Meeting room AV: what makes a smarter workspace?
A smarter workspace uses interoperable meeting room AV to make meetings simple, reliable and flexible. That depends on more than the display, camera or conferencing platform. Mounting, device connectivity, signal distribution, control and collaboration technology all need to work together.
A smarter meeting space needs:
- Secure, adaptable mounting
- Reliable connectivity between devices
- Interoperability across different technologies
- AV switching, distribution and room control
- Simple wired and wireless collaboration
- Infrastructure that can adapt as requirements change
These are the Hidden Heroes that make complexity look simple.
The room must work before the meeting does
Mounting shapes how easily installers can position, access, maintain and adapt meeting room technology. Getting this right at specification stage can make installation simpler and give the customer more flexibility to maintain or adapt the space later. The Peerless STS680 extends away from the wall to provide access to equipment behind the display, helping simplify installation and servicing. When teams need to move a screen between spaces, the Peerless SR860-EUK provides a flexible mobile option. For permanent installations, the Peerless SF650P combines a low-profile design with post-installation adjustment for precise positioning.
The invisible layer of AV sometimes starts with something very tangible: putting the technology in the right place.
Discover the mounting solutions supporting smarter spaces.
A smart meeting room cannot afford technology silos
Meeting room connectivity and interoperability let room PCs, laptops, cameras and microphones work together without locking users into one workflow. For integrators, understanding how the customer wants to use the room helps determine the connectivity, extension and switching required from the outset.
The INOGENI TOGGLE Series switches shared USB peripherals between a room PC and a user's laptop, supporting BYOD and BYOM environments. The INOGENI U-BRIDGE 3 extends USB peripherals up to 100 metres, giving installers more freedom over device placement and room design. INOGENI IP2USB brings compatible IP camera feeds into USB conferencing workflows, extending that flexibility over the network.
Interoperability is rarely the thing a meeting participant notices. Its absence is.
Discover the connectivity keeping devices working together.
Every effortless action has infrastructure underneath it
Well-designed meeting room AV systems use switching, signal transport, distribution and control to keep content moving while making the room simple to operate. The Atlona Omega Series supports presentation switching and connectivity for BYOD, conferencing and collaboration applications, combining USB-C for AV, data and device charging with support for existing USB 2.0 devices.
Atlona OmniStream distributes audio and video over an IP network, giving teams more flexibility to route AV across larger environments. The Atlona Velocity Control Platform brings AV control, room scheduling and device management into one IP-based system.
A simple meeting room is not necessarily a simple AV system. It is a well-designed one.
Discover the technology keeping AV connected and content moving.
The technology should get out of the way
In hybrid meeting rooms, wireless collaboration technology helps users start meetings, share content and connect to room technology with fewer steps. Barco ClickShare Hub Core simplifies hybrid meetings in Microsoft Teams Rooms, while ClickShare Hub Pro supports more advanced Microsoft Teams Rooms and collaboration requirements. ClickShare CX-50 2nd Gen allows users to connect their own laptop to compatible room cameras, microphones, speakers and displays for wireless conferencing and content sharing.
A modern wireless presentation system does more than put content on a screen. It can help remove friction between the user's device and the wider meeting room.
The best measure of meeting room technology may be how little the user has to think about it.
Discover the technology making hybrid collaboration effortless.
So, what actually makes a workplace smart?
A genuinely smart workspace is interoperable, flexible, manageable, reliable and intuitive. No individual product creates that experience on its own. The technologies create that intelligence by working together. That is why smarter workspace projects need to be specified as complete systems rather than collections of individual products. Decisions around mounting, connectivity, control and collaboration affect how easy the finished room is to install, use and support.
Mounting creates the foundation. Interoperability lets different devices work together. AV infrastructure keeps content moving and rooms controlled. Collaboration technology turns all of that into an experience people can actually use.
FAQs
What is a meeting room AV system?
A meeting room AV system brings together displays, audio, video, connectivity, control and collaboration technology so people can present, meet and share content effectively in the space.
What should you consider when specifying meeting room AV for a customer?
Start with how the room will be used, then consider device compatibility, display placement, cable distances, BYOD or BYOM requirements, control, manageability and how easily the system can adapt in future.
What is the difference between BYOD and BYOM?
BYOD lets users bring their own device into the meeting room. BYOM goes further by allowing them to run their preferred meeting platform from that device while using compatible room cameras, microphones, speakers and displays. INOGENI and Barco both position their meeting-room technologies around these workflows.
What is the difference between wireless presentation and wireless conferencing?
Wireless presentation focuses on sharing content to a room display without cables. Wireless conferencing also connects the user's device to compatible room AV peripherals, allowing them to run hybrid meetings using the room's camera, microphone and speakers.
Why is AV control important in a smart meeting room?
AV control gives users a simpler way to operate multiple technologies while helping integrators and IT teams manage rooms more efficiently. Platforms can also combine functions such as room scheduling, device management and system control. Atlona Velocity is specifically positioned around these capabilities.
The Hidden Heroes behind smarter workspaces
Midwich brings together meeting room AV solutions from Peerless, INOGENI, Atlona and Barco ClickShare, alongside specialist expertise, UK-held stock and Plus+ services to help resellers and integrators deliver the whole project.
Talk to your Midwich account manager about the Hidden Heroes for your next smarter workspace project.
