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The Black Box and Open Source Intersection in Workplace Collaboration Solutions

Today’s office spaces continue to represent a paradigm shift from segmented, non-creative workspaces to the exact opposite. Technology has accelerated this shift towards intimacy and customization, and with that comes the need for the right solutions, particularly for today’s communal and meeting spaces. “We’re at a place now where true global room standards are…

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Today’s office spaces continue to represent a paradigm shift from segmented, non-creative workspaces to the exact opposite. Technology has accelerated this shift towards intimacy and customization, and with that comes the need for the right solutions, particularly for today’s communal and meeting spaces.

“We’re at a place now where true global room standards are paramount to the success of an enterprise,” Tom Spearman, Executive Vice President at Diversified said.

Spearman noted on today’s episode of the MarketScale Pro AV Podcast that meeting rooms have changed and expanded in number while shrinking in space. Instead of four, 16-seat rooms, offices are more inclined to create 16 four-seat areas, and the needs of these spaces are very different.

Finding an all-encompassing solution to the diverse layout of offices across the globe will be key to AV integrators, Spearman said. This solution will also have to be compatible with modern expectations of seamless user-experience. This means that neither the completely custom solution nor the one-stop-shop black box solution will be viable; the more successful competitive solutions will need to be technology agnostic and efficient.

“What we’re seeing is, where hardwire solutions were the de facto standard for many, many years, I think people have the expectation now that when they walk into a conference room that their first option for connectivity is a wireless presentation gateway,” Spearman said. “A hardwire connection falls into the category of their backup connection.”

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