MEETING SPACE TECHNOLOGY IS SET FOR A MAJOR TRANSFORMATION

Do you remember that picture on the left? You had to remote dial into a meeting and the majority of the people in the meeting were physically in the room. The people in the room were having a great meeting and could all clearly communicate with one another. They could obviously see and hear one another and could write things on a whiteboard or flip chart. They most likely could present content onto a display screen in the room as well.

But how was your experience? You weren’t in the room. You were the odd person out.

You couldn’t hear everyone clearly in the room. You could not know for sure who was speaking. If you were lucky there was a camera in the room and you could maybe see a wide view of the room, but you couldn’t really get any clear visual images of the people talking. If you could only dial in via audio it is highly likely the rest of the people in the room had forgotten all about you. Out of sight is out of mind, right? How did this make you feel? Was this a worthwhile meeting for you to be a part of?

Today we find ourselves at a different extreme.

Many of us are working remotely and have had time to set up comfortable workstations with a reasonably high-quality audio and video experience. Wasn’t hard, right? The laptop has a good inbuilt microphone and camera. If it didn’t, you bought a USB high definition webcam with it all built-in. You may have headphones or a simple USB speaker to listen to the audio.

By now you have mastered many of the available software platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Google Meets and others. You are used to being able to clearly see close up images of the faces of the people you talk to on the calls. Visual and audio communication is excellent! Screen sharing of content and even annotating or digital whiteboarding within these software platforms is also now easy for you. You are loving this new experience, and no doubt getting a lot more out of your online meetings.

So, what’s next?

We can agree that remote working isn’t going anywhere. It is here to stay. As more offices and workplaces open back up there will be a new need to connect many remote meeting participants with the people physically in meeting rooms.

Expectations have now been elevated like never before. You expect to be able to clearly see and hear everyone on a call, no matter where they are. You don’t want to go back to meeting in physical rooms that have an inferior experience compared to the remote participants using their laptops or phones, do you? Of course not.

The technology designs in physical meeting spaces are going to have to change dramatically.

Close up camera shots of each meeting participant in the room is now a requirement. Receiving crystal clear audio from the participants in the physical room is a must for the remote participants. They will no longer accept a conference phone slapped in the middle of the table. The interactions between the people within the physical room also needs to be clearly seen by remote participants. All content sharing, whether digital or handwritten on a whiteboard needs to be equally available to people inside and outside of the room.

The technology to enable the above scenario exists now.

The question is. What are you going to do about implementing it? Your people and your customers are now expecting it!

Microsoft is a Software Company, Should They be Making Hardware?

Written by: Jonathan Cuthbertson

With the recent release of the new Microsoft Surface Pro 7, Surface Pro X and Surface Laptop 3, it made me question, why is Microsoft, a software company competing with their own hardware partners? Shouldn’t they stick to software and let their partners build the hardware?

From the beginning of the modern computer era, the separation of “Hardware” and “Software” has been ingrained in the heart and souls of computer scientists and engineers. The first electronic general-purpose computer “ENIAC” was over 30m long. This first iteration of a computer is the definition of hardware. The operator was required to write software or “program” using punch cards to then run it.

This concept of separate hardware and software continued into the IBM compatible era. The industry was divided into companies that produced computer hardware and others that wrote software. At the time very little thought was given to user experience (UX). Operating computers required a keyboard and in-depth knowledge of text based command line interface.

This all changed in the mid 80’s when an amazing new device called ‘mouse’ hit the market. However, the mouse was not alone, it stood alongside two key pieces of software: Windows 1.0 and Mac OS (the “Classic” version). Both pieces of software were revolutionary. Each presented the user with a graphical interface which could be navigated using the new mouse. It was the first true combination of hardware and software that provided a giant leap forward in UX.

For the next 20 years, we continued to see incremental changes in the world of computers. Devices got faster and smaller, but the way in which they are used hardly changed. Then in 2007 a perfect collision of hardware and software took place when the iPhone was released. The way people interacted with technology instantly changed forever. The original iPhone sold over 6.1 million units in 12 months and it continues to sell more than 2.2 billion devices ever since.

Why was the original iPhone so successful? In a time of blackberry’s, QWERTY keyboards and styluses, the iPhone delivered a refined and simple user experience for consumers. This is something that could only be achieved with sophisticated integration of hardware and software.

In both cases of iPhone and the mouse/graphical operating system, the hardware and software were tightly controlled and integrated. The marriage of hardware and software gave Apple and Microsoft the confidence in delivering products that achieved greater user experience.

