For a while, it seemed large meeting rooms were becoming less common in the business world. As companies began embracing the eras of hybrid and remote work, some larger conference spaces were rapidly replaced with smaller huddle spaces, focus spaces, and ad-hoc meeting rooms.
However, now that companies are encouraging employees to return to the office, the large meeting room landscape is experiencing a resurgence. Companies are once again investing in bigger spaces that can accommodate everything from employee training to all-hands meetings.
However, the traditional meeting room, defined by a large table, multiple chairs, and a whiteboard, is evolving. Today's conference spaces are digitally transforming, and companies are embracing tech to enhance productivity and improve meeting outcomes.
So, how do you choose the right technology for your large meeting rooms? Here are the key points you'll need to consider heading into the new era of work.
Comparing Tech for Large Meeting Rooms: Step-by-Step
Choosing the right technology for your large meeting rooms requires close consideration of everything from your conference room use cases to the ideal features you'll need. Based on our experience working with meeting room vendors, here are some of the critical steps involved in choosing the right technology.
Step 1: Identify How You'll Use Your Large Meeting Rooms
Large meeting rooms are becoming increasingly flexible as companies search for more cost-effective ways to utilize their assets. More often than not, companies use these spaces for more than just all-hands meetings with dozens of staff members.
You might also use your conference spaces to host training sessions, help employees create new products and prototypes in virtual reality or stream content for events.
In some environments, large meeting rooms can also serve as settings for work sprints, team-building exercises, and client meetings. How you'll use your space determines what type of technology you need and even how you'll design your meeting rooms.
For instance, if you want to convert your ample space into a series of focus rooms or smaller meeting spaces, you'll need modular furniture and partitions. If you're using your meeting rooms to host training sessions for in-person and remote participants, you'll need plenty of screens, digital whiteboards, and presentation tools.
Step 2: Examine your Existing Resources
Whenever you're designing any kind of meeting room or collaborative space, it's essential to ensure you can still take advantage of the resources you already have. Start by looking at your meeting room hardware. The chances are you already have screens and displays that can be used in a meeting room setting or microphones and speakerphones.
You may also have digital signal processing solutions, wireless routers for connectivity, and laptops, computers, or tablets you can use for meeting room management. The ideal technology for your large meeting rooms should be able to integrate seamlessly with all these solutions.
You may also need to consider your approach to bring your own device (BYOD), and bring your own meeting (BYOM) initiatives. If your employees already have smartphones and tablets, they can use them with meeting room software; allowing them to leverage those devices in a conference room can improve the user experience and reduce how much you spend on room design.
Remember to think carefully about the software your employees are using, too. If your teams are already familiar with solutions like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, buying meeting room kits and devices certified for things like "Microsoft Teams Rooms" can be helpful. It should help you avoid any compatibility or integration issues and make it easier to configure rooms.
Step 3: Consider Your Deployment Options
The nature of your large meeting rooms, how employees will use them, and the existing technology you already have can also help you determine how to deploy your conference spaces. For example, if you're going to be creating an intuitive and immersive space from scratch, you might need to work with a specialist technology vendor.
Leading companies in the AV industry, like AudioCodes, Cisco, Logitech, and many others, can work with companies to design and develop meeting room kits specifically tuned to their needs. They can help you bundle all of the hardware and software you need to run and manage your meeting room into a cost-effective package and even assist with installation.
If your needs are less complex, you could consider purchasing pre-built room kits for large meeting spaces, which already include various displays, webcams, audio systems, and computing solutions. You might even decide to buy these solutions on a "meeting rooms as a service basis",” allowing you to hire the tools you need on a pay-as-you-go basis to keep costs low.
Step 4: Explore Your Video Conferencing Options
Video conferencing is commonplace in every meeting room environment, even large meeting spaces. Video helps to bridge the gap between remote, hybrid, and in-office employees. Plus, large meeting rooms allow companies to create comprehensive webinars, training sessions, and other immersive experiences.
The video conferencing technology you'll need for larger meeting spaces will differ drastically from what you might use for smaller meeting rooms and focus spaces. You'll need a solution to capture your entire space with exceptional high fidelity and offer fantastic zoom capabilities.
AI-powered cameras are likely to be particularly valuable in large meeting spaces, as they use advanced algorithms to track and zoom in on speakers, making it easier for remote participants to follow along with in-office employees.
They can also help to enhance the quality of video streams automatically, improving the quality of each meeting. In some cases, you might even need to consider investing in multiple cameras for a larger space, such as one central camera like the Meeting Owl 3, placed on a table and a front-of-room camera for more comprehensive capture.
