Leverage the Best of Teams and Zoom with Poly Integrated Meeting Room Solutions

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.

SEE ALSO: Why Poly is a Smart Choice for Enterprise Meeting Room Solutions

Audio Clarity

While audio clarity isn't necessarily a feature of Teams and Zooms, it's an absolute necessity in any hybrid meeting, as remote participants can feel left out when voices are unclear, and the inherent remote nature of meetings makes it awkward to interrupt. Poly meeting room systems like the Studio series employ two processing technologies to increase voice clarity. Poly Acoustic Fence is an echo cancellation technology that uses the system's microphones to reduce background noises like office chatter and machinery hum from reaching remote participants, clarifying in-room conversations. Poly's Noiseblock AI employs machine learning to listen to sounds like typing clatter and paper shuffling, blocking them out to make voices and conversations clearer. With both Microsoft Teams and Zoom implementing audio transcription features, voice clarity is essential for accuracy. 

Inclusive Hybrid Meetings

Standard conference room design leaves something to be desired to ensure every hybrid meeting participant feels included. One camera on a group of people doesn't capture the same focus and facial expressions that a camera on a laptop or other device captures for the remote participant. Both Microsoft Zoom and Teams have implemented technology solutions to this problem. Poly's DirectorAI technology includes auto speaker tracking and automatic framing in the Studio series. This technology enables Poly to support inclusivity features like Zoom Smart Gallery and Microsoft Teams Intelliframe, which automatically focuses on in-room speakers so remote participants can feel like they’re right in the room. 

Customized Meeting Experiences

Meeting room participants need flexibility in running hybrid meetings. You might need to control the automated camera features in a meeting where you have a presentation to make without interruptions. Poly solutions for Microsoft Teams include the camera control app, which lets participants control camera features like auto-framing and toggle between camera modes with just a touch on a touchscreen controller. 

Poly systems also integrate well with other devices to offer different ways to manage a room. For example, in Zoom Room mode, a Poly X70 system can connect to a standard touch-enabled flat screen, creating an easy way for an instructor to control a Zoom Room experience for a large hybrid classroom. The system’s wide-angle camera and intelligent microphones capture the instructor and student interactions clearly for remote participants while being able to use Smart Gallery features when needed.

If you need assistance in modernizing and upgrading your meeting rooms to the latest collaboration platform technologies with Poly solutions, we can help. Level 3 Audiovisual is a Phoenix, Arizona-based national managed services provider helping organizations of all sizes across the U.S. design, deploy, and manage AV systems and infrastructure. 

Learn more by reaching out to Level 3 Audiovisual or clicking the chat box below to connect instantly. We look forward to working with you.