While writing this article, it dawned on me that I operate much the same way when leading technology projects. My goal is to provide an exceptional user experience through systems that are intuitive and easy to use. The evidence is paramount, in order to deliver a truly seamless user experience, hardware and software must act as one. To answer my own question, should Microsoft develop their own hardware? I say bring it on! It’s time for the next giant leap forward in user experience.

#technology #simplicity #easeofuse #UX #Microsoft #techsimple #humancentreddesign

Tell Me About Their Favourite Project

Written by: Adrian Magno

Tell me about your favourite project?

In a world where smartphones are turning small talk into a rarefied skill, I find this question is still one I like to pull out at the occasional consultant dinner or lunch that still seems to get an engaging response. A lot of hardcore audio guys love talking about the insanely expensive line arrays and acoustic echo modelling that went into building their favourite design; other people care deeply about what their systems are used for and get a rush from knowing the control centre they built is possibly saving lives.

You can generally tell a lot about an engineer from the answer they give you.

For me, my favourite AV project is sitting amidst the walls on the second level of the NSW State Library.

Shrouded by all the other artworks and memorabilia is a particularly special exposition under the silver words “The John B Fairfax Learning Centre.” Behind this frame is a hidden room, reserved only for young minds. Students walk up to the door and take turns giving a password to the artwork, and the graphic moves to tell you if you’ve been granted access or not. (just like they used to back at Hogwarts and in Scooby-Doo villain lairs)

 

I vividly remember days spent on presenting different options to the architect for the screen design, getting the finish to look just like a normal artwork, how we would ventilate the equipment etc. Hours of research were poured into calling all the different screen manufacturers; trying to make a screen as big as possible, with the highest resolution possible, whilst light enough to be in a door (and of course within budget)

What we ended up with was simple, a 98″ LCD (the largest single LCD size available at the time) within the door. So what made this one particularly special? Whilst the journey to how we got there was fascinating (my wife would beg to disagree) I suppose it’s the sense of wonder this design creates is the source of my affinity.

My daughter and I had a day in Sydney city recently, and I wanted to show her this room. Sadly it was a public holiday and all of my passwords were not quite the right passwords to grant us access to the secret room (chucking a Longbottom for those of you playing at home.) But really the fact that she ran past the door and I had to stop her and say, “dad designed that,” means the design worked. I’ve never had aspirations to become a world-class magician, but have always appreciated acts of misdirection and optical illusions. This was where I got to mix a bit of magic and engineering.

User Training; Realising the RETURN on the Technology INVESTMENT

Written by: David Allara

I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed a training session on how to use newly installed AV or ICT systems be little more than a quick run through of pressing a few buttons and referencing a user manual. What a waste of time! The audience is completely disengaged and there is no sense of purpose.

In order to get the most out of the new technology investment you want to train the users based on “real life scenarios” that they can relate to. Let me provide some examples of how the konnectus trainers have delivered training to our customers.

“User Training must be customised and highly relevant to the people that will use the new technology”

We designed and managed the installation of two operation control centres for a large mining company. One was is Brisbane Australia and the other in Pune India. During the project delivery we learned all about the specific workflows in each centre, which meant we could customise the training sessions around simulating those exact scenarios. The operations team were thus able to embrace the new AV and ICT solutions and use them immediately in their day to day duties.

One of the four major accounting firms did their homework and made the decision to build a customer experience centre in Sydney Australia. It is used by the staff from different divisions of the business to work closely with key clients in a dynamic, hands on and collaborative way. We built technology solutions to realise their vision and then provided very specific training over a period of months to groups of staff and some of their customers. We showed them how to use the new hardware and software systems to get the most out of their sessions and this translated into stronger customer partnerships and significant increases in revenue.

A final example is a leading insurance company that underwent a transformation of its workspaces around Australia. The company had a goal of encouraging its staff to communicate more using video conferencing technology. However, previous experiences using video conferencing had not been positive. Staff found it to be unreliable and hard to operate. The konnectus team delivered systems that were extremely reliable and simple to use – literally one button press to get started! In this case the training was quite simple once the staff could see and experience how easy the new technology was to use. The hard part was convincing them to be open minded in the multiple training sessions we conducted!

Key Takeaways

1. Consider using a professional expert for the User Training that knows how to teach people. A “technical” person is not always best for training as they are not always the best communicators.

2. The User Training is much more effective when it applies “real world scenarios” to using the new technology systems and solutions. This is much more effective and ensures a high uptake in use of the new technology.

3. Always ask your vendor to provide “advanced technical” training for a small group of support staff. This enables the organisation to handle first level support internally, which can save significant time and money.

Service & Maintenance

SAVE MONEY on your AV systems and lock in PERFORMANCE and EFFICIENCY!

