Why quotes vary so much
Ask three integrators to price a meeting room and you can get three very different numbers. That's because “a video-conferencing room” can mean anything from a display and a USB camera to a fully-integrated, drilled-in boardroom with bespoke control systems. Understanding the tiers makes the numbers make sense.
The rough price bands
As a 2026 guide for the New Zealand market:
- BYOD room (bring your own device) — a certified display and stand where you connect your own laptop. Entry level, lowest cost.
- Pro room — adds a certified conferencing bar or camera and one-touch join so you walk in and start. Mid-range.
- Boardroom — a large or dual display, separate camera and audio, and a credenza. Higher end.
- Fixed enterprise fit-out — drilled-in, custom-integrated rooms with bespoke control commonly run NZ$18,000–50,000+ per room once installation and integration are counted.
Relocatable, productised rooms typically land well below a custom fit-out for an equivalent experience, because they skip the construction, custom programming and make-good costs.
The costs people forget
- Installation and integration — professional AV labour is commonly billed at around NZ$75–150+ per hour, and complex installs add up quickly.
- Ongoing support and maintenance — budget 10–20% of system cost per year for a bought system.
- Make-good — at lease end a drilled-in room often has to be removed and the space reinstated, an expense rarely in the original quote.
- Relocation or replacement — moving a fixed system usually means buying again; a relocatable system is simply moved.
Buy, or rent and forget
Because the hidden costs are mostly about ownership and permanence, many New Zealand businesses now compare buying outright against renting a fully-managed, relocatable room — where installation, support, insurance and relocation are all in one monthly figure. For a growing or leased business, the relocatable route is usually both cheaper to start and far cheaper when you eventually move.
The honest answer to “what does it cost?” is: far less than a $20,000–50,000 fixed fit-out if you choose a productised, relocatable system — and you can see both the rent and buy numbers side by side before you commit.