Hybrid work is the new normal for the majority of businesses post-pandemic. Teams want the flexibility of being able to transition between the home and office. Business leaders love the productivity enhancements and cost-savings of hybrid work. With the right hybrid working strategy – everyone wins.
Of course, to truly enable the 83% of employees who want a hybrid work model, companies also need to ensure they’re investing in the right hybrid work vendors. Partnering with the right technology providers ensures companies can leverage all the benefits of hybrid work without the various risks of security issues, complexity, and expensive installations.
Here are some of the innovative vendors for UC in hybrid work worth watching in 2022.
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Zoom
Probably one of the biggest names in the world since the pandemic hit, Zoom became the go-to tool for collaboration and communication in 2020 for many brands. Since then, Zoom has heightened its investment into security features to keep hybrid workers secure and announced a range of new tools to support the modern workforce.
During Zoomtopia 2021, Zoom announced the arrival of a host of exciting innovations. New releases range from new app marketplaces, where companies can access more native integrations with crucial tools, to the intriguing “Video Engagement Centre”. The “VEC” from Zoom will allow organisations to connect customers with experts via video.
Other recent updates include the arrival of Zoom whiteboard for asynchronous and real-time collaboration and partnerships with Oculus on new “VR” meeting rooms enabled via Zoom and Facebook Horizon Workrooms.
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Cisco
Cisco has long stood as an innovator in the digital landscape, providing modern teams with access to everything from artificial intelligence to sentiment analysis. It’s little wonder the company has also committed to innovating for the hybrid workforce.
Cisco’s comprehensive Webex environment offers easy access to a host of meeting and collaboration tools, organized into an all-in-one ecosystem for team productivity. At the same time, Cisco also offers access to a range of valuable hardware tools for the hybrid workplace. For home workers, the desk series offers convenient plug-and-play technology for smaller spaces.
The Webex Board Series, on the other hand, offers convenient collaborative whiteboarding for disconnected home and office-based teams.
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Neat
Speaking of immersive hardware, Neat is working hard to ensure everyone has access to the video meeting and collaboration technology they need for the new age of work. Tools like the Neat Bar for plug-and-play video, audio, and communications ensures teams can quickly set up ad-hoc meetings in a hybrid working environment.
Neat’s ever-increasing range of hardware solutions are all intended for plug-and-play simplicity, so there’s no annoying provisioning required. You’ll also get a consistent experience with integrations through Zoom Rooms, regardless of where people are hosting or attending a meeting.
There’s even access to solutions like the Neat Board for whiteboarding and brainstorming ideas in a collaborative landscape.
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RingCentral
A market-leader in all-things communication, RingCentral is helping companies make the transition to hybrid work with simple, cloud-based technology. The company announced updates to its UCaaS ecosystem during 2021 to enable better hybrid work, including things like new dynamic end-to-end encryption for video conferencing, for better remote conversations.
RingCentral’s MVP solution also helps to minimise the number of apps teams need to navigate in a digital landscape. You can use “Add-ins”, a new release from RingCentral to bring various third-party business apps into your RingCentral interface.
RingCentral’s app gallery includes more than 250 apps already. There’s even support for companies who want to link their RingCentral investment with Microsoft Teams. Bonus features for MVP like AI-enhanced video conversations make RingCentral a clear innovator in its field.
