Hybrid working is, quite literally, changing the world.
The post-pandemic mix of work from-the-office and work-from-anywhere is positively disrupting the way business is done – seemingly in every vertical sector.
Some of those verticals are more obvious than others.
In corporate settings, administrative, sales and contact centre roles have all adapted brilliantly.
And the inexorable transformation of the retail sector – with online shopping now more popular than an actual trip to the shopping mall – is also maximising efficiency and convenience.
However, a less obvious environment is now beginning to leverage the power of the hybrid model.
Courts – where countries’ Justice Ministeries do their business – are deploying smart video technology to transform their traditional ways of working.
And that presents significant new opportunity for Managed Service Providers and Value-Added Resellers who pick the right partner with which to capitalise.
“As in many cases, the pandemic forced organisations to somehow keep going by communicating virtually – the courts were no exception and, just like those many others, they see the benefits of going forward with the technology as opposed to back to how things used to work,” says Thomas Edberg, Senior Director of Business Management at global video communications provider Pexip, whose ‘Virtual Courts’ solution is the perfect case in point.
It is already transforming the efficiency of courts in the UK on behalf of the British Ministry of Justice and the proven use case is creating interest in multiple other countries.
In short, the solution makes it possible to turn any court hearing into a hybrid or fully virtual environment, providing flexibility throughout the entire process.
Every participant – the accused, the lawyers, the witnesses, the clerks and even the judge – are able to take part in proceedings remotely, via video.
“Our original solution for the Ministry of Justice in the UK was extremely tailored to respond exactly to their requirements,” says Edberg.
“The Pexip Virtual Courts solution is deployable, manageable and scalable by partners all over the world.
“There are many benefits. There is no need to transport defendants from prison to court; there is no need to bring witnesses to court, and there is no need for lawyers, judges and their support staff to be in court. The cost savings on all that transport is obvious, not to mention improved safety, time savings, and reduced case backlogs”
“Court processes are bound by strict rules and protocols that must be followed precisely in order to preserve the integrity of the process for all parties. We have built a solution which does exactly that.”
Among the critical functionality are embedded features such as private meeting rooms for lawyers and clients to consult outside of the hearing itself; secure participant authentication and sign-in; fully automatic recording; evidence handling and sharing; public streaming where required; and compatibility with legacy devices, which protects existing technology investments.
