The workplace landscape is changing rapidly. The post “shut-down” enterprise is likely to include both physical and virtual environments that promote efficiency & productivity, while also creating spaces that make employees & visitors feel safe.
Our new office normal will include things like no-touch automation, video conferencing in more spaces, using personal devices for presenting and sharing content, remote room scheduling, room availability signs and indicators, remote support, and whole list of other changes to help make the workplace safer and more efficient.
However, the success of this new ecosystem will rely upon workplace technology solutions, including solutions in employees’ homes, that can offer enhanced capabilities for productivity and safety… which is why we were so excited to partner with our friends at Crestron in our latest webinar, Back-To-Work Meeting and Conferencing Solutions, to chat through what these solutions might look like and how they will benefit the “new workplace” as we know it today. Go check out the full webinar On Demand on our website, or read through the solutions that Crestron offered below.
Voice-Activated Huddle Rooms
Sometimes, a meeting doesn’t require a full conference room, which is why we love the idea of huddle rooms. These one-size-fits-all spaces are great for modern organizations because they take a specific area within your office that may typically only be used for a few things (private phone calls, meetings, a lunch hour, etc.) and turn them into a convertible huddle room that can be used as a usable, wired meeting space.
Crestron’s Voice-Activated Huddle Rooms specifically have all the advantages of a convertible huddle space, plus the benefits of voice-activated access, including the following:
- Remotely reserve rooms in advance
- Outside the room availability indicators
- Monitor / manage room equipment remotely
- Less in-person IT site visits
Wireless Meeting Room
For any company that depends on technology for employees to share and work together, it’s much easier to do so when you cut the cords. With wireless collaboration systems, employees can easily share information with larger audiences, and turn any space into an interactive meeting area quickly. It also creates rooms that are easy to use without any last-minute panics about hiding cables before a live stream or stressing about whether you’re missing a cable.
The wireless capabilities offered by Crestron also offer several benefits for offices looking to enforce limited crowds and bodies moving throughout the office workspaces:
- Room scheduling panel with integrated Light Bar availability indicator
- PoE Occupancy Sensor allows for room to automatically turn on for the user without touching anything
- Working with remote participants limits the people walking to and from room
Rapid-Deployment Collaboration System
Sometimes you just need to take what’s on your laptop and share it with a larger audience, wherever yourself (or your audience) may be. Rapid-deployment collaboration systems offer all the same connectivity and information-sharing benefits as connected conference rooms, but are packaged up in a convenient, mobile cart that you can deploy throughout the office whenever it’s needed.
There are a number of health and productivity benefits that come with Crestron’s Rapid-Deployment Collaboration System:
- Stay socially distant while collaborating with others
- Plug-and-play all-in-one system requires no touching after set up
- Remotely manage/monitor from a single pane of glass
- Quick deployment. Only credentials are needed to deploy and set-up the device.
Virtual Classroom
Even before the pandemic hit and our education world changed, there had already been a general interest in the idea of the virtual classrooms, whether it was a way for remote students to participate through Zoom, or designing online break-out rooms that allows students to collaborate and share information in smaller sub-sets of subjects.
With Crestron’s Virtual Classroom, the idea of learning and sharing information virtually came to life, thanks to several features, including:
- Easy to see front of room meeting and room info so everyone is in the lop
- Integrated Crestron AirBoard whiteboard capture system allows for remote viewing of the whiteboard in real time
- Built in AirMedia wireless presentation so users do not need to touch anything to display the content
- Remotely manage/monitor from a single pane of glass
- Easy to repurpose any room into a safe, UC meeting room or classroom
Enterprise Deployment of Media Rooms
As today’s workforce continues to change the meaning of ‘meetings’ as a whole, the meeting space has become a dynamic tool that organizations can leverage to create more focused, productive, and satisfied employees. Plus, the addition of automation technology to meeting spaces means employees will be able to come into a meeting room, simply ask “Alexa, start my meeting” and sit back while the phones and screens are connected, all without having to touch a thing.
Thankfully, with Crestron’s Enterprise Deployment of Media Rooms, the future is now, thanks to these key features:
- Occupancy sensor initiates touch-free room / device power automation
- Share/present content touch-free
- Increase safety and efficiency via less in-person, on-site IT support visits
- Gather intelligent data about room and equipment usage
Work-From-Home Systems
Last, but not least, if your workforce is still primarily working from home going forward, it’s important to set them up for success with the right tools and systems to collaborate productively. But, it’s also equally important that your office is equipped to handle the move to remote collaboration and video conferencing.
Crestron’s Work-From-Home Systems have a number of beneficial features that keep remote employees operating at top capacity, while also connecting your office to your remote workforce. These features include:
- Wide-angle, intelligent camera tracks the person speaking
- No microphones or speakers to run
- One cable to the table installation
- Less in-person site visitors
- Remote management of control of the room as if it were another space in the office
- Monitor/manage room equipment remotely via a single pane of glass
To learn more about the back-to-work meeting and conferencing solutions above, as well as other collaboration and safety features that will help you find success when you return to work, contact Bluewater today! Whether you need permanent or temporary video conferencing support, we can help.
