It may not be clearly evident, but employees spend a significant percentage of their time in meetings. For middle management, this is 35%, rising to 50% when it comes to upper management. What’s more, the average employee spends a whopping 12 hours every week preparing for and attending meetings. Given the current hybrid working culture, […]
It may not be clearly evident, but employees spend a significant percentage of their time in meetings. For middle management, this is 35%, rising to 50% when it comes to upper management. What’s more, the average employee spends a whopping 12 hours every week preparing for and attending meetings.
Given the current hybrid working culture, meeting rooms need to facilitate productive collaborative sessions. This is where smart meeting rooms come in.
These meeting rooms leverage advanced technology to bridge the gaps between in-office and remote employees while helping you optimise your resources. Here, we discuss everything you need to know about smart meeting rooms.
Smart meeting rooms are meeting rooms that are equipped with a combination of software and hardware resources that help drive the space’s ability to facilitate efficient hybrid collaboration. If you’re wondering what makes a meeting room a smart meeting room, keep reading.
Here are the key features of smart meeting rooms:
Smart meeting rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art conferencing equipment that includes whiteboards, smart cameras and analytics tools that enhance the meeting experience for all participants.
It facilitates seamless communication with a dispersed workforce and makes scheduling meetings, inviting participants and commencing a video conference with the entire team easy and hassle-free.
Whiteboards are old school but they are an underrated resource that can often help share ideas and visualise a game plan or workflow. While most meeting rooms are equipped with a physical whiteboard or a rolling one that can move from one conference room to another, smart meeting rooms leverage smart whiteboards that can be viewed and shared easily by remote participants.
These tools can support digital inputs, play various media types, and access the Internet.
One of the most significant features of a smart meeting room is that it is equipped with analytics tools that empower IT leaders and facility managers to gain insight into how the meeting room is being used.
These tools engage sensors to understand whether the space is versatile and meets all employee meeting needs and can help plan adjustments or tweaks to improve the layout of technology within the conference room.
Smart meeting rooms are equipped with video cameras that help hybrid teams collaborate in real-time. These cameras connect to your monitors, computers, and other conference room devices to display live video feeds.
Depending on the size of your meeting room, you may require one or more smart cameras. The aim is to ensure your in-office participants don’t have to turn their heads or move in front of the camera when addressing remote joiners.
Ensuring your smart cameras are able to cover the entire meeting room helps facilitate a more inclusive and engaging experience for all attendees.
Room schedulers or meeting room booking software are specially designed to monitor and manage meeting room availability. This software can easily be integrated with your other business platforms, such as email and calendar software, to facilitate easy booking and information transmission across the company.
It can help gain insight into how your smart meeting rooms are being utilised, capacity usage, frequency of booking and helps answer questions such as:
Smart meeting rooms come with secure encryption and authentication protocols to ensure that meeting data remains safe. This is especially important for meetings where sensitive client or employee data might be discussed.
Here is why you should consider smart meeting rooms:
Equipping your meeting rooms with advanced video and audio technology allows you to facilitate hybrid meetings that ensure all participants feel included and engaged. Further, leveraging the right solutions can help you save time, reduce travel expenses, and make planning and booking meeting rooms efficient.
Imagine walking into a meeting room only to find that it is already occupied. If this happens when you’re with a client, you will not only waste time but this can also damage your image with your client.
Smart meeting rooms help you avoid such moments by allowing you to book your meeting rooms in advance. This eliminates booking conflicts and facilitates transparency in room availability.
Smart meeting rooms can be equipped with recording software that ensures the entire session is documented accurately. This is especially helpful when participants who couldn’t attend the meeting need to be updated on the developments and discussions that took place.
Not only that, but it can also help you build a virtual database that can be referred to later.
Asking yourself these questions will help you choose smart meeting room technology that perfectly fits your specific needs.
The first question to consider is the platform your business relies on. Many manufacturers design technology specifically tailored for platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other unified communication systems. For instance, Poly offers a range of collaborative solutions for Microsoft Teams, whether you’re setting up a private office space, a multi-purpose room, or a large meeting room. These solutions ensure top-tier video and audio quality, no matter the setting.
Understanding how you work now and in the future can help determine the right solution. For example, before the pandemic, most clients favoured using Teams or Zoom Rooms that used shared PCs. Post-pandemic, shared devices became a health hazard, requiring employees to be issued individual devices. Solstice Pod by Mersive enables users to connect wirelessly from their devices, controlling room cameras and audio, creating a flexible, touch-free meeting experience.
When choosing the right solution, consider your meeting room’s size, construction and utilisation. For instance, for huddle spaces you can use compact solutions that offer multiple capabilities. While for larger rooms, you might have to consider more advanced solutions that require accessibility from multiple areas in the conference room.
Last but not least, consider your allocated budget. Compare solutions based on their cost-benefit analysis, your specific needs, and their ability to scale with your business to find the one that will be most beneficial in the long run.
A smart meeting room elevates productivity by integrating advanced technology for seamless collaboration. From cutting-edge technology such as smart room cameras and automated scheduling to real-time data insights, these rooms are designed to optimise communication and decision-making, driving efficiency for modern teams.
As businesses continue to adopt hybrid work models, investing in smart meeting rooms becomes essential to stay ahead of the curve. At GO (Garden Office) Bermondsey, we provide state-of-the-art meeting rooms equipped with the latest tech, ensuring your team has everything they need to meet their goals. Checkout our available units to discover the perfect space for your business at GO (Garden Office) Bermondsey today! To know more about our spaces, book a visit now!
