UC Round Table: Hybrid Meeting Rooms

Industry experts discuss the latest trends, most difficult challenges, and most exciting developments in hybrid meeting rooms

Last Edited: June 5, 2023

Kieran Devlin

The modern meeting room remains a topical debate as we navigate the ideal hybrid working environment.

A hybrid meeting room that perfectly complements remote and on-premises working is a holy grail. Since the pandemic, while the hybrid ideal is still elusive to some extent, significant progress has been made in its pursuit. From AI-powered solutions and the latest in audio and video conferencing tech to interactive collaboration tools and specialised room design and layout, there are game-changing innovations across the industry in 2023.

However, the hybrid meeting room is still in its relative infancy, and different businesses have different approaches to implementing them into their specific processes.

With our latest Round Table subject, "Hybrid Meeting Rooms", we spoke with experts and executives from Coolpo, RingCentral, Jabra, Airtame and Bose Professional about the latest trends in the hybrid meeting room space, the challenges of implementing hybrid room solutions, the key considerations when adopting hybrid meeting rooms, and how meeting rooms might evolve in the future to adapt to the needs of modern workspaces.

Ray Zhu, CEO at Coolpo

Zhu noted that hybrid teams are increasingly looking at "more AI-integrated, portable, and all-in-one devices that their hybrid team can bring with them to the office or when they are working remotely. Some studies have shown that 47 percent of Americans and 58 percent of UK workers prefer a hybrid model."

Zhu explained that hybrid workers need compact devices which they can use to access meetings alone or remotely. "During days when they’re at the office," he added, "each individual can create their own hybrid meeting room space with the help of these devices with AI-integrated features that can accommodate groups and individuals with a simple click of a button."

Ben Wu, Senior Product Marketing Manager at RingCentral

Wu, too, highlighted utilising AI as a significant trend in hybrid meeting rooms.

"A lot of the focus has been on leveraging AI to provide equitable meeting experiences for office and remote employees," Wu said. "Some applications of AI in rooms include using multiple cameras to capture and frame in-room participants in individual panes and even removing background distractions from the camera view. Continual improvements in background noise cancellation to ensure roaming participants can be heard, no matter where they are in the room."

Wu underling the ongoing movement towards all-in-one video bar appliances to power meeting room experiences on the hardware side of the conversation. "These appliances are super simple to use (with camera and sound all in one), you can set up and position them in any room right out of the box, and they come with built-in AI background noise removal and participant tracking."

"The meeting room experience really continues to emphasise the importance of having a truly unified communications system," Wu continued. "Just as businesses rely on chat, video, calls, webinars, etc. for internal and external communications, businesses will also need to consider hybrid meeting rooms that work seamlessly with what they’re already using today."

Susanne Lund, CEO at Airtame

Lund argued that flexibility in technology solutions is in demand so that consumers have more seamless hybrid conference and collaboration processes: "They don't want to be locked into one video conferencing platform, and vendors are adjusting as a result. Solutions that support cross-platform video conferencing options with interoperability functionality are becoming the most effective and popular solutions."

Lund pointed out that the UC industry has seen discussions around implementing augmented reality into hybrid working processes subside, with a greater focus on refining current at-home and in-office technology to enhance the everyday work experience rather than necessarily revolutionise it through XR. "The focus for vendors is creating seamlessly integrable solutions that engage and meet the needs of end-users," Lund said.

"Even in a post-COVID world, the traditional meeting room is no longer the only place people want to collaborate in an effective way. Users want more flexibility with video conferencing tools – organisations and vendors are moving towards solutions that embrace hybrid work and promote collaboration."

Nigel Dunn, Vice President and Managing Director EMEA at Jabra

Dunn highlighted one structural trend of organisations redesigning and reconfiguring workspaces: "This may involve reducing the size of their physical workplace and creating collaboration spaces with UC solutions that meet the demands of a hybrid workforce."

