Blog posts by Kinly Global Marketing

Back at a press event in New York City in April 2019, the first unveiling of the Surface Hub 2S in the much bigger format (85” to be precise) got alot of us excited and we've been waiting in anticipation on it's official launch ever since! As of January 2021, it’s now available for pre-order ahead of shipping from Q1 onwards.* Designed to facilitate spaces that require a much larger screen, the Microsoft Surface Hub 2S 85” delivers collaboration on a massive scale. State-of-the-art hardware with Microsoft 365 productivity, the Surface Hub 2S can help you to achieve teamwork without boundaries. The new 85” version is ideal for deploying in larger conference rooms, board rooms or even more expansive huddle spaces and classroom/teaching settings. Make remote meetings feel less remote Today's modern workplace is constantly evolving, especially in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic. Workforces are more remote than ever, with an increased demand for flexible solutions and tools that create a seamless experience when meeting colleagues. What’s more, with the likelihood of hybrid work environments becoming the norm when transitioning back to the office, it’s key that the right technology is there to make communication and teamwork easy. Bridge the gap between those who are in the office and those who are still remote, with a powerful meeting platform offering vibrant, life-sized video via Microsoft Teams. The larger screen of the 85” Microsoft Surface Hub S2 can also facilitate social distancing for those back in the workplace, allowing peers to stay 2 metres apart while still working together. Beyond the workplace The Microsoft Surface Hub 2S in 85” isn’t just an ideal solution for the workplace. It can also become part of the digital transformation for schools and higher education institutions, in a world where students and professionals alike have had to find new ways to access resources and to deliver the curriculum.

Cisco is launching a range of new Webex devices for optimal video conferencing experiences from your office desk or home office aimed at helping enterprises to strike a balance between work from home (WFH) and return to office (RTO) for the emerging hybrid workplace model to succeed.

The recent COVID-19 months have brought even more focus on workplace trends such as remote working and workplace flexibility. Digital technologies including video conferencing and collaboration tools have become a 'go-to' in facilitating business continuity amongst a remote workforce. With workplaces becoming more open to adopting different technologies, it’s important that productivity is supported and challenges are solved along the way. Today’s modern workplace is creating a need for more products and services that enable hybrid meeting environments, especially when the vast majority of meetings in 2021 and beyond will almost certainly always have at least one remote particpant. "By 2024, in-person meetings will drop from 60% of enterprise meetings to 25%, driven by remote work and changing workforce demographics" (Gartner) The rise of videoconferencing Over the years the workplace has transformed itself with new technology and trends; BYOD was once a ground-breaking concept, which is now very much the norm. The same goes for the rise of videoconferencing, a tool that many businesses have adapted to - in a way like never before - as workforces become more remote. The pandemic in particular has led a surge in the adoption of video conferencing tools, with workforces split up and relying on video communication to keep businesses running. Being able to bring teams together through the right solutions has been key but also being able to work together over video has been a critical step in the adoption curve. Now, the next workplace technology acronym is here to encourage businesses to adopt systems that meet the users needs. Today’s workforce wants to work with the technology and platforms of their choice; the tools which have enabled them to continue to work this year. Many workforces will avoid using equipment they aren’t familiar with or find difficult to use, instead opting for conferencing solutions that are easy and intuitive. This has paved the way for BYOM; 'Bring Your Own Meeting', which has been championed by Barco. What is BYOM? BYOM is a concept that allows users to host and join video meetings and share content using a preferred platform in an existing meeting room or space from their own device. Embracing BYOM is made possible by Barco ClickShare Conference (CX), which allows for wireless conferencing from any device using an existing meeting room USB camera such as Logitech MeetUp for instance. You have the ability to easily connect to the conferencing platfrom (Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, Zoom, Google Meet + many more) and share content via your laptop, but importantly utilising the meeting room display and USB room camera for a richer experience. Transform a virtual desktop meeting for one into a sharing experience for many with a simple set-up process, due to a system that is compatible with the laptop device you may be using for work. Barco ClickShare Conference can facilitate a BYOM experience, in a range of diffrent meeting spaces within the workplace.

Over the last few months, and in particular the last couple of weeks, it’s felt as though the world around us has changed massively - so many things are now operating so differently and life, at least for the near future, isn’t quite how we expected it to be. This is, of course, due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic which means so many of us are in lockdown, confined to our homes away from much of our family and friends.

Does your workplace have the right technology solutions and services in place to ensure reliable and effective meetings for remote working?

The way we work together has been constantly changing over the years. We began by assigning each employee a fixed workspace. In the time that followed, we worked in spacious open-office environments — but that trend is also fading. Now, different spaces in a building are designed to match the type of activity that we want to perform. In other words: activity-based workspaces. Research by “Leesman” shows that activity-based working has a positive effect on collaboration and productivity. This blog will explore considerations required to choose the right activity-based workspaces for your office.

Deal with company travel bans and travel restrictions, meet with your colleagues wherever you are. A smarter office incorporating video meeting solutions at work and at home can enable you to keep your operations running in challenging times.

The way in which we work today, is a lot more dynamic than before. Nowadays we go to the office to meet colleagues, to work together or because we need access to technology that is more advanced than our laptop or mobile phone. Office spaces are adapted to this and are much better attuned to the activities that we want to carry out, which are what we call activity-based workspaces.

Having a laptop, mobile phone and access to the internet is often enough for most knowledge workers to be able to do their work when and where they want and to be able to contact their colleagues via the telephone, a video call or by collaboration using platforms such as Microsoft Teams. Technological progress makes this possible and easier, but labor market trends certainly affect how fast this progress occurs. Therefore, we will cover three significant ones in this blog.