Google is now providing a lower-cost alternative video conferencing system for companies in the form of Chromebox for meetings.

According to Google's official blog, Chromebox for meetings provides an instant meeting room which is easy, simple and fast to put up. The good news is, even those without Chromebox for meetings can join the video conference provided that they have a Gmail account.

Caesar Sengupta, VP of product management for Chromebooks at Google sees a big market in the creation of more affordable and simpler video conferencing systems that meet the needs of the corporate world.

"Many companies try to deal with [the challenge of audio conferencing] by investing in video conferencing systems," he told Information Week. "But these are typically expensive, complicated to set up, and require changes in the room. ... Very few people in a company actually get access to these systems."

The makers of the new video conferencing system have collaborated with Asus, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard to create the system, says Venture Beat.

According to Information Week, Chromebox for meetings has been tested by several companies including Brady, Costco, CBC, Eventbrite, Lytro, oDesk, Gilt, Premier Foods, Softbank, Woolworths, the State of Wyoming, and Yelp, gaining positive reviews.

Chromebox for meetings is made up of the Chromebox, an HD camera, a microphone & speaker and a remote control. The Chromebox, which runs an Intel i7 chip, projects images onscreen alongside a meeting schedule, says Venture Beat. The meeting schedule keeps the attendees informed, indicating when the meeting is about to end.

The system's HD Camera allows for Full HD 1080p (up to 1920 x 1080 pixels), says Chromebox for Meeting's website. The device automatically switches resolution based on available bandwidth and corrects low-light.

The microphone & speaker has built in DSP for speech clarity and has mute, end call and volume buttons. The remote control has several helpful buttons on the front side and a QWERTY keypad on the other side.

Chromebox for meetings sells for $999, inclusive of one year management and support priced at $250. Buyers would have to pay the $250 annual fee in the succeeding years.