The Growing Number of Solutions That Are Easy to Deploy and Use
One of the most compelling trends at this year's ISE was how many vendors were prioritising ease-of-use and ease-of-installation technology.
As organisations settle into hybrid models that work for them, their needs have evolved since the pandemic; the variety and volume of meetings means having technology only operable by experts or IT admins and managers is no longer palatable for many of these organisations.
Technology in which any and every employee can be educated to competency has quickly become a significant selling point for customers.
"Rapid technology changes that can often overcomplicate the simplicity of a meeting — create a need to simplify the meeting space, so a user just has to 'press the easy button' so to speak, and focus on a successful meeting, rather than cumbersome connections," said Holli Hulett, co-founder of Boom Collaboration, told UC Today. "Simplicity is key. Users don’t want to do their own IT support."
"The communications world is evolving at an exciting pace, and we find it’s of utmost importance to focus on simplicity/ease of use so a user can appreciate all the evolving technologies but only at the simple press of a button, wherever possible."
Meeting Room Experiences Are Getting Futuristic
Sometimes, it feels like we're at the beginning of a science-fiction novel, such is the extent of how far technology has accelerated in recent years. While spatial computers, the metaverse, and the remarkable smarts of AI are the most glamorous examples, you only need to stroll around the ISE conference halls to feel how futuristic our workspaces have become.
One of the most eye-catching spaces on the floor in this regard was Owl Labs, whose central camera system, the Owl 3, is designed pleasingly and distinctively like, you guessed it, an owl.
This was the epicentre of a robust room system of three cameras, all wirelessly connected on their own private WiFi mesh network, that also included an Owl Bar, which used complex speaker identification for camera zoom, as well as an exciting feature that meant when a user writes on the meeting room whiteboard. This is powered by a third camera — the Whiteboard Owl — that recognises this is happening and turns the user in question opaque so meeting participants at home can see what they're writing.
"Everything we've done at Owl has been remote-focused," explained Ben MacDonald, Vice President of Global Sales at Owl Labs, to UC Today at the vendor's ISE booth. "That's why we have the translucent quality when the whiteboard is being used. The angles of the cameras are set up for a complete view of the room, so everything is designed to be remote-focused."
"It's all about the experience on the far end and democratising the meeting and making sure everybody feels a part of it as we got back to the office," MacDonald added.
Some Vendors Focusing On 'Every Product For The Right Place'
Some vendors suggest that, while the accessibility and useability of all-in-one solutions are obviously important, having the best quality product sometimes necessitates complexity and unique product demands to get the most out of a meeting room experience.
Rob Smith, Senior Director of System Sales at Shure, suggested to UC Today at ISE that all-in-one offerings aren't necessarily always the ideal solution.
"If you're an IT buyer in a Fortune 500 company, you've got 500 rooms to build for. It's easier to buy one box and a screen. For many of the smaller rooms, that's fine," Smith said.
"But physics gets involved," he continued, "and if you get into a bigger room, if you're sat at the back, you might not be able to hear, and people at the far end certainly can't hear you. Where do the managing directors and CEOs sit? At the back of the table. The person you can't hear is the most expensive person in the room. If you think about the money you're wasting in having that very expensive person not heard."
"You've got to use the right product for the right solution. We're very much driving to make our products easy to use and easy to install. That's part of it, and all-in-ones have their place. But it's about every product for its right place."
