MEETING ROOM
Digital ecosystems for collaborative workspaces
We design Meeting Rooms that integrate AVC hardware, software and automation solutions to physical environments, dedicated to sharing, collaboration and comparison.
Meetings are a necessity in a business, especially at times when a company starts adopting a flexible work organization and when sharing goals, progress and results is essential to the success of a project.
However, in certain circles meetings are still viewed with suspicion, like a potential waste of time. We think that the prejudice about meetings is unfounded because interaction, discussion and sharing are indispensable. We believe the reputation originates from experiences with "bad meetings": complicated and inconclusive encounters that were deemed useless at the end of the day. It is not the meeting itself that wastes time; it is how it is organized or managed that does so.
Today digital technology offers powerful and reliable tools to turn a meeting into an experience that has real work progress and is participatory and engaging. Here is a list of questions and answers that will shed light on how to achieve the "perfect meeting".
Calling people without a specific agenda ensures that most of the meeting time is spent explaining the reason for the meeting. The absence of points to discuss will ensure digression and controversy, lengthening the meeting time in an unpredictable way. Make sure that all participants arrive prepared via a messaging system. Share documents and information via your company network to make sure all are updated on the content that will be addressed.
Planning a meeting can be tough: you have to check everyone's schedule and make sure all agree on the date, place and time. Today there are chatbots that allow you to follow this delicate phase, saving time and effort.
The Meeting Room can be reserved and the meeting can be included in the digital calendars of all of the participants, even those who will not be there, whether they will be on a videoconference or in telepresence. You can also implement a system which cancels the room reservation of there are no-shows after 15 minutes from the start of the meeting, making the room available again.
A traditional meeting would involve set-up time to switch on the systems, run cables and connections, find adapters, and test devices ... with the possibility of mishaps always around the corner. Today you can remotely interact with the Meeting Room, making sure it is ready and operational for the scheduled time.
Meetings can become unnerving when people need to wait for the technical hitch to be resolved, such finding the right adapter or establishing a good connection. Today there are digital environments that allow you to connect wirelessly, making it extremely simple. The system recognizes the guests and authorizes them, connecting them to the devices: screens, touch displays, and projectors...The ability to connect with people not physically present in the same room allows you to create smaller Meeting Rooms, freeing up space in the office.
Crackling audio or a volume that is too low; projections that require darker rooms, which prevent people from taking notes as well as making them sleepy; people connected via videoconference who cannot see others who are present at the meeting and cannot actively participate ... the environment that is created in the Meeting Room is a critical factor for the success of the meeting. These are problems that can be digitally solved quite easily. High resolution LED displays today allow to have a clear and bright image even in environments with lighting, while cameras with a wide viewing angle allow those who are connected remotely to have a complete view of the room. In large meeting rooms, you can also implement automatic control systems, which recognize who is speaking and focus on him or her. Automatic facial recognition systems are being tested, which would present a person’s name and job title ever time they are on camera. Stable connections, smooth video streaming, fast content upload and download, and perfectly audible sound all stimulate active participation, like never before. Moreover, new telepresence systems are very different from a simple conference call or videopresence. You get the feeling of having that person in front of you in the flesh, and it is really convincing because you are able to look into his or her eyes and not inside the lens of a webcam.
In the old days, simple flipcharts were used, requiring participants to transcribe everything. Today wireless connections allow you to work on a virtual board, and it is immediately shared with everyone on their laptops, tablets or smartphones. The Meeting Room can be equipped with Multi-Touch displays that allow true collaboration, creating and sharing content in real time, all the while cutting down on time and costs. If a person could not come to the meeting, you can record it with the audio-video systems in the Meeting Room and then send that person the file.
Besides simplifying operations and stimulating everyone's participation, Digital Environments that are more evolved provide a formidable source of data. Information like meeting frequency, devices used, and time spent is all collected, and it can prove useful in order to improve the quality and efficiency of the Meeting Room.
A digital environment that is created this way will transform the Meeting Room into a collaborative environment that fosters creativity, increases productivity and promotes competitiveness.
Galdi S.r.l. has involved us in “Galdi Village, a place to fill” project, a multipurpose center aimed at improving corporate welfare and technological development
Design Holding, an iconic multi-brand company operating in lighting and furniture’s sector, refits and old port warehouse in Copenhagen.
A research, meeting and training center where the digital world breathes life into memories, brings excellence to the network, and makes content even more spectacular.
