Continuing our look into what tech is essential in today’s meeting room and huddle space environments, we look at the video and collaboration technology that’s changing the way we work.
As part of the Sahara Presentation Systems Group, Sahara AV has been distributing AV solutions and software to markets including education, health and corporate for more than four decades. Chris Southern, who oversees enterprise sales at Sahara AV, says that large-format displays are now a cornerstone of many meeting room projects.
“There has been a dramatic change over the last few years in that the price of large format displays has come down substantially [at the same time that] their quality has continued to improve,” he says.
Interest levels in these displays – generally high-resolution, including a rising demand for UHD – continues to grow, but Southern is certainly aware of some companies who “make the error of trying to buy standard screens [from high street retailers] and then just stick them on the wall. We always make the point that the warranty may be invalidated as soon as it’s out of the box, although the display may be so cheap that they will just replace it [when it goes wrong]. For many reasons it’s not our policy to advise this approach…!”
Meanwhile, interactive and collaborative solutions are becoming increasingly de rigeur for even the smaller scale projects. Sahara continues to enjoy success with its Clevertouch interactive displays, which can offer up to 20 simultaneous points of touch, 4K resolution, wireless connectivity and access to device mirroring – the overall objective being to enable teams to collaborate “instantly and in real-time”.
Generally speaking, tools to facilitate “both in-room and out-of-room collaboration” are frequently perceived as being essential for new spaces and refurbishments. “Collaboration is a very big part of the workplace now,” says Southern, not least because with its ability to involve external participants and cut down on travel there is tremendous potential for long-term cost savings.
Southern adds: “One of the biggest issues that any financial director will have to deal with is the expenses bill, which is often [substantially accrued] from travel. Even if a company can use its collaboration suite to take one out of five meetings off the road they can expect a very good RoI as far as the kit is concerned.”
Find out more about the audio essentials in today’s meeting rooms.
