Is The Collaboration Industry Delivering What Customers Need?

Although much of the heavy lifting in terms of enabling users with collaboration tools and platforms has been done, the meeting room experience often…

George Malim

Collaboration industry meeting customer needs

Although much of the heavy lifting in terms of enabling users with collaboration tools and platforms has been done, the meeting room experience often fails to meet expectations.

“It should be all about the user and not the technology,” confirms Stephen Curling, the Regional Sales Director at New Era Technology. “From the platform perspective, the decision is usually already made but there is still plenty of opportunity to personalise the user experience in the meeting room and plenty of room to innovate. Vendors should all be focusing on delivering the best user experience.’’

Beyond AV and videoconferencing tech, some businesses feel they are enabling effective collaboration if they have a sufficient amount of hardware for their workers to use. The reality is that the full benefits of collaboration technologies can only be achieved if the situations in which they are used are optimized, and comprehensive solutions are tailored to specific user needs. For example, it makes sense to equip office-based workers with rooms that are the right size for their in-person meetings and take account of which external colleagues will be joining.

This can help optimize use of space and ensure meeting equity by giving remote and in-office workers the hardware and solutions they need to collaborate effectively and provide an equitable experience no matter where they are. To uncover what these are, suppliers need to ask questions and ensure they understand the customer’s use case and the business outcomes they are trying to achieve. New tools and equipment can help transform rooms from impractical environments to appealing, productive settings to work collaboratively. Newly-launched hardware, such as the LG CreateBoard, use advanced AI capabilities to offer efficient document analysis and summary generation, all designed to enhance productivity.

“If a customer says they want a Teams Room and their supplier asks what size screen they want, without checking what the customer might want to do in the future, they’re not finding out what the customer wants to achieve,” adds Curling. “As partners, we have a responsibility to ensure any solution proposed, regardless of the space, meets the needs of the user not just now but into the future as well as being delivered within the agreed timeframes no matter the location. Businesses are looking for standardization and consistency across their regional or global estates and we should be taking a consultative approach to help them achieve this.”

Build the holistic experience

Curling feels that the whole experience needs to be considered by both vendors and partners. With the return to office well underway that starts from when workers first enter an office. They should immediately feel that there is value to them being present in the office and then find it intuitive and easy to access the spaces they need seamlessly. That extends from hot desks, to huddle rooms to larger spaces as well as intuitive systems to make it easy to book spaces and technology to support specific activities.

“Providers can work collaboratively with customers to create an environment that supports the return to office and the smart ones will start by thinking about what people want to do in those spaces based on real life experience with other customers in their sector,” Curling explains. “There also has to be a feeling that it is enticing for people to return to the office, so they break the habits of home-working and don’t just go to the office to work via videoconferencing and to tot up their contracted in-office hours. A good provider will challenge their customer’s thinking and identify how to add value.”

Enabling evolving environments Further opportunities include the arrival of AI which could potentially change how people are working today and in the future. Currently on a wave of hype, the technology will transform the way people collaborate and it is the responsibility of both the vendors and partners to help customers understand their future needs, before delivering scalable and flexible solutions. AI-powered laptops – such as the LG gram Pro, LG gram Pro 2-in-1, LG gram and LG gram Book – smartly adapt to users’ work styles and requirements, maximizing productivity across multiple types of workspaces.

“Successful collaboration comes down to understanding users’ priorities and their challenges they may face in the coming 12-60 months’ time – that’s a partnership, not a transaction,” says Curling. “It’s also not about selling AV or videoconferencing to IT departments in isolation but to ensure all facets of their business are engaged in the process, for example facilities and end user services. We take the time to really understand what customers need to ensure their collaboration is optimised for the user, not only for today but for where they want to be in five years.”

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