8 Innovative UC in Hybrid Work Vendors to Watch in 2022

Vendors With their eye on the future of hybrid work

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Published: January 21, 2022

Rebekah Carter - Writer

Rebekah Carter

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.

  1. 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.  

  1. 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.

  1. 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. 

  1. 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.

  1. Poly

Poly is one of the market-leading AV hardware providers in the current hybrid meeting space. With state-of-the-art plug-and-play technology, Poly ensures companies can easily access all the audio and video clarity they need for seamless meetings. No matter where your staff is, they can access convenient technology for video and audio conferencing in seconds.

Poly’s devices are designed to work with the leading meeting and collaboration tools on the market, so you can easily set up the perfect meeting space in no time. There’s also a host of different tools to choose from depending on how and where you get work done. 

Most of Poly’s devices also come packed with intelligent bonus features, like automatic camera framing and noise-blocking technology so that you can work more confidently anywhere.

  1. Avaya

Avaya’s transition into a flexible and cloud-focused solution provider has been astronomical in the last couple of years. The company now offers a wide range of flexible solutions for communication and collaboration in the modern world. Avaya Spaces, for instance, provides teams with a workstream collaboration platform enabling advanced UC experiences on any device.

The Avaya Spaces solution can connect with existing technology in your Avaya portfolio, such as the OneCloud CPaaS solution. Additionally, Spaces is constantly updating with new features, like enhanced calling quality for both inside and outside the office, and API access for creating seamless team workflows. 

Avaya even introduced a range of meeting enhancements for Avaya Spaces recently, which include AI tools to make meetings more engaging and reduce fatigue. 

  1. Microsoft

Microsoft has become the go-to solution for hybrid and remote working opportunities in the last year or so. Hundreds of millions of employees are using Microsoft Teams to stay connected with their colleagues, whether they’re working remotely, or on the field.

Microsoft offers extensive integration with the productivity tools teams already use, as well as access to a host of certified hardware partnerships for creating hybrid meeting rooms. The company is also one of the market leaders experimenting with things like virtual assistants in the office (with Cortana) and extended reality meetings. 

Who knows? The future of hybrid work with Microsoft could even involve using tools like the HoloLens to create mixed-reality experiences, with holographic representations of employees to bring distributed teams together.

  1. Theta lake

Finally, Theta lake takes a unique approach to the concept of innovation and hybrid work by providing teams with access to the security systems they need for more private conversations. Theta lake has invested extensive time and money into building proactive security solutions for hybrid workforces as they try to navigate compliance in the new workplace.

Integrations with tools like Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex ensure companies can continue to leverage the security and privacy solutions they need when their employees are working in distributed locations all over the world. 

 

 

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