Meeting Equity in Modern Workplaces: How HP | Poly Is Redefining Collaboration Standards in 2026

Meeting equity is no longer an emerging concept, it’s now a baseline expectation in modern workplaces. Learn how HP | Poly continues to play a defining role.
January 30, 2026

By 2026, hybrid work is fully embedded into how organisations operate. Teams are distributed, office footprints are evolving, and collaboration happens across multiple locations, time zones, and platforms. In this environment, ensuring every participant can see, hear, and contribute equally isn’t optional - it’s essential for productivity, engagement, and workplace culture.

This is where HP | Poly continues to play a defining role. Through intelligent hardware design, AI-driven experiences, and enterprise-grade reliability, Poly is helping organisations move beyond “functional” meetings and into truly equitable collaboration.

Merge Technologies and the ‘One HP’ story: Discover how our expertise and HP’s partnership can transform your meeting spaces and collaboration experiences.

Why meeting equity matters more than ever in 2026

As hybrid work matures, the cost of poor collaboration becomes clearer. Organisations are now measuring meeting quality not just by uptime, but by:

  • Participation levels across in-room and remote users
  • Employee engagement and inclusion
  • Speed and quality of decision-making
  • Reduction in meeting fatigue
  • Accessibility for diverse teams and roles

When remote participants struggle to hear, can’t see speakers properly, or feel disconnected from the conversation, productivity suffers - and so does culture.

In 2026, meeting equity is no longer about “supporting remote workers”. It’s about creating one shared experience for everyone, regardless of location.

From bad audio to camera chaos, discover how HP | Poly solves the biggest meeting room pain points.

How HP | Poly is enabling the next generation of meeting equity

1. DirectorAI Multi-Camera Intelligence

DirectorAI now feels less like a feature and more like a standard expectation. With real-time speaker tracking, dynamic framing, and intelligent transitions, meetings feel natural and engaging for remote participants - without awkward camera behaviour or manual control.

2. Studio E70 and X72 for Enterprise Spaces

Large meeting rooms and boardrooms present the biggest equity challenge. Poly’s dual-lens cameras and AI-driven optics ensure everyone in the room is visible, regardless of seating position or room layout.

How do we design video conferencing rooms that make everyone (in-person or remote) feel equally seen, heard, and empowered to contribute? Learn more here with our blog on 5 considerations for better video conferencing rooms.

Image of Poly Studio E70 under Commbox Horizon 105" display in a Teams Signature Room

3. Advanced Acoustic Engineering

Poly’s audio technology continues to set the benchmark. NoiseBlockAI, Acoustic Fence, and beamforming microphones create a clean, focused audio environment where remote participants hear conversations as clearly as those in the room.

4. Automatic People and Speaker Framing

Instead of static wide shots, Poly devices intelligently highlight active contributors. This creates a more conversational, human experience that mirrors in-person interaction.

Have you invested a significant amount of money in microphone technology? Was the result not as good as you expected? You might be using a great microphone, but in the wrong room. Read one of our highly visited blog here on which mic is best for your conference rooms.

5. Cross-Platform Collaboration

In 2026, most organisations operate across Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and BYOD workflows. Poly’s platform-agnostic design ensures consistent experiences regardless of which platform is used, a critical factor for modern enterprises.

6. Poly Lens Insights for Smarter Spaces

Poly Lens provides analytics on room usage, device performance, and meeting behaviour. These insights allow organisations to continuously optimise their collaboration environments based on real data, not assumptions

When meeting equity is done well, organisations see measurable outcomes in higher engagement from distributed teams, more inclusive discussions and decision-making, stronger collaboration culture, reduced frustration and meeting fatigue, and improved ROI on workplace technology investments.

The industry shift: from hybrid enablement to experience design

The conversation has moved beyond “enabling hybrid work.” In 2026, the focus is on designing high-quality experiences.

Enterprises are no longer asking:

“Can our people join remotely?”

They’re now asking:

“Does our collaboration experience feel fair, natural, and effective for everyone?”

HP | Poly stands out in this space because its products are built around human interaction, not just technical specifications. The result is collaboration technology that fades into the background and lets people focus on the conversation.

Meeting equity becomes a competitive advantage, not just a technical feature.

Meeting equity is now a permanent pillar of modern workplace strategy. And as hybrid work continues to evolve, organisations need collaboration tools that deliver more than connectivity, they need tools that deliver presence, clarity, and inclusion.

HP | Poly is redefining what collaboration standards look like in 2026, helping organisations create meeting experiences where every voice is heard, every participant is seen, and every meeting feels genuinely productive.

Think a standard lease gives you flexibility? Think again. See why MergeSPACES™ delivers way more than just monthly payments

If your workplace is rethinking collaboration, refreshing its meeting rooms, or looking to design more inclusive hybrid experiences, Merge can help you build a future-ready environment powered by HP | Poly.

Contact us to speak with a collaboration specialist.

Last updated: 28/01/2026

Grace Tran - Marketing & Communications Manager