If historians are still arguing over 2020’s official word of the year, I think an early contender for 2021 might be flexibility. As the world grapples with ongoing economic uncertainty while struggling to carve out a new normality, the way we connect and communicate is going to have to roll with changing needs, expectations, external circumstances, and individual preferences.
Crestron are ready for this, and to support video collaboration wherever and however users are working, their new range of Flex phones — designed to cover the breadth of different room sizes and configurations to support every way we work today.
I spoke to Graham Walsh, Technical Solutions Director, Worldwide UC Device Partners at Crestron, about the Flex range and what to expect in 2021, to find out more about the new devices — which start with the UC-P8-T, a premium VoIP desk phone (pictured above) designed for use with Microsoft Teams.
The Crestron Flex range
Graham Walsh
“It’s an 8” touchscreen device with a simple click-to-join experience, to use with or without a handset/headset. It’s ideal for the knowledge worker at home, because it can be deployed anywhere on local WiFi, which also makes it suitable for small meeting rooms or booths.” But it’s more than just a phone: “Another benefit is that you can actually receive your content, so if someone sends you a presentation you can view it on the screen and even pinch to zoom in/out”.
To fill the gaps in flexible meeting rooms which might now be accommodating smaller numbers of people in larger spaces, there’s a 10” version too, and Crestron are also launching a new range of Android room devices.
“These are more of an appliance, so you don’t have the overhead of managing a Windows environment,” Walsh continued, describing a very straightforward single-use deployment ideal for the home-based CEO, or anyone else who might be tempted to tinker. “The user can’t install anything else on it, and the vendor does all the updates directly. Their kids can’t sideload Minecraft on it, it’s just not possible!”
Meanwhile, back at the office…
While the Flex and Android devices are a thoughtful solution to the hybrid needs of the flexible worker, Crestron’s deep history in room booking panels has also been updated for 2021 — offering new variants for the new normality, and a trade-in plan for previous models and even competitors panels.
Helping businesses manage shared space in a more responsive and fluid way will clearly be vital as the world steadily unlocks, and creating touch-free meeting management is a central strategy.
“Future developments for that panel (in Microsoft Teams mode) will include sensors to prevent room blocking because with people working in the office and at home we predict there will be meetings set that then take place digitally. A sensor paired with the panel will be able to release that resource automatically if the meeting doesn’t take place,” Walsh explained, envisaging a far more smart and flexible use of office space.
“With XiO cloud to manage all of these functions, hosted in the Microsoft Azure IoT Hub, we’ll be able to support users globally and push firmware updates. Even create tickets automatically,” he continued — so problems may even be fixable before the user becomes aware of them. “If you can see there’s a 9am meeting on-site, you can have someone local get there and have everything powered up again ahead of time”
With Crestron’s Flex Care, market-leading advance-replacement customer support will ensure that the devices we depend on for our UC in the new flexible world never leave us disconnected, and with more new devices showcased this week at Microsoft Ignite, one safe prediction is that 2021 is going to be a busy and exciting time for Crestron and their customers.
If you missed the webinar on February 18th, you can catch the replay right now.
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