Meeting rooms are going to change, and fast.
For over a year now, we’ve been dealing with the realities of social distancing, pandemic-imposed restrictions, and a rapid digital transformation of the workforce. As companies gradually begin to plan for the future of work, and what it may entail, it seems that hybrid working will be the future tool. This will allow employees to leverage the benefits of both in-office and external environments.
So, what does that mean for channel partners striving to equip their employees with the meeting solutions they need? There’s likely to be a series of new considerations that you’ll need to discuss with your clients in the months to come.
Here are just some of the points to consider when building a hybrid meeting space.
Step 1: Discuss the Structure of the New Workforce
The first step for most channel partners will be to determine what kind of workforce their customers will be looking to build in the years ahead. Everyone is likely to have their own opinion of what the “hybrid workforce” might look like. Some will want their teams to be constantly connected through webcams on their desks so that ad-hoc conferences can start in seconds.
Other companies will want to create more dedicated (but safe) meeting environments, where employees in the office can connect with remote workers over shared projects, in an environment similar to the old-fashioned conference room. Knowing what your customer’s workforce is going to look like going forward will make it easier to suggest the right kind of technology.
For instance, many companies will need scheduling software that allows them to track the working hours of their internal and external employees. Companies with global staff may also need AI tools that can suggest meeting times based on shared “open slots” while taking time zones into account.
Companies with business leaders who are likely to be hosting broadcasts and crucial conversations from home may want to equip their leadership with entire meeting room kits and 4K video, rather than asking them to rely on a basic webcam.
Step 2: Choosing the Hardware and Software
Once your customers have a solid idea of how their hybrid workforce is going to operate, the next step is finding the hardware and software combinations to facilitate that work. Most businesses will start with collaboration software, or UCaaS tool that their employees are already comfortable with, like Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, or Zoom. They may also need custom integrations with that software based on the technology that employees use every day. This will help to create a more complete single-pane-of-glass for work productivity.
From a software perspective, make sure that your customers have all the UCaaS functionality they need, combined with collaborative tools for content sharing, conferencing, and video. You may also need to look into things like direct routing and SIP trunks for companies keen to bring their audio onto the cloud. What’s more, security and compliance solutions like intelligent recording systems are likely to be more valuable as the hybrid workplace develops.
From a hardware perspective, the key is outfitting valuable meeting environments in a way that’s going to facilitate productivity, without compromising on safety. Employees both remote, and in the office will need access to video cameras that can easily capture human faces and zoom in on the people talking in a meeting. These cameras should work seamlessly with any meeting software the customer might use. All staff members will also need access to the right audio equipment.
In a hybrid meeting room, microphone virtualization technology that makes it easier to pick up voices from around a wider space may be valuable to maintain social distancing. Tools that can block out external distractions and noise will also be a must-have, both in the traditional meeting room, and for employees working at home with distractions in the background.
Step 3: Consider Employee Safety
Finally, while building a meeting room will always require careful consideration of which technology can drive the best outcomes for employees and business leaders, safety is vital too. In the hybrid meeting room of tomorrow, safety isn’t defined only by password-protected rooms and secure meeting recordings, companies will also be looking for strategies to make spaces safe from a hygiene perspective.
Contactless meeting rooms that use proximity sensors to automatically sign an employee into a meeting on their smartphone when they enter a conference room will reduce the need for shared technology. Intelligent meeting room assistants that can respond to requests made by speech will limit the need for employees to press buttons and tap screens to get a meeting environment up and running. At the same time, intelligent tools will be able to strengthen the quality of the meeting, by blocking out external noise and offering automatic focus for faces in a video.
For some forward-thinking companies, a future of hybrid work could even include the consideration of disruptive products like extended reality headsets, augmented reality apps, and similar experiences. However, for most, even basic solutions like the ability for employees to join meetings from their own devices will better protect the workforce.
Some intelligent meeting room solutions can even use cameras to track things like the proximity of people and occupancy of a meeting room, to alert business leaders if strategies need to be upgraded for social distancing purposes.
Building a Hybrid Meeting Room
Like any meeting room, building the perfect hybrid conferencing environment of the future will be a process that relies heavily on the ability of channel partners to talk to their customers, and create solutions based on the unique issues they face. The hybrid meeting room of the future needs to be simple, flexible, and easy to access for any team.
However, these environments also need to be equipped for a future of work that will rely more heavily on video-first meetings between employees, easy content sharing, and the ability to access meetings from various devices.
To deliver the perfect hybrid meeting room, focus on performance, security, safety, and simplicity to deliver a consistent experience to all users.
