What is a Smart Meeting Room?

Smart meeting rooms use audiovisual technology to enhance workflow and boost productivity. The purpose of these spaces is to enable local and remote workers to come together for a smart meeting to collaborate and communicate effectively. Through the use of this technology, participants in meetings can quickly exchange ideas from any location in the world. They are able to simultaneously use a range of technology, such as video, audio and computer based information, to replicate a live work environment.

Benefits of Smart Meeting Rooms?

The advantages of a smart meeting room are numerous. First and foremost, they remove geographical barriers and cross time zones, by allowing both local and remote workers to come together to exchange ideas. Organisations with a global presence can have staff located in London, New York and Sydney meeting together virtually in a smart meeting room.

Secondly, the use of this technology can often make the meeting more productive. Technology allows for information to be shared instantly, often leading to a quicker decision making process.

A third advantage of this technology is that it enhances the workflow once the smart meeting is over. The decision making process can be digitally recorded and shared to be referred back to. As the workflow takes place on meeting room technology it can be accessed by all participants immediately; no more waiting for meeting notes to be transcribed and shared via email.

Another advantage to deploying smart meeting rooms is that it can provide organisations with much needed data and analytics on how their meeting spaces are being used. The use of desk and room booking, meeting and visitor management allows organisations to optimise their meeting space estate. How are the spaces getting booked, who is booking the spaces and what technology is being used for the meeting. These are pieces of information that an organisation can use to get the best out of their investment.

For example, if a smart meeting room designed to accommodate 6 people is constantly being booked for one to one meetings, then the organisation can make decisions about how best to use that space in the future.

Typical Features and Solutions found in a Smart Meeting Room

A smart meeting room can be any space which allows people to come together either in person or virtually to collaborate and work together. Smart meeting room technology is any technology device that aids this process. The use of Interactive touchscreens is one such technology type. They allow digital documents to be viewed and worked on in a traditional manner. Workers use digital pens to annotate the digital documents in much the same way they would do on a paper document or flipchart.

A video conference system incorporating a camera and microphone are an essential feature used within this space. These are used to help participants communicate and collaborate as if they were all sat in the same space together.

A Wireless Conference system is another essential piece of meeting room technology. Used in conjunction with a video conferencing system, a wireless conference system allows participants to share content from an in room PC or BYOD, which can then be worked on together. Room/Desk Booking Systems can be deployed outside of a smart meeting room to allow people to see easily the status of a room. This can be viewed via the panel or integrated with Microsoft 365, Outlook or Google calendar to allow these types of rooms to be booked for people’s desktops.

Occupancy sensors are a great addition to any smart meeting room. These can be installed on the ceiling and are designed to control the technology in the room. When someone walks in for a meeting, the occupancy sensor senses their arrival and can be programmed to switch on the lights, switch on the display and even start the meeting. This not only means that meetings can run smoother, but also helps organisations control their energy usage by not having technology switched on in these rooms that are not in use.

What Are The 4 Key Questions When Looking At Meeting Room Technology?

During the pandemic, many of our forward-thinking customers consulted with Universal AV Services on how best they can use technology to support the new hybrid working model. With so many organisations working with a mixture of on-site and remote staff, never before has technology been so crucial to the working environment. When consulting with our customers, we ask four fundamental questions to determine the type of technology they need.

1. WHAT PLATFORM?

The big question here is if the customer uses Microsoft Teams, Zoom or another Unified Communications platform. It is an important question, as manufacturers have produced technology optimised to work with a specific platform. For instance, Poly offers a variety of room collaboration options for Microsoft Teams users that range from personal office to large conference rooms or multi-purpose rooms, while ensuring the simplicity and high-quality audio and video experience. Likewise, Crestron Flex solution offers a platform that natively supports the Zoom Room software. Choose either a standard system with single display support or an advanced system with features such as dual-mode technology, intelligent cameras and dual display support.

2. HOW YOU WORK?

It is important to understand how a company is working and how they plan to work in the future. This can determine the type of solution required, but likewise, the solution can determine how people can work in the future. For example, before the pandemic most of our customers were “building based” and the idea of a Teams Room or Zoom Room was most appealing. Users could walk in to the meeting room, log on to the resident PC and begin their meeting using the pre-installed software. During the lockdown, many of our customers were issued with laptops and multi-user PC’s were banned for hygiene reasons. However, users still need to connect and still need to meet up in rooms. The Solstice Pod from Mersive Technologies allows for a user to walk in to any meeting room with their own laptop, tablet or mobile device. They connect wirelessly to the Solstice Pod, which interrogates the users calendar and automatically sets up the call using the software installed on the user’s laptop. The Solstice Pod allows for the control of the in-room camera, microphone and audio system providing a Teams Room, Zoom Room experience without the need for the resident PC. The option of a wired or wireless connection provides great flexibility, whilst enabling other users in the room to collaborate and share data from their own devices without having to directly “join” the call.

3. WHERE IN THE ROOM?

There are different options available for different locations and rooms. We consider the size of the room, how it is constructed and how it is going to be used before we start looking at solutions. How big is the room? Solutions are available for huddle spaces, medium and large meeting rooms and custom spaces. The Poly X30 and X50 are all-in-one solutions with an integrated camera, beamforming microphones and audio support, perfect for smaller spaces. They are compact and stylish and provide a simple user interface. For larger rooms, the G85-T offers a two camera solution and uses external microphones and speakers to provide better coverage.

The fabric of the room is also important. Does it have a standard ceiling, are the walls plaster or glass, what fabric is on the floor? What furniture is on the room? What are the ambient light conditions of the room? Hard surfaces such as glass walls do not lend themselves well for a video call. Universal AV Services can suggest lighting and acoustic treatments which will greatly enhance the experience at the near and far end.

4. BUDGET?

Budget is usually an awkward subject to discuss, but knowing how much a customer has to potentially invest in a solution will allow us to better determine the options available. Universal AV Services work with some of the leading manufacturers of Unified Communication technology and are best placed to provide a solution that fulfils both requirement and budget.

How Universal AV Can Help?

Universal AV are able to offer a range of smart meeting room technologies. We work closely with our customers to understand their workflow and where and how it can be improved. We can then make informed decisions on the best smart meeting room technologies available. We work with some of the industry’s leading manufacturers to provide solutions which are compliant with modern industry standards, enabling organisations to benefit from such spaces which are well designed and fit for purpose, offering a return on their investment.

We take time to understand how our customers work and how they wish to work and select smart meeting room technology to enable that journey.

To book your consultation, email sales@universal-group.ltd