AVT Question: Please share insight and best practices for ensuring meeting equity for all employees and how to deliver the best collaboration experience regardless of location.
Thought Leader: Joe Andrulis, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at Biamp
Although more workers are returning to the traditional office full-time, for a significant number of employees, the ability to work from anywhere remains a necessity, especially for those working on the road or in satellite offices, at least for part of the time.
In response, the AV industry has introduced several tools and resources to make hybrid work as pleasant as possible for everyone, especially when it comes to conferencing and collaboration; however, pain points remain. What employers and employees really want is a conferencing environment that is hybrid, but equal, ensuring that those outside the office or on the road can have a similar experience as those on campus. Therefore, integrators and their customers increasingly require streamlined, yet dependable, AV solutions that are standardized, typically around a major UC platform such as Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom, to create a seamless experience for all.
Ultimately, the all-in-one conferencing AV setup is about taking a complicated system that in the past was often overwhelming and distracting and making it easy." —Joe Andrulis, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at Biamp
For the AV manufacturer, if standardization is the benchmark, then products need to be simple to install, configure, and use. The conferencing system should deliver an experience that is simple, fast, and incredibly reliable. To get there, AV professionals must look at all types of users that engage the meeting room, physically and virtually. There will still be microphones, loudspeakers, and video cameras — but they will be deployed as an all-in-one integrated AV solution that boasts intelligent features, including artificial intelligence (AI), that brings individuals in the conference room and those located elsewhere forward, both auditorily and visually.
AV pros need microphone systems that actively track and mix conversations from around the room so that no matter where someone sits in the conference room, they’ll sound as clear as if the microphone was right in front of them. This will also require video conferencing cameras that automatically identify, focus, and zoom in on participants when they speak, similar to how remote participants are presented on screen. Here, high-quality audio and video all-in-one conferencing bars are incorporating these features to give IT departments complete meeting room solutions without any changes in the quality of the experience, all the while offering enhanced ease of set up and use.
Ultimately, the all-in-one conferencing AV setup is about taking a complicated system that in the past was often overwhelming and distracting and making it easy. AV systems need to utilize system optimization features, such as automation, natural language processing, and predictive analysis, to improve the relationship that users have with AV assets as well as room utilization. Smart pro AV systems then become more accessible to everyone, even without training. As a result, they can naturally facilitate innovation and productivity for employees in the office, at home, or on the road.
