Author: Ubiq

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How Organizations Are Changing Their Office Spaces to Boost Productivity

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As we continue further into 2017, there are many trends that are springing up in workplaces all around the world that are assisting in making office spaces much more efficient and increasingly productive. In the past, designers used to try to make office spaces aesthetically pleasing in order to impress potential customers, but nowadays this isn’t always so. Here we will explore the latest office trends of this year and how they can help your office increase productivity tenfold (or at least 0.5-fold).

Integrating Technology

Advancing technology is making its way into offices more every year. With so many software platforms, cloud-based solutions and applications available to businesses, it has become crucial that these platforms can be accessed seamlessly. Offices are investing more money than ever to streamline these services, eliminating problems that would have otherwise lost time or cost money. For example, why waste hours trying to connect your laptop to your projector? Can’t access your emails from your mobile device on the go? By resolving these problems, you’ll have much happier employees and much more work being produced.

Open Plan Designs

As said in the introduction, physical fashion trends are becoming a thing of the past but more and more are we seeing office spaces with open plan designs. This means fewer desks and more social areas. Multi-function rooms such as sofa areas and multiple user tables are becoming more and more popular across all industries. Successful companies are making this transition to encourage connectivity and collaboration. With the ever-increasing impact of mobile technologies, employees no longer need to be confined to the space of a desk, which allows them a lot more freedom when it comes to working with colleagues, working in a comfortable environment, all of which combined leads to increased productivity.

Increased Focus on Well-being

A more recent trend that’s becoming increasingly popular is employee well-being. Taking center stage with companies of all sizes,  employees that are constantly tired, stressed or just overall unhealthy are not going to be working to their highest capabilities. With this in mind, more companies are investing in employee benefits such as providing on-site gyms or memberships, healthy meal options in cafeterias and more manageable work hours.

Many organizations are also investing in better seating options, indoor plants and relaxing social areas in the workplace, all together making employees a lot less stressed, increasingly happier and more able to work to their full potential.

Collaboration

Although briefly mentioned above, collaboration is one aspect more companies are focusing on than ever before. Not refined to the traditional ‘pig-pen’ office design, employees are able to integrate and help each other on projects and tasks, massively increasing productivity and how much work can be completed. This trend is mainly influenced by open space office design and social spaces.  By having desks that can be used by everyone, this also saves a business a lot of money and is a very cost effective solution.

ADDITIONAL READING
Conference Room Design: A Guide For the Perplexed
Picking a Conference Room Name: 5 Tips to Help You Get Started
5 Must-Have AV Products for Your Conference Room

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Telepresence: What Is It And Why Should You Care?

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Telepresence is renowned as the next step in video conferencing. Using the latest in virtual reality technologies, telepresence brings a very ‘real life’ atmosphere to meetings with life-sized people and imagery alongside crystal clear audio. All of this combined creates a distraction-free environment, allowing all members of a conference to fully focus on the tasks at hand, almost completely eliminating any chances for misunderstanding or misinterpretation.

What Is Telepresence?

While a typical video conferencing system includes monitors, microphones, and speakers, a telepresence system is much more complex. Telepresence systems are highly integrated setups that include multiple monitors, multi-channel speakers, numerous microphones, and advanced codec on both ends. By using telepresence systems, users receive a much more interactive experience, allowing for much more efficient methods of communication and collaboration.

A telepresence setup usually consists of three large, high-quality screens set up around a table, giving the feel that all members involved in the meeting are in the same room. Instead of individual microphones, multiple microphones are positioned on top of the screens, as are the cameras or webcams. This allows for much more flexibility in room positioning and much more space to explore new ideas and present information. Professional speakers are also positioned in key locations around the room.

The large screens are positioned together in a ‘wall’ arrangement, giving the viewers a complete, panoramic view. Using multiple cameras provides unparalleled image quality and using state of the art technology, spatial accuracy can be employed. This means that when an individual speaks, the audio speakers give the listener a feel for the location of the speaker in the meeting, contributing to the feeling that they are actually present in the room.

