Upgrading your meeting room estate can represent a significant investment both financially and in terms of time, so it’s important that the benefits are felt for years to come.
Contracting a specialist AV integrator might be your first step, so you avoid the common pitfalls (*** link to Meeting Room Post 2 ***) and to ensure you have a successful implentation (*** link to Meeting Room Post 3 ***).
They should also be able to advise how meeting rooms and the technology within them could develop in the coming years and create an infrastructure with the capacity to accommodate these changes.
AI
As in so many areas of life, it seems like AI will impact the corporate space, including in meeting rooms.
In fact, this is already starting to happen with intelligent video conferencing solutions that can automatically crop and focus on the person talking.
In the very near future expect to see useful tools such as automatic call transcriptions, and information such as name and job title of speaker automatically displayed, improving the overall user experience.
AI will also help to make meeting rooms smarter, creating and analysing data such as room booking rates, how often meetings over or under run and what times of day rooms are in high demand, helping to better manage occupancy rates.
Manufacturers are already incorporating AI into their existing tools, meaning users can benefit through updates and upgrades.
Automation
Alongside AI, automation of repetitive tasks is also expected to greatly streamline the meeting room experience.
In addition to managing elements such as lighting and heating in a room, automation could also be useful when it comes to starting up projectors, presentations or video conferences, saving time at the start of each meeting.
It can also help to avoid the cluster of remotes that has been a feature of most tables in meeting rooms in recent years.
With an integrated control automation system it is possible to control all devices from a single source.
Some automation tools also claim to significantly increase revenue through better meeting room utilisation.
Interoperability
One trend that we’re already beginning to see and that is only going to increase as the use of video conferencing grows, is the move by manufacturers and software providers to enhance interoperability between different platforms.
Recent announcements include Microsoft, Zoom and Cisco moving towards their platforms working together seamlessly, something that will take away a major pain point of users.
Voice
One other technology that seems likely to have a major impact in the corporate environment is voice control.
Devices such as Google Home and Amazon Echo have made it normal for people to come into a room and verbally request changes to the environment or ask questions, and there’s no reason why this couldn’t also be the case in the meeting room of the future.
The meeting space of the future looks set to be smart, optimised for users and flexible, so make sure the technology within them is the same.
To fond out more about how StriveAV can help you futureproof your meeting room portfolio, get in touch to let us know your requirements and download the How To Create Effective Meeting Spaces eBook below, for more information.
