Predictions for the next 12 months in the New Era of video collaboration

3 Minutes Read

Permanent hybrid work strategy

Almost every organisation will already have some form of hybrid strategy in place. In the next 12 months, we expect companies to have solidified their plans to permanently incorporate this into the future.

There won’t be one set pattern for all. Levels of flexibility will vary, depending on the sector, role, and location of individuals. Most companies might even have multiple structures and policies.

As a global technology company, we are seeing most organisations offer a blend of home and office work i.e., 2-3 days mandatory in office presence, meaning that the requirement for ‘equitable meeting experience’ is becoming a necessity.

The bottom line is that in 12 months, we’ll still be trying to make the conference room experience feel like home.

Where people work

We predict that the use of shared workspaces will rise as well as an increase in the deployment of video-enabled meetings spaces in the physical workspace. Huddle rooms, cafes, warehouses – in fact wherever people meet, video collaboration is likely to be deployed.

For people working at home, we will see more dedicated home office devices being rolled out such as the Cisco Desk Hub / Mini – Office in a box.

The importance of immersive experiences

Joining meetings remotely will go way beyond sitting on screen in front of a room full of colleagues. The patience of remote users is a lot lower than pre-pandemic and organisations need to put user experience at the forefront to ensure they attract and retain their key employees.

The focus will be on immersive experience and how you can close the gap between being physically or remotely present at meetings.

The definition of ‘immersive’ is different now

Small things can make a big difference to how people interact. Camera tracking is now commonplace to allow participants to see each other properly and organsations are looking to implement technology which further facilitates a human centered experience. Does your current meeting space allow defined eye contact, and do you offer a consistently good audio experience, every time?

We are already seeing wider use of peripherals such as whiteboarding and content facilitation. As collaboration becomes much more than just video and audio, it will take the form of a ‘project space’ all in one place.

Further integration between the cloud and the meeting room

We will see further integration between the Cloud platform and meeting room technology.  More features will become available on the room technology to align with computer apps.

Cloud platforms will further enhance their features. Layouts will start to incorporate more information, allowing for different layout options and better interaction features for verbal and nonverbal communication will emerge.

There are likely to be advancements in automation including features like audio cancellation or the ability to show someone has stepped away from the meeting.

We might even start to see some deeper AI integration such as facial/voice recognition when entering the meeting room, although we predict this might come later.

Room design will evolve

Taking Microsoft Front Row as an example; it proves that rooms need to be designed and adjusted to ensure that they are fully compatible for Microsoft Front Row. This will likely result in full on Front Row enabled Teams Max rooms through to huddle rooms and BYOD spaces.

Summary

We are just at the beginning of what comes next and how new technologies will shape the hybrid work experience companies are adopting.

In the next 12 months, the core focus will be on ‘equity of experience’ for every user, every time. Organisations need to build and adapt their meeting spaces to offer seamless connectivity and a truly collaborative experience that doesn’t favor in-person over remote.

Vendors will need to continue to develop technologies which fuel and enhance the ever-demanding need of their user landscape, whilst remaining cost effective and easy to deploy.

The reliability of collaboration technologies needs to remain at the forefront as there is little tolerance to VC failure.

Discover how we can help

Find out how New Era Technology are supporting organisations across the globe with their Video Collaboration transformations by speaking to a member of our team.