"We are seeing continued demand for video-enabled meeting rooms," Dunn continued. "This ranges from smaller rooms where you bring your own device and simply plug-and-play to join a call to larger board-room style spaces where businesses are upgrading to purpose-built meeting room systems. Organisations are looking for simplicity and easy-to-use systems that are optimised for Microsoft Teams and Zoom and deliver the best experience, whether you are in the room or joining from home."

Adam Shulman, Product Lead, Installed Systems Business at Bose Professional

Shulman noted that with more knowledge workers returning to the office and hybrid working becoming the new normal, there has also been a complementary increase in employee expectations around "the virtual experience from both an image and sound perspective."

"Regardless of location, employees want the same experience," Shulman said, "the ability to see everyone in the room up close; and hear every aspect of the conversations happening. Beam-steering microphones and auto-framing camera capabilities are quickly becoming the standard capabilities manufacturers need to consider."

Susanne Lund, CEO at Airtame

Lund highlighted several challenges in adopting hybrid meeting room solutions, the most significant of which is ensuring whichever solutions organisations install are being adopted.

"It's unfortunate for companies to invest large sums of money into hybrid meeting room technology, only to find that user adoption is slow or stagnant," Lund commented. "Lack of adoption is an essential issue for organisations to address. It can be avoided by prioritising tools that are extremely user-friendly, blend seamlessly into daily work, and support hybrid collaboration and productivity."

Lund suggested these integration challenges can be overcome by testing these solutions before installing them so leaders can understand what works for them and their employees in their specific environments. "Companies that adopt these new solutions find success in sending out messaging and training materials once new tools are installed," Lund said.

"Those that are most successful with hybrid technology adoption often identify internal solution experts who can serve as new-technology ambassadors to the rest of the organisation. Prioritising these investments up front and periodically checking in on user feedback will protect IT staff and will ensure employees know how to use the tools they’re given."

Adam Shulman, Product Lead, Installed Systems Business at Bose Professional

Shulman believed the frequency of formal meeting spaces on-premises would shrink with the growth of hybrid working and rapidly evolving AI tech, meaning meeting rooms will move "towards the extremes of cost and complexity".

"They will be either low-cost, easy to setup and use by the end user, small rooms (and in many cases, rooms that were not formerly meeting spaces)", Shulman expanded. "Or, they will be fully-integrated rooms with high-end features. Still easy to use, but professionally designed, integrated and monitored."

Ben Wu, Senior Product Marketing Manager at RingCentral

Wu argued that one of the biggest challenges in hybrid meeting rooms is ensuring remote participants feel genuinely included. "It's easy for the meeting host to focus just on in-meeting participants," Wu said. "As a start, a moderator could be assigned to monitor meeting chat and raised hands to ensure everyone has a chance to participate and take advantage of collaborative tools such as whiteboards where remote and in-room participants can both interact."

Wu highlighted the extensive workload for admins in these scenarios, managing the various meeting spaces and the cameras, mics and conferencing applications. "There's nothing worse than an employee trying to use a room and wasting time trying to figure out why something doesn't work," Wu added. "To avoid this, ensure that your room solution has the analytics and tools (like with RingCentral Rooms) that your admin can use to proactively monitor, troubleshoot, and fix issues remotely."

Nigel Dunn, Vice President and Managing Director EMEA at Jabra

Dunn also earmarked the usability of meeting room solutions and employee confidence in managing them effectively. "Video conferencing solutions should be easy to set up and use, so anyone can walk into the room and be up and running at the touch of a button," Dunn said.

"Organisations also need to understand how a meeting room is really used and assess whether they have the right solutions in place that deliver a good meeting experience that works for everyone," he continued. "For example, if a whiteboard is used regularly, Jabra's PanaCast 50 provides real-time whiteboard streaming where participants can enhance their whiteboard content, so both virtual and physical attendees can all see it clearly."

