COM