Do you know the old saying about the best-laid plans? You can plan for every contingency or occurrence, but inevitably something happens that you didn't imagine and throws a huge wrench in your intricate plan. So while planning is necessary, a great strategy can adapt to the unforeseen. So what does all this have to do with meeting room solutions? 

The internet is breathless with all the discussion around hybrid work, and we've also postulated plenty about the subject on these pages. But as we all know, the future of hybrid work is uncertain. How many people will return to offices? What will be the mix of remote versus in-office staff? Most companies are wading through that right now, with many mandating some minimum days in the office while others adopt a remote-first approach. How, then, do you plan your meeting room technology investments? The best way is to invest in adaptable solutions, ready for anything the future holds. 

As everyone knows, two of the leading platforms enabling and advancing hybrid work are Microsoft Teams and Zoom. And much of the upgrades to meeting room technology in the past 2-3 years have involved integrating these platforms into meeting spaces seamlessly. Some of the most flexible solutions for this come from Poly, a well-known and longtime brand in meeting room technology. They offer built-in Teams and Zoom Room functionality, so you don't have to choose. And significantly, they leverage the latest features of these platforms to give your teams a collaborative edge. 

The point is, whether you have two people in your meeting room versus eight people the next day, your meeting room AV makes each meeting just as productive, no matter where all the participants are. Let's explore some of these key features below.

In the not-too-distant past, setting up a video conferencing room was an exercise in integration. Separate cameras, microphones, speakers, processing, interconnects, and control interfaces all had to be integrated into a cohesive system. Many conference rooms are still custom-built this way, depending on the specific needs of that space and the organization. However, there has been a rise in the “appliance” meeting room solution, an integrated solution that solves the audio and video communication needs of most conference rooms. 

Some of the best of those solutions come from Poly, a longtime player in conference room AV, starting with the ubiquitous Polycom conferencing phones from the 1980s that were found in most corporate meeting rooms. Now, you might think, does an appliance-type solution work for the enterprise? One of the things that aids in deploying meeting room solutions across hundreds or thousands of rooms in disparate locations is standardization. If you can operate a solution in each space that is consistent in usage and operation, you decrease complexity, downtime, and cost. Aided by the fact that Poly is now part of HP and has worldwide distribution and support, solutions like the Poly Studio appliance series are a smart choice for enterprises in Phoenix, AZ, and around the world. 

Keep reading below to explore the benefits of Poly meeting room solutions for your organization.

Customization has long reigned supreme in the conference room AV industry. AV integrators source individual hardware, from microphones to displays, and build conferencing systems unique to each business. 

But as standard solutions like Teams Rooms and Zoom Rooms develop, many wonder which is best for their business: a custom or standard system. The answer? It depends. It depends on how much customization you want, your budget, and when you’re hoping to get started with your new conference rooms. 

Whether or not businesses should buy a standard room package or design their own is up to them. But here are some points that can help your company decide. 

As technology continues to advance rapidly, businesses may find themselves replacing their AV systems every few years to keep up with modern demands—or be stuck with outdated solutions. If only there were a simpler way to update and expand…

There is—the “as-a-service” model applied to technology integration. Integration as a Service works like a subscription plan in which your provider integrates disparate systems and technologies, providing them as a working, on-demand service to your organization. IaaS includes systems monitoring and maintaining the infrastructure for you. 

And just like phone plans allow customers to upgrade their smartphones every few years, IaaS is a convenient, simple way to outsource AV management. So rather than pay one time for an integration installation, you’ll pay a monthly subscription for much less of a hassle.

Here’s why Integration as a Service is worthwhile for your business.

As a term, service delivery management seems self-explanatory. If you’re in the information technology world, you also understand how it applies to your sphere of influence. In the AV world, let’s say that considering your AV infrastructure – like conference rooms and meeting spaces – as a service might not seem intuitive, but it is. Your AV investments are not a collection of rooms, microphones, projectors, screens, cameras, and audio mixers; they are a service to facilitate communication and collaboration for your organization. 

How, then, do you apply principles of service delivery management best practices to your AV systems? If you’ve adopted the mindset that AV is a service, you're halfway there. We can take many of the same techniques applied to IT services to AV and adapt them accordingly. Let's take a closer look at five essential practices and metrics to ensure your Tempe, AZ, organization can properly evaluate the quality of service delivery management. 

If your organization hires a third party for managed AV, you’ll want to ensure you’re getting the best service possible. So what does that look like?

With more IoT devices than ever in our conference rooms and offices, these cloud-connected gadgets are as vulnerable to cyber threats as any computer or laptop. You need an IT management company that consistently updates your network and ensures all endpoints are protected. 

A great managed AV provider should work with your existing network processes rather than bulldoze through with their own standards. They should be transparent and proactively update your network. Before partnering with a company for managed IT solutions, make sure they provide an SLA with detailed metrics and look for the following six features.

The hybrid work model raised many questions for businesses—and Poly has been ahead of the curve in addressing these issues. Poly’s hardware and software solutions streamline the video conferencing experience and simplify device management for IT teams. 

As a full-service AV integration firm, we're big advocates of Poly’s meeting room solutions. One of Poly’s major advantages? Businesses that use more than one video conferencing system don’t have to choose between Zoom or Teams. With Poly, you can use your existing equipment to join different meetings. 

But Poly knows that large businesses need a way to manage and monitor conferencing hardware and understand how the technology is actually being used. Enter Poly Lens, the management software that unifies all video conferencing endpoints. In this blog article, we’ll dive into how Poly Lens works and why it’s invaluable to modern businesses.

What’s an AV manager’s worst nightmare? If you’re responsible for your company's AV systems, you likely have a few stories to insert here. But perhaps nothing is worse than incurring the wrath of your CEO and executive team. Imagine a video conference that went south because the camera stopped working. Or the audio stopped working or experienced constant dropouts. The meetings in your boardroom are high-profile and involve people who are highly paid for their time, so any glitches in the AV setup are magnified at this level. Having a boardroom that experiences sporadic problems is a sure way to make the responsible manager fear for their job security. 

How do you ensure the reliability and robustness of the boardroom technology in your Phoenix, AZ, company? Please keep reading below for our take.