Dunn also stressed the importance of video in positively impacting the meeting experience, citing Jabra research that 61 percent of employees feel more included and present in meetings when everyone has their camera turned on. "More than half of the employees feel they can collaborate more productively on video calls than on audio-only calls," he added.

Ray Zhu, CEO at Coolpo

Zhu believed the biggest challenge is adequate support — from an organisation's preferred vendor and its team of leaders and employees. "Your organisation should choose vendors that can provide the support your company needs, whether you have an in-house IT team or not," Zhu said. "It makes technical integration, connectivity, and adoption concerns less intimidating if you have your vendor's support every step of the way."

"Members of the team should observe senior management who support hybrid meeting room solutions using the technology they are introducing. It increases the team's confidence in the technology if they know it's useful at every level of the company."

Nigel Dunn, Vice President and Managing Director EMEA at Jabra

Dunn's primary consideration was how and for what purpose a meeting room would be used. "If the aim is to create a room mainly for video meetings, is the table the right shape and size to seat people around it comfortably, where should it be positioned, and can everyone in the room be seen and heard by participants who aren't in the room?" Dunn said.

"Intelligent camera technologies, such as Dynamic Composition, provide a close-up view of people when they speak. So all participants can contribute equally, and meetings are more inclusive."

Dunn highlighted that organisations could use data and AI to inform their decision-making on optimising office space and IT investments. "Jabra's PanaCast 50 video bar offers a 180-degree field of view that fits everyone in the picture," Dunn added. "Intelligent features like Room Usage Insights and PeopleCount generate anonymous room occupancy data. This gives organisations an accurate picture of how facilities are being utilised, enabling better decision-making on how to change and improve office space."

Ray Zhu, CEO at Coolpo

Zhu argued that selecting the best video conference cameras would be essential. However, it would also require providing appropriate training and support for the employees using the equipment: "Selecting a high-quality video conference camera like Coolpo AI Huddle Pana, Coolpo AI Huddle Mini, or Coolpo Mini Lite that is compatible with almost all of the mainstream UC&C platforms can improve the video conferencing experience and save time."

Zhu added that providing employees with proper training and troubleshooting support could save money in the long term. "By considering these factors, businesses can maximise their investment in a hybrid meeting room solution and create a seamless, immersive experience," Zhu said.

Susanne Lund, CEO at Airtame

Lund suggested prioritising adaptable, user-friendly tools would be essential to successful hybrid meeting rooms. "Realistically, solutions will evolve, and companies will need to adapt in order to continue to provide high-quality technology for employees. In light of this, picking a hybrid meeting room solution that locks them into a specific operating system or conferencing provider can be risky."

Lund explained that if changes aren't currently noticeable, adaptability is still essential, as businesses should still account for operating systems and conferencing services from their clients and partners.

"Choosing solutions that are easy to use is also very important," Lund stressed. "Even if you have the most capable, flexible tools, if they are complex and counterintuitive, users may be reluctant to implement them into their daily professional lives."

Ben Wu, Senior Product Marketing Manager at RingCentral

Wu also believed useability is critical to successful hybrid meeting rooms, from "the video conferencing software down to the peripherals such as cameras, microphones, and speakers".

"Take into consideration the acoustics of the room to ensure that there's no echo or feedback, as well as proper lighting and strategic table/seating arrangements to ensure that all in-room participants can be seen and heard," Wu continued. "To ensure they are maximising the value of their investment, make sure to choose a meeting room solution that is scalable across meeting spaces of all sizes and is compatible with standard hardware that allows you to take advantage of existing hardware, camera, and displays."

Wu did emphasise that a business interested in the latest hardware should consider device-as-a-service (DaaS) programmes. "There are DaaS programmes designed to reduce the upfront costs and investment while providing value with the top-end equitable meeting experiences," he said.

