The workplace has changed on a foundational level.
Today’s modern team doesn’t need to be located in the same room (or building) to be productive. The age of the hybrid, flexible, and remote worker has finally arrived. In this new landscape, companies are downsizing their physical real-estate, reworking their employment strategy, and making significant changes to the way teams will be connecting in the years to come.
One of the most significant environments facing a massive change in the age of hybrid work, is the meeting room. Now that around 74% of the workforce wants to continue working from home for at least 2 days per week following the pandemic, the hybrid workforce appears to be the design of the future.
As such, meetings need to be equipped to empower both remote and in-office staff at the same time. Let’s take a look at some of the vendors offering the best meeting room solutions for hybrid work.
1. Crestron
Innovators in the workplace technology landscape, Crestron are leading the way to a more efficient, flexible, and secure workplace. Through the Crestron Flex range, the company has delivered a versatile solution for modern meetings, capable of shifting to suit the specific needs of each brand. The Flex portfolio is packed with easy-to-use technology that’s efficient, powerful, and ready to work with your favourite systems, like Microsoft Teams or Zoom Rooms.
The Crestron Flex ecosystem features all of the leading AV and UC thought leadership behind the Crestron brand, offering sleek and sophisticated products that are small, but powerful. Users can enjoy one-touch connectivity from products like the Flex MM, a streamlined room system that ties into the UC platform of your choice. Crestron Flex devices like the Crestron Flex phone comes with an extra-wide high-resolution touchscreen, a comprehensive microphone array for better audio clarity, and an HD camera all built-in.
The Flex range delivers impeccable tabletop conferencing for meeting rooms of all sizes, equipped with intelligent cameras, stronger microphone range, and BYOD functionality.
2. Poly
Well-known providers of audio-visual technology, Poly have always worked hard to deliver a next-level meeting experience. Now ready to support more hybrid meeting rooms and on-demand workers, Poly’s room solutions are equipped to handle a range of use cases and demand. Dedicated room bar setups for Microsoft Teams like the Poly Studio X30 and X50 deliver efficient meeting room experiences for smaller and mid-sized spaces.
Poly keeps meeting rooms neat, tidy, and connected, with customisable experiences that flex to suit your meeting room. Every solution, from the G40-T to the Trio C60 comes with leading functionality from Poly, including audio fence technology to reduce external distractions, and Poly Meeting AI to help improve meeting clarity.
Through Poly’s hybrid room systems, you can build an efficient meeting room that makes remote and in-office employees feel like they’re in the same space.
3. Pexip
Enterprise video conferencing and collaboration solution experts, Pexip, offer a wide range of products tailor-made for the hybrid meeting room. Pexip Room software powers safe and secure meetings, directly from any meeting room device, so you can get your conversations up and running as quickly as possible. One-touch join reduces the need for complex room set-up, while AI-enhanced meeting experiences make conversations smarter.
Pexip can also support your meeting room infrastructure, with complete network architecture management and monitoring through Pexip Infinity. For your hardware, Pexip partners with Logitech to deliver a seamless selection of video and audio-conferencing experiences.
No matter your location, you can access an all-in-one Pexip meeting from leading devices like the Logitech Rally and Rally Bar mini. Pexip ensures that workflows remain efficient, without the need to rip and replace existing technology.
4. Logitech
Not just available as a partner of Pexip, Logitech is an AV innovator and hybrid meeting room leader in its own right. The company offers a huge range of versatile products, built on the pillars of scalability, choice, and consistent reliability.
To enable the hybrid meeting rooms of the future, Logitech has a selection of valuable tools to offer, including the Rally Bar, and Rally Bar mini, which offer plug-and-play meeting experiences in seconds. Users can transform meetings into 4K crisp video experiences, with sensational audio, and low-distortion speakers for better conversations.
Logitech’s immersive portfolio of hybrid meeting room solutions also comes with access to Room Mate technology from Logitech. This makes it easier for users to manage rooms from anywhere, reducing the need for excessive room set-up experiences. You also get forward-thinking features like Logitech RightSense technology and AI viewfinder.
