According to Frost and Sullivan, 87% of users are frustrated and stressed due to technology failures in meeting rooms. Despite this, 90% of meeting & conference rooms in the world are equipped with only the bare minimum technology to support information sharing and collaboration, which means there is plenty of room for improvement.
There are multiple drivers for upgrading your meeting & conference rooms including:
If you're planning improvements to your existing rooms or even planning an entirely new conference room implementation, the first consideration should be your video conferencing platform.
Video Conferencing Platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams play a pivotal role in any business, connecting employees with each other and the world, and in a conference room environment selecting the most appropriate platform will establish the foundation for future success.
Hardware Selection
There are many benefits to Cloud based services such as Zoom Rooms or Microsoft Teams which are compatible with a range of the same or similar hardware components.
These hardware components have fundamental differences in functionality which will determine how a room can be set up and used. For example, Zoom Rooms has a specific list of compatible Pant Tilt Zoom (PTZ) cameras that are controllable via the Zoom Room interface.
Zoom Rooms can support multiple cameras, and users can easily switch between the cameras with one touch via the app running on the in-room controller.
Full PTZ control is also available via the app for each connected camera. Microsoft Teams however is unable to support multiple cameras (with the exception of the share document camera option), and Google Meet supports multiple cameras similar to Zoom, however PTZ control via the app is only possible if the cameras are identical.
In terms of exclusive hardware, only Zoom Rooms and Microsoft Teams works with Neat to produce purpose-built hardware solutions that make it easier than ever to scale, deploy, and manage meeting rooms, creating a seamless collaborative whiteboard experience with the Neat Board. It is important to note that in terms of a collaborative whiteboard experience. Google Meet is only able to use their Google Jamboard hardware, otherwise, Google Meet users must use the Jamboard app on their phones or tablets to whiteboard.
Is Everyone Using the Same App?
When a business is using different apps and platforms, particularly for video conferencing and collaboration, end users can easily become frustrated. By taking the time to understand why, this will help guide you in moving forward with the right solution.
Not all your suppliers, partners, clients and customers will use the same video conferencing platform as your business, which can create connectivity issues. For this reason, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) rooms may need to be part of the conversation.
Streamlining the Experience
In order to maximise efficiency and productivity, providing users a consistent and streamlined user experience is essential.
The smoother you can make the transition from the team huddle, to the desk, to the conference room and back again, the more effective and successful the solution will be.
By reviewing other apps and platforms your business is currently using, you may be able to go even further and integrate these to work together natively or via an API (Application Programming Interface) with your video conferencing platform of choice, further adding to a positive user experience.
You may also consider a full unified communications suite such as Teams and Teams Rooms or Zoom, Zoom Phone and Zoom Rooms.
For more information on which Video Conferencing Platform suits your needs, email us using our contact form, and we will get back to you shortly.