Adam Shulman, Product Lead, Installed Systems Business at Bose Professional

Shulman saw the future of hybrid meeting rooms increasingly centring on being "user-first" rather than "technology-first" as effective hybrid meetings continue to evolve into a requirement rather than a luxury. Shulman distinguishes between technology-first processes as "the user learns how to use the technology on the technology's terms". In contrast, user-first processes comprise "the technology interacts with the user in already-familiar ways".

"This means we will see more use of users’ own devices and familiar software interfaces to manage meetings – because it is how end users already know how to operate their technology."

Shulman expanded with an example: "End users are already using voice commands in their homes and vehicles – why not in meetings? Imagine walking into a meeting room with no visible devices and having the ability to fully host and control the meeting with voice commands — including accessing and sharing content. We won't need 20 or 30 years to pass to be able to say, ‘I remember when we had to select different settings through multiple screens on a touch display.'"

Susanne Lund, CEO at Airtame

Lund agreed that tools must be developed to be user-first for businesses to support adaptable work options. "These developments continue to be exciting for the UC industry," Lund expanded. "Video conferencing tools that provide the greatest flexibility and seamless experience for users – like the ability to screen share wirelessly without having to join a call or plug in a laptop – will ultimately be most successful in years to come."

Lund mentioned several new pieces of tech emerging that will make video conferencing a more holistic experience in the future.

"Google Starline and Steelcase's Project Ghost are both extremely exciting for the industry despite being mostly experimental at this phase and very high-end," Lund said. "Multi-camera video conferencing technology is also really impressive and on the rise. It's not perfect yet, but it adds a compelling real-world feel to meetings, and most importantly, promotes meeting equity for all participants – which is the ultimate goal for hybrid work systems."

Lund also highlighted the pattern of organisations utilising displays in meeting rooms beyond just conferencing and screen sharing. "We’re seeing more meeting room solutions integrate digital signage into their conferencing tools in a way that's seamless for the users," she said, "allowing them to use the screen real estate to display messaging without having to change inputs or any other complex technicalities."

Nigel Dunn, Vice President and Managing Director EMEA at Jabra

Dunn argued that as the transition to hybrid work continued, the demand for more sophisticated meeting experiences would grow: "Meeting rooms are being designed for hybrid needs with video front and centre, such as Signature Microsoft Teams Rooms equipped with video conferencing and room systems, where furniture is arranged so that all attendees, remote and in-person, face each other."

"Companies will evolve their workspaces to create meeting experiences where all participants can be included and have equal presence and impact," Dunn elaborated. "In Jabra's UK office in Langley, we have done exactly this ourselves, creating flexible spaces with the PanaCast 50 video bar in all meeting rooms. With artificial intelligence doing much of the work, our solutions bring people closer across the hybrid workplace with new and improved video collaboration experiences."

Ray Zhu, CEO at Coolpo

Zhu believed that future meeting rooms would emulate workstations post-pandemic and be truly anywhere. "With the right technology," Zhu said, "you can turn a coffee shop table or coworking space into a hybrid meeting space for your personal use or that of your colleagues."

"Clear video, crisp audio, blocked background noises, and perfect framing are all ingredients of the perfect device," Zhu continued. "What will improve your overall experience are AI features that will ensure seamless transitions from a remote setup to a hybrid setup with just a click of a button."

Ben Wu, Senior Product Marketing Manager at RingCentral

Wu emphasised that a modern workplace means redesigning the entire office experience — not just the meeting room. "This is inclusive of areas such as kiosks for front desk check-ins and managing workspace reservations," Wu said. "This will be especially important as companies begin bringing employees back to work and implementing a hybrid work structure. It will be important for them to understand things such as office space utilisation."

"Hybrid meeting rooms aren't just limited to the traditional mid-market/enterprise huddle space or meeting room you would typically think about. Still, it's evolving to encompass businesses of all sizes. For example, for SMBs or entrepreneurs, it's about applying the same concept of the same hybrid meeting room space in perhaps their own home office to look more professional."