It is widely accepted that a hybrid working style will be the chosen model for most businesses in the post-pandemic world.  

But while this newfound flexibility is welcomed by employees, it’s important for organisations to recognise the impact this will have on their existing meeting rooms. 

Speaking to UC Today, Dawson Cai, Head of Microsoft Solutions at Yealink, talked through some of the challenges that businesses are facing. 

“Fitting the new hybrid scenario requires some changes,” he said. “Firstly, meeting rooms to have the ability to have local and remote meetings; this is quite basic. 

“Secondly, the equipment in the room, especially the camera, needs to be smarter. Cameras should cooperate with the profile of meeting participants and recognise them, to provide a smart screen layout.” 

However, Cai said that the most difficult aspect of meeting room upgrades comes from the installation. 

Teams Rooms, for example, often have multiple components such as a PC, touchscreen consoles, cameras, etc. 

“When we began to design our Microsoft Teams Rooms, we tried to make the installation easier; we didn’t want the end user to make big changes to their meeting rooms,” Cai said. 

“We made our products more integrated; we integrated the touch console and share product into one product and we built an all-in-one video bar for small rooms.” 

But Cai said the most significant thing that Yealink has achieved is to reduce the number of cables needed in a complete solution. Yealink’s touch consoles, microphones, cameras and speakers need just a standard cat5 cable to get up running; with connections by USB cable not needed. 

Looking forward, Cai said that the market can expect to see an even tighter integration between Microsoft and Yealink, as well as joint innovation on products – particularly focused on artificial intelligence (AI) technology. 

“In the past six months our business with rooms devices has grown very quickly,” he added. 

“We will continue together with Microsoft to bring more AI-powered audio and camera devices to improve the hybrid meeting experience. 

“This year, Yealink and Microsoft jointed released an intelligent speaker for Microsoft Teams Rooms, with Microsoft AI and Yealink’s professional audio technology, for an excellent meeting experience – while supporting AI features like voice command” 

“This product is just the beginning; more and more products are coming.” 

 



from UC Today https://ift.tt/3zKLAJk