They happen because every room works a little differently.

In one room, employees launch the meeting from a touch controller. In another, they connect a laptop. The room down the hall supports wireless sharing, but only if someone remembers which application to open. Then a customer sends a Zoom invitation to a company that primarily uses Microsoft Teams, and nobody is sure whether the room can join it.

With the unprecedented effects of the pandemic this past year, millions of office workers relocated to their homes to work. It may have been a completely new experience to many, but several companies discovered that remote work could be just as productive as working in an office if you have the right tools.

The right tools for the work-from-home revolution turned out to be intuitive and feature-rich video conferencing and collaboration platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. These systems helped workers communicate virtually almost as well as if they were face to face, with voice, video, chat, screen sharing, and other options to make meetings digital.