5. Konftel
As market leaders in the AV environment, Konftel knows first-hand how quickly the meeting room can evolve. That’s why the Konftel portfolio is packed full of diverse meeting room technology for business leaders to choose from. Users can invest in technology that seamlessly scales up or down according to their distinct requirements.
The Konftel Ego, for instance, can offer instant access to amazing meetings to remote workers in their own personal space. Alternatively, the Konftel C50800 Hybrid is specifically designed for the meeting room of the hybrid age, with daisy chain connections, multiple connectivity options, and Omnisound performance. This hybrid collaboration solution delivers outstanding audio and video quality, combined with a single hub for cable management, and an easy-to-use environment
Konftel’s approach to the hybrid meeting room combines ease-of-use with reliability for a meeting experience that’s sure to appeal to any environment.
6. Neat
Neat is the company making waves in the collaborative meeting room environment with help from collaboration with Zoom Meetings. The Neat Bar, the company’s flagship product for the hybrid meeting room, provides users with a sensational meeting device that’s plug-and-play ready. This intuitive meeting room solution combines everything you need into one package, so you can jump into a conversation in seconds.
Ideal for the age of hybrid work, when impromptu meetings are happening more often, the Neat bar, combined with Zoom Meetings allows for a straightforward setup and joining experience. Your Neat bar can even detect when you walk into a room to instantly start a meeting. An integrated HD camera and a wide range of features like noise cancellation and air quality monitoring make the Near bar truly unforgettable. There’s a fan-less design to eliminate noise and minimal cables for reduced clutter.
The Neat bar also offers enhanced audio pickup, for hybrid rooms where employees may need to spread out around the space to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Automatic switch-on also means fewer people handling technology.
7. Bose
Bose is bringing the future of meeting rooms to every office with state-of-the-art room technology. The most recent addition to the Business portfolio is the compelling Bose All-in-One Enterprise Video Bar VB1, which is certified for Microsoft Teams. Equipped with powerful Bose audio performance, the meeting bar enables amazing conversations, with Bluetooth connectivity, and proprietary transducers built-in.
Bose also works with leading companies like ClickShare to ensure that it’s easier to share apps and information in meeting rooms faster. This allows users in a hybrid spare to connect to their meeting environments faster, for more impromptu conversations.
Bose hybrid meeting room technology features the plug-and-play simplicity that companies need to drive better meetings in the age of remote work. With extra components like ClickShare Conference, meeting rooms can remain germ-free, with no touch panels or extra connections required.
8. Shure
Forward-thinking AV company Shure recently discovered that around 87% of collaborating teams feel stressed and frustrated by the technology they currently have in their meeting rooms. With a focus on statistics like this, Shure has created a wide range of meeting room peripherals and tools, perfect for hybrid workers.
Products like the P300 IntelliMix Audio Conferencing Processor immediately improves audio for people connecting in various business locations. You can eliminate noise and echo, even in larger meeting rooms equipped for social distancing. MicroFlex Wireless from the meeting room is an all-in-one meeting room solution that allows users to adapt their room environment to suit them, with everything you need for custom sound.
Uses can even access Microflex Advance technology, to create an array of microphones around a wider meeting space, to ensure that participants and presenters stay in focus throughout any conversation.
9. Nureva
Finally, committed to the new age of conferencing in the hybrid workplace, Nureva believes in simple and effective tools that keep people connected. The Nureva hybrid meeting room technology is designed to support things like simple plug-and-play setup, as well as safe social distancing. With products like the HDL200, companies can instantly install and start a meeting within minutes. Products like the HDL300 and Dual HDL300 can support mid-sized and large meeting rooms too.
In environments where users might need to stay further away from each other, Nureva uses its patented microphone mist technology to offer absolute room coverage. You can build an environment with up to 16,384 virtual microphones in one space. By enabling the digital transformation of the meeting room, Nureva makes hybrid meetings feel more natural than ever.
Nureva audio speaker bars and microphones can even cover wider spaces at a fraction of the cost compared to most meeting options.
