Does your company’s video conferencing system still consist only of a web cam that you hastily installed during the COVID lockdowns? If you still have employees working from home—either on a full-time or part-time basis—it’s time to up your game when it comes to making them feel better connected to the office when they are not there.
In many offices, the conference room is the main space in which office workers communicate with remote workers. If this is the case for your business, you need to make sure your conference room is well-equipped, so remote workers feel like valued members of your team, and not second-class citizens.
Here are some tools that should be included in a modern conference room:
Crisp, Clear Audio
There’s nothing worse than being on a conference call and only hearing every third word because the audio is constantly cutting out, or being on a call where the audio is muffled and you have to strain to hear every word. It makes it almost impossible to follow the conversation. Almost as bad is having a system with a lag, which causes people outside of the conference room to feel like they are interrupting every time they want to share a thought or idea.
Investing in high-quality microphones for your conference room is money well spent because it can increase the engagement from your remote workers, and allow them to retain more information from your meetings.
Cameras that Frame the Room or Follow the Speaker
If your conference room seats more than just a few people (as most do), having multiple cameras in the room to capture all participants can be a good upgrade. This can allow remote participants to see who is talking, so they don’t have to guess. For an even better experience, you can purchase smart cameras that dynamically adjust to frame the people in the room, or systems with multiple cameras that seamlessly switch based on who is speaking. Crestron’s Intelligent Video line has all but perfected the video conferencing experience with their innovative cameras.
Lighting that Enhances Video Quality
You could have the best cameras in the world in your conference room, but the wrong lighting could still affect their performance. For example, if your conference room gets direct sunlight though a window, you might want to invest in smart shades that can be lowered when the video conferencing system is engaged.
Information Sharing Tools
If you regularly reference documents during the course of meetings, having a way to share them with remote participants is key. Crestron’s AirMedia tools allow meeting participants to easily share digital documents. Incorporating a document camera into the system can allow participants to share physical documents with each other during meetings.
Integrating All Meeting Tools into a Single, User-Friendly System
To make meeting set-up easier for your in-office employees, consider integrating all of your meeting room tools so they can be controlled using a single user interface. For this, you will want to work with a company that provides Crestron programming, such as AV Programming Associates. A Crestron programming expert can help you customize your video conferencing system, so it works exactly how you want it to—every time. They can make it so that, with the touch of a button, the room can be ready for a video meeting. The microphones, cameras, and displays can be turned on, the lights can be adjusted to the optimal level, and the window shades can be lowered. Then, when remote employees are added to the meeting, everything will be working just as it should be!
