Productivity in collaboration


Making collaboration truly productive Continued from Page 9


Have due regard to the meeting environment


The merger of IoT technologies with collaboration solutions has created the potential for meet- ing spaces to offer ideal working conditions. Avocor’s Windows Collaboration Displays not only incorporate integrated AV with a premium conference camera, stereo speakers, far-field micro- phone array for powerful video collaboration, but also


include


built-in sensors that connect to the Azure Digital Twins, meaning that facility managers can uti- lise the environmental data they collect to make real-time adjust- ments and future room and in- vestment planning. So the WCD range offers users


Make sure the chosen solution really does what’s required Mary Ann de Lares Norris, VP Strategy and EMEA, Oblong Industries, explains that: “Better decisions


can be made when collaborators have easy access to all the information sources they need in timely fashion.”


their meeting rooms; it allows collaborators to share multiple streams of content simultane- ously for equal access in the room, in connected rooms, and for those participating remote- ly.”


“Anyone participating in the meeting can seamlessly share visual information as needed so that the team can see and anal- yse the details side-by-side. Flexible


layout control with


Mezzanine means the shared content can be arranged and


Multi-share is core to the Ob- long flagship product for work- place collaboration, Mezzanine, which is now available on the Cisco Global Price List (GPL). Mezzanine software is listed on GPL in configurations to maxi- mize the utility of collaboration spaces large and small. Oblong developed a Cisco-first UI to help users discover how easy it is to share content streams at the same time from multiple sources and locations. By making it easy to discov-


wirelessly via the Mezzanine app.


Standard videoconferenc-


ing environments come with a limitation: only one person can share their content at a time. But in reality, it's very common that more than one person came to the meeting with something worth show- ing. In a Mezzanine-enabled room, artificial limitations go away and people can share what they want to share with content laid out automatical-


Avocor’s WCD range offers users the familiar Windows 10 interface and deliver the power and productivity of Microsoft 365 at room scale.


Cut the training overhead and increase user adoption


Multi-share is core to the Oblong flagship product for workplace collaboration, Mezzanine, which is now available on the Cisco Global Price List (GPL).


scaled on the fly to emphasize points or prioritize outcomes.” Fair enough, but the installed base of Mezzanine is currently limited to a small percentage of the corporate market. What is needed is something to take the benefits of the technolo- gy into the mainstream, last month, the first signs appeared that this is starting to happen, Multi-share is the feature of Mezzanine that provides collab- orators the means to compare, contrast, and cross-reference content and data from multiple contributors in real-time, and on the fly.


er multi-share in the course of normal business more us- ers will get to experience the benefits of Mezzanine more quickly than with typical “new technology” deployments. In a Cisco system, a white back- ground means the system is awake and a meeting is about to get underway. This is true for the new Cisco-first Mezzanine UI as well and over this famil- iar white background, Oblong added prompts to guide us- ers toward more flexible ways to share their screens. These prompts include options to share via wired connections or


P10 AV News September 2019


ly. Oblong user testing indi- cates this path of self-guid- ed discovery for Mezzanine multi-share


is highly mem-


orable and engaging. All the Mezzanine features are still intact with this new user experience. Meeting partici- pants can share up to 10 live streams and have full con- trol over the content on the screens for ultimate layout flexibility to support multi-di- mensional


conversations.


With this new UI it is obvious teams can get more out of ev- ery single meeting.


The secret of a successful tech- nology introduction has three elements: consultation to make sure the training is appropriate; painting the bigger picture, to motivate users to adopt the tech- nology; using the buzz around the technology, build a sense of occasion around adoption. Have all employees attend the event in person or on video. Show employees examples of how the new technology makes their life better. Market the benefits of the new technology for both the company and the employee. In- vite comment from employees


to provide feedback about the new technology via a email, text or Intranet. Offer a prize for the best contribution which helps boost employee engage- ment.


After an initial period of for- mal training, introduce a re- wards scheme that rewards desirable behaviour and en- courages a self-help mentality among groups of employees. In parallel, offer ongoing training opportunities for those feeling left behind. Also, promulgate good news stories about how successful adoption has bene-


fitted certain teams and depart- ments. Success is contagious, and when you share the suc- cess one department has had using a new technology, you increase the potential ROI from your technology because you inspire others to use it in new ways. Next time you introduce new technology at your office, you can fuel its adoption mo- mentum through personal suc- cess stories from enthusiastic users; online videos of positive adoption reports. The results will be increased user adoption with manageable costs.


Next time you introduce new technology at your office, you can fuel its adoption momentum through personal success stories from enthusiastic users; online videos of positive adoption reports. The results will be increased user adoption with manageable costs


the familiar Windows 10 inter- face and deliver the power and productivity of Microsoft 365 at room scale. Most importantly, they offer a first-ever single-cable solution that solves the frustrat- ing and often time-consuming problem of connecting devices and people in meetings. The new Windows collaboration dis- plays by Avocor make it simple for teams to connect in a huddle


space, across the conference table or even across the globe, allowing them to work together seamlessly and get more done. Elsewhere in this issue you can read a detailed account of Sharp’s entry in the WCD space. To summarise, Sharp demonstrated its first Windows Collaboration Display in May of this year. The 70” 4K display combines Sharp’s award-win- ning touch technology and IoT sensors that can work with Mi- crosoft Azure Digital Twins to capture rich data on environ- mental conditions and meeting room usage.


Sharp also demonstrated its software solution for the Win- dows collaboration display, the Sharp WorkSpace Intelligence platform. The platform is Azure Digital Twins compatible and provides real-time information from the IoT sensors on the display. Sharp’s solution includes the capability to monitor the number of people in meetings, allowing businesses to make


informed numbers-based deci- sions about the kind of team- work areas needed. It also lets users check air quality, provid- ing the richest dataset of any Windows collaboration display. Birgit Jackson, Commercial Director Visual Solutions, said: “Better meeting spaces sup- port improved concentration, attention span, cognitive func- tioning, mood and motivation, giving businesses better value for one of the most expensive areas of their office.” Sharp’s Windows Collabo- ration Display from has been designed to work with the familiar Microsoft tools that organisations


will already be


using across their workforce, for example, Office 365. Of- fice 365 provides businesses with a digital hub for teamwork through


Microsoft Teams, a


platform that brings conversa- tions, content and tools togeth- er in one place for easier group collaboration.


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