Written by: David Allara

There is one aspect of AV and ICT systems which is often overlooked, and that is the importance of putting in place a service and maintenance plan. AV and ICT systems do not work forever defect free, and require ongoing maintenance and support. It is almost always best for the vendor that installs the solutions to also be the company that helps you support and maintain them over their useful life. I therefore recommend that you always evaluate a potential vendor to also be your longer term support partner.

There are essentially two key things to focus on here. Firstly, be clear on your service and maintenance requirements, and distinguish between what can be handled internally versus what an external vendor must cover. Secondly, use the right selection criteria when assessing potential vendors.

Many of the larger organisations we work with have internal support teams that can be tasked with providing first and sometimes even second level support. Depending on the systems and the organisation the internal support may come from IT, AV, Facilities, Client Services or a similar department. First level support is typically very basic troubleshooting that is non-technical. Often, issues are caused by a loose cable or simple user error. Second level support might have a light technical element, but generally can easily be handled internally through training around common troubleshooting procedures. Prior to entering into an agreement with an external vendor for support I recommend you take the time to assess opportunities for some support to be handled internally. It can prove to be a significant cost saving in the long term.

Support and maintenance agreements with external vendors can range from something very simple such as meeting spaces in an office fit out to the more complex such as a command and control centre for a transportation hub. Preventative maintenance with regular frequency is always sensible to consider as this keeps the AV and ICT systems running at their optimal performance. More sophisticated systems and agreements will also feature live monitoring that can provide immediate alerts of current or forecast issues. Reactive support is the other component of most agreements. This addresses response times for phone or on-site support and should also assign priorities to different events or support issues. My advice when drafting up your requirements to include in an agreement is to work with an independent expert that knows the AV and ICT systems you want covered. You will know your organisation and the expert will know your technology solutions. Together you will be able to define your exact needs and craft a document that be given to vendors to price.

Just as you followed a process to select the best vendor in Step 4, a very similar approach should be taken to select the right vendor partner now. The same guidelines apply. You will want to carefully assess the vendor’s processes and workflows to handle support calls. You need to be confident that these align with your specific requirements and, if you are also handling some support internally, it will be extremely valuable for the vendor’s support system to be able to link in with your internal system for tracking and reporting purposes.

Key Takeaways:

  • Start by reviewing the support and maintenance activities you can undertake internally. Most issues are user error related. There might be opportunity for you to save money.
  • Document a clear and specific brief of requirements. Define what is included e.g. equipment, software, response times, maintenance frequency, issue resolution time frames etc.
  • Carefully assess the vendor’s experience, systems and processes. Ensure they align with your expectations and internal systems and processes.

 

 

AV Technology Uptake, why is it more than just investing?

Written by: David Allara

It can be very disheartening, seeing your people not using a new technology system when your organisation has invested millions of dollars on it. You have spoken to the experts, you have looked at all the great technology options, you are convinced that what you are implementing is the right choice. But, for some reason, your people just don’t use the technology. Why is that?

Here are three of the top reasons or barriers to an AV Technology uptake.

The first one is that sometimes the technology is too hard to use.

Perhaps, there are too many steps to get the system working. So, eliminating the stepsis probably the key here. You should start by asking some simple questions like “how are you going to be using the technology?”, or “how many steps are there to use that system?” The more steps involved, the worst the experience can become. People are not really going to adopt to that technology, if it is too hard to use. You need to reduce those steps right down to one, or maximum two, so that it requires minimum training. By doing this you will see all of a sudden, the same people who were hesitating to use the technology, be starting to use it.

The second reason is mismatch of technology.

Sometimes people want something, while they really need something else. In such cases a proper Needs Analysis and Discovery can be very helpful. Again, you will need to ask questions like “why do you need this technology?”, “what do you need it for?” These are the type of questions that can help you make the right decision, especially if you are asking the right people.

The third, and the last reason is adoption.

This can sometimes be an emotional decision. You can do everything right, hire the right experts, involve the right people in the design process, but you might still find your people not wanting to adopt to the technology. As human beings, we need to like something, and more importantly we need to trust it, to be able to use it. These are two big barriers. And if you can’t overcome these barriers, it is difficult for people to uptake the technology.

As a tip from someone who has been working in the Audio Visual and Technology industry for a long time, I can tell you, we find that a Proof of Concept works really well in commercial projects. The idea of a Proof of Concept, is basically taking the time to trial a new technology solution on a small scale. Set it up in a dedicated area and invite different people in the organisation to come in and work with it. Let your people test out the new technology, and get comfortable with it, then obtain their real and honest feedback. This way I am sure you can overcome that trust barrier, and if you listen to what your people are saying, you can get the technology to a point where they like it, and start using it. Do this, and then watch the technology adoption go through the roof.