The Importance of the Complex Meeting Space

with AVI-SPL Symphony and Crestron

Today’s post is by guest author Laurie Berg.

AVI-SPL Vice President, Symphony Product Operations

Teams have relied on video and web conferencing to meet with colleagues, partners, and customers for decades. Over time, collaboration areas have evolved from simple spaces, like your cubicle, to more complex meeting spaces. With the change to hybrid work, though, are these options still needed? In a word, yes. Preferences for different spaces influence why and when people want to go to the office.

Further, in a recent article, Gallup discusses the “workplace value proposition.” It’s why people come to the office, noting that it’s “For connection, collaboration, creativity, and culture. All in support of doing our best work for the organization’s mission.” Providing a variety of collaboration spaces, including complex rooms, supports this mission.

More options, more technology to manage

Today, we have more remote and flexible work structures, as well as dispersed organizations and workforces. Adding leadership’s desire for teams to meet on-site drives the creation of even more new categories of meeting spaces and more devices and software to deploy, manage, and analyze.

Options range from simple meeting spaces like the desktop to huddle spaces and complex spaces like boardrooms and flex spaces.  They all use technology, but the degree and purpose differ.

How AI affects complex meeting spaces

Widespread adoption of AI-powered meeting tools adds to the complexity of your rooms and the technology they require, too. The Frost & Sullivan “Redefining the Workplace: Empowering the Next Generation of Meeting Rooms with AI,” eBook developed with Crestron notes that, “AI-driven features are expected in meetings today.” Additionally, survey responses from global business leaders and IT decision makers  include:

• 73 percent say that AI is important or crucial to enhancing the effectiveness of video meetings.
• 71% say AI is important or crucial to enhancing the audio quality in meetings.

So, regardless of the onset of remote work, desktop platforms, or BYOD, complex meeting spaces remain an essential part of an organization’s floor plan and technology spend in the new era of work.

Five Reasons Complex Meeting Spaces Benefit the New Era of Work

Here’s how complex meeting spaces enhance the on-site user experience and support collaboration, productivity, and employee satisfaction.

• Provide high-quality technology, including AI-powered tools: The experience you have as a remote worker is different than if you go into an office. High-quality audio and AI-powered intelligent video help bridge the divide of “feeling unheard and unseen,” providing a more in-person feel.
• Enhance collaboration: Technologies such as interactive displays, presentation tools, and connectivity to corporate platforms help teams collaborate more effectively.
• Host critical meetings: Whether conducting a vital customer meeting, an executive team presentation, or an all-day board meeting, a more advanced technology-enabled room will promote communication and support your organization’s reputation and brand. These spaces ensure each word is heard, each facial expression is seen, and each presentation slide is visible.
• Test evolving collaboration technology: AR/VR has now made its way into the complex room. This interactivity makes critical and less formal meetings more substantial and data-driven.
• Enable robust security: While security is a top priority in all collaboration spaces, complex rooms also have technologies linked to corporate governance and policies. 

Optimizing Your Complex Spaces with AVI-SPL Symphony and Crestron

More rooms need more devices and more complex setups that support AI-powered collaboration tools. Here’s how AVI-SPL Symphony and Crestron work together to help your IT teams easily support and analyze all collaboration areas, especially complex meeting spaces. 

AVI-SPL Symphony and Crestron Integrations Offer:

Simplified room operations: Deploying Crestron Controllers enables straightforward utilization of the technology in the space. With the Symphony Module, Crestron Controller monitoring and control capabilities of the downstream devices can be accessed by Symphony, providing side-by-side data with other technologies deployed, as well as ticketing and analytics benefits.

Automation and workflows: With the remote-control functions that can be programmed into Crestron Controllers, steps can be conducted with the press of a button. Let’s use lighting as an example.

Having Crestron Controllers and Symphony, those automations can be expanded to include additional technologies within the space and be recurring. For example: Monday through Friday at 7:00 a.m. local time, automated controls lower screens, microphones are on and muted, speakers are on, and the video system is on, ready for use. Then at 6:00 p.m. local time, the system raises screens, shuts down the video system, and turns off microphones and speakers.

Scalability: Crestron provides organizations with scalability, so the technology can change as your organizational needs change. With its integration with multiple sources, the system can be customized as you grow. These additional technologies and modified spaces, whether via Controllers or XiO Cloud, are accessible through Symphony, providing you with the unified view of your estate needed.

Reliability: As a leader in the AV technology arena, Crestron solutions provide consistent performance, reducing downtime and technical frustrations. With Symphony and Crestron together, you have awareness of all technologies deployed, auto-creation, clearing, and closing of incidents, remote resolution abilities, and full estate data for tactical and strategic decisions regarding the health and usage of your investment.

Getting started

Complex meeting spaces continue to play an essential role in how people connect, collaborate, and create in the modern workplace and support your workplace value proposition. As your teams embrace AI-driven tools and more varied collaboration environments, these rooms become even more critical and more complex to manage.

AVI-SPL Symphony and Crestron give IT teams the visibility, automation, and reliability needed to keep every space performing at its best. Together, they help you simplify operations, support evolving workstyles, and ensure your teams have the high-quality experiences they expect.

Ready to take AVI-SPL Symphony and Crestron for a test drive? Learn more and contact us to get started.

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