BEYOND THE BOARDROOM: HOW IT TEAMS CAN SUPPORT QUALITY AUDIO, EVERYWHERE

When people think of flexible work styles, they often think of people working from home, or on the move. But workplace transformation is also changing the setup of the traditional, physical office. 

And one of the cultural changes to the way people collaborate is the fact that the boardroom is no longer the go-to area for important conferences. 

That critical call with a client, the briefing with a supplier or the regular catch up with international colleagues is just as likely to happen in a smaller meeting room or an informal collaboration space. 

And with employees demanding the same communications experience wherever they are, there’s pressure on the IT department to support quality audio conferencing throughout the office. 

HIGH QUALITY AUDIO MUST BE THE NORM, NOT A ONE-OFF 

One of IT’s biggest challenges is resolving the inconsistencies. The room’s performance should not be impeded by the unique behavior of each user. Each conferencing system needs to be easy to set up, and users need to be confident that they’ll be heard. 

Poor performance is a surefire way to put people off using technology. And create more work for the IT support team. Every conference call, made from anywhere in the office, must be high-quality and make connections feel effortless. 

BRINGING A/V INTO THE UC ENVIRONMENT 

The first step is to add the audio network to the corporate networking environment. The benefits of a network-based, software-defined approach to audio are many. Flexibility, scalability, quality, cost are just a few. 

If a business is using a VC setup, there are now products that can simply connect into that environment. This solution will greatly improve the user’s experience and more importantly, their productivity. 

IMPROVING AUDIO WITHOUT A COMPLETE REFIT 

Understandably there’s a desire among IT pros to design sound systems that are fit for purpose, but which don’t require a complete refit. 

The good news is, there are some quick wins. Work spaces can be improved relatively easily. 

Through greater understanding of room acoustics, IT departments can find ways to improve sound quality in their meeting spaces. Simple design issues such as selecting the most suitable microphone formats and placing them in the optimal position can make a huge difference to the acoustic output of the room. 

While IT teams are aware they need high-quality mics, recent developments have brought conferencing audio on significantly. The ability to more accurately capture sound sources and remove background noise – all with an intuitive user interface and while integrating with an existing AV/IT infrastructure – is something many haven’t experienced before. 

NEXT STEPS 

There’s a lot of potential to bring A/V into the UC environment, and by adjusting the setup of your existing meeting areas. Educate yourself, and the rest of your team, about the options by reading the whitepapers below.