The work-from-anywhere technology powering the new hybrid work model is nothing if not agile.  

Post-pandemic, it responded to the explosion in demand for truly unified communications that enabled the world to do business. 

And now – as we all continue to adapt to dialling-in remotely to our daily workflows – video conferencing technology in particular is upping its game. 

Hungry for slicker, higher-quality and more effective experiences, users are quick to leverage any advancement in functionality and features. 

For providers and their reseller partners, opportunities are everywhere. 

But what’s new and what’s next? 

Well, two things are front and centre: yet more sophisticated camera capabilities and enhanced security. 

End user enterprises and resellers smart enough to keep pace with both are sure to score big. 

“Hybrid meetings have evolved rapidly in the last two years to keep businesses of all sizes connected and collaborative,” says Arash Ghanaie-Sichanie, Senior Director of Product Management for Teams AI Devices, at Microsoft. 

“The next phase, as companies embrace an increasingly hybrid working world, is to improve the meeting experience by enhancing collaboration and inclusion for in-room as well as remote attendees.” 

Global unified audio and video vendor Jabra is at the forefront of these latest advancements. 

It has recently released clever updates to it PanaCast 20 and PanaCast 50 conference cameras which significantly raise the user experience bar – the 20 getting a new background blur function and the 50 deploying ground-breaking ‘Dynamic Composition’ technology co-developed with Microsoft to provide a more seamless and effective Microsoft Teams Rooms meeting experience. 

The software-enabled experience leverages AI to automatically provide close-up views of participants in physical meeting rooms – mimicking the view of those joining remotely. 

Engineered to create more collaborative and inclusive meeting experiences for Teams users, Dynamic Composition enables people joining meetings remotely to view up to four of the most recent speakers face-to-face, matching the view of front-facing personal video conferencing cameras. 

Jabra’s 2022 edition of its Hybrid Ways of Working Global Report revealed that 37% of employees globally say they often feel left out of the conversation in hybrid meetings. This latest enhancement will improve participants’ ability to collaborate and increase employee engagement.  

“Dynamic Composition is a completely reimagined meeting experience to meet the needs of today’s workforce,” said Aurangzeb Khan, senior vice president of Intelligent Vision Systems at Jabra. 

“Hybrid environments are the new normal for workers across the globe, yet there are disparities between those in-person and those collaborating remotely. This important enhancement addresses these challenges, combining PanaCast 50’s state-of-the-art system and Microsoft’s command of the virtual meeting experience to bring more seamless hybrid work collaboration to life”   

The PanaCast 50, first introduced in April 2021, pioneered a new standard in video collaboration technology with its unique 180° field-of-view that captures the entire room, as well as delivering a complete meeting room experience which provides a more impactful perception for remote participants joining meeting rooms. 

This includes Intelligent Zoom that automatically adjusts the video stream to follow the flow of the meeting and Virtual Director, which helps people follow and participate in the flow of conversation naturally. 

But security, too, is being enhanced. 

A major firmware update to PanaCast 20, available in July, will further safeguard personal communications in the enterprise.  

Enabled and managed through the Jabra Direct software application, the update will permit users to optionally blur or replace their video background with a solid colour. 

However, unlike the use of client-based virtual backgrounds where the original user video passes over networks and through the cloud to the client, these background effects are processed and applied directly on the device using PanaCast 20’s integrated Edge AI processing. 

The client receives only the resulting processed image, thus ensuring that a user’s surroundings and sensitive data that may appear in the background of their original video image remain fully secure and completely private – never leaving the device. 

Holger Reisinger, SVP at Jabra, said: “The way we work has changed forever, so we need technology that evolves with the era. We want to showcase the best-in-class hybrid technology that addresses the needs of today’s workers and any security concerns from remote working. It’s all about quality, convenience and security; enabling employee productivity and true meeting equity.”  

In a word, agile! 

To learn more about how Jabra can help your and your customers’ businesses leverage the opportunities presented by hybrid working, visit www.jabra.com 

 

 



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