Advanced audiovisual technology plays a key role in effective business communication and collaboration, making it central to promoting positive company culture and engagement. In a working world where many of us are more reliant on AV than ever before, investing in both employee engagement and infrastructure is central to creating a better culture and reducing turnover.
With employee disengagement already costing the global economy an estimated $7.8 trillion in lost productivity, building new work environments that are more resilient to change has never been more important.
Quality design is key for AV conferencing solutions and when technology design is done correctly, it enables productive, multi-purpose and flexible environments. So now, in the age of hybrid working, what does quality design look like?
Key features in new AV conferencing products
The last few years introduced a whole new group of end users to video conferencing, showing how AV can remotely enable a wide range of job functions without losing productivity.
Effective communication is integral for business in every industry, with user experience also fundamental for successful AV conferencing integration. AV conferencing products are therefore an essential element of the modern office. No longer relegated to just the boardroom, AV can save employees time and maximise functionality, when the infrastructure is correctly designed. With advanced AI systems, such as face detection, user-friendly UI to switch easily between video, audio and mic, wireless screen sharing for enhanced interactivity and brand integration, these features and many more offer AV users unexpected benefits, improving their day-to-day productivity.
Embracing the evolution of AV and all-in-one products
AV has evolved beyond recognition, even in just the last few years. Today, AV is more portable than ever, with a wide range of all-in-one user-friendly products in the market ready to simply plug and play. Going from bulkier tech to all-in-one conference cameras has streamlined the whole experience; from faster set-up times to reduced technical issues. What’s more, new wide-angle lenses are providing a much-improved field of view to open up the frame panel.
Ad-hoc calling and meeting capabilities have also allowed teammates to work collaboratively in real-time. In a world of “you’re on mute”, fine-tuning features like AI speaker tracking technology is a real asset, adding emotion and connecting your audience to the visual.
Quality vs quantity in mass market production
Employees are unlikely to return to a 40-hour office week and 40% of global workers now spend more time on video calls than in 2021, For MAXHUB, this translates to a simple plug-and-play workflow across every workspace, station, or meeting room so employees can collaborate in any space.
With the bring-your-own-device working world, it’s vital for AV brands to adjust quickly to changing market needs whilst demand continues to grow. Investing in quality control as part of this is vital to enable true functionality in a working environment. Quality design in AV needs to reflect a true quality product, meaning comprehensive AV testing across everything from reliability to safety regulations and electromagnetic compatibility. Shortcuts cannot be taken to simply churn out endless devices. Only quality design within AV will yield the collaborative and productive workspaces that businesses desire.
Productive spaces
Meeting rooms before the pandemic typically offered simple amenities such as projectors or screens, perhaps a conference calling system and an open room to discuss topics. This is no longer sufficient for today’s hybrid world and does not offer employees a functional and focused working environment. It is essential that meeting rooms are correctly designed to meet the demands of today’s workforce and basic conferencing systems are upgraded to include tools such as project management platforms, cloud services and all-in-one AV equipment, in order to amplify productivity.
Today’s AV design really shines when used to bridge the gap between meeting participants in the room and online, providing a collaborative and productive meeting experience. Investing in quality AV equipment improves employee engagement, equipping employees with the tools to effectively collaborate. Resolving any communications issues, AV saves employees time and improves productivity, and gets the results businesses are chasing.
Providing user-friendly infrastructure for better communication inside and outside of your office space isn’t simply about buying the most popular tech. It is crucial that the design of the technology is carefully considered to provide employees with purposeful, engaging spaces to utilise and enhance their experience when in person or remote. As AV continues to grow as a market, now is the time for businesses to invest in the highest quality AV that works for their requirements. This can be done affordably without having to sacrifice on quality. It’s clear that AV design really matters. Ensuring your setup achieves your unique requirements and the key features that are most important to you – such as portability, all-in-one and AI speaker tracking technology – will keep your business one step ahead of the competition.
Tony McCool is UK and Ireland sales manager at MAXHUB.