Why Use Telepresence?

Telepresence can be useful for a vast range of situations. With more screen space and clearer sounding audio, individuals can understand and read other members even more precisely, allowing for near-perfect communication, wherever you are in the world. With these added bonuses, you can also involve more props or presentations into meetings more clearly than you would if using standard video conferencing platforms.

As stated above, by utilizing market leading technologies, telepresence gives users the feeling that virtual members are actually present in the room. This allows for complete concentration during a meeting, allowing members to easily focus on what is important, minimizing the risk of errors and putting the organization’s best interests first.

Telepresence is also the perfect tool for collaboration. With optimal screen space, users have the ability to work simultaneously on projects, contributing effortlessly, ensuring tasks are completed quickly and accurately. You may also want multiple departments present, ensuring everybody in the organization is in the loop in regards to how far along a project is and whether every aspect is on target. You may also find a need to project presentations on screen, allowing for even greater accuracy, with no risk of losing crucial screen space.

ADDITIONAL READING
Conference Room Cable Management Checklist
AV System Integrators: Are They Really Necessary?
Top 10 Conference Room Projectors of 2017

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3 Tips For Recording Meeting Minutes

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Do you have an upcoming meeting that you suspect will be even more boring than usual? Are you worried you might embarrass yourself in front of your colleagues with your freakish, abnormally loud snoring? Well, fret no more: We have an easy and counterintuitive solution for you. Simply volunteer to record the meeting minutes.
No one ever enjoys recording the minutes, but by forcing yourself to write down what people are saying, you not only dramatically reduce your chances of falling asleep, you also dramatically increase your chances of emerging from the meeting with a basic understanding of what people said.
If you’ve never recorded meeting minutes before, here’s what you need to know.

Why Are Meeting Minutes Important?

If multiple people miss the meeting, giving them a copy of the minutes is more efficient than tracking them down one by one and verbally recounting what they missed. Also, if someone forgets a decision made or an action item, giving them a copy of the minutes is more efficient than sending them to a hypnotist to retrieve the memory.

Use a Template

Before the meeting begins, it’s important to write down the following information: the date and time of the meeting, the purpose of the meeting, the meeting lead or chair’s name, and the names of the attendees. You’ll also need a space for assigned action items, decisions made, and general notes.
That’s a lot to remember, which is why the meeting minute template supply business is such a lucrative one. Hopefully, whoever organized the meeting will already have a template for you. (If the meeting organizer is particularly competent, they will have combined the meeting agenda and the minutes template into one integrated document).
In the off-chance that no template is provided for you, you can either search for one online, or do it the old fashioned way and write it out by hand.

Don’t Write a Word For Word Transcript

The most common mistake that rookie meeting minute recorders make is to try too hard. Unless your meeting also happens to coincide with humanity’s first encounter with intelligent extraterrestrial life, it is not necessary to write a word for word transcript. Nothing anyone says during the meeting will be important enough to warrant that level of scrutiny.
You don’t even need to write a summary of every minute. (In this regard, the term “meeting minutes” is a bit misleading — “meeting 5 minutes” or “meeting quarter hours” would perhaps be more accurate).
As long as your notes include actions taken/agreed to be taken, next steps, voting outcomes, motions taken or rejected, items to be held over, new business, and the next meeting date and time, you should be in the clear.

Don’t Wait Too Long To Write Up Final Document

As soon as the meeting is over, you should rush to a quiet room and write up the final document while the meeting is still fresh in your mind. This shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes. All you have to do is translate your rough notes into legible sentences and expand on things that may not be immediately clear.
When writing the final document, don’t be afraid to be boring. If every sentence includes a Joyce-worthy turn of phrase, you’re doing it wrong. Short, simple sentences are the way to go. “Mulligan suggested that the company seek legal counsel to deal with bankruptcy proceedings” is better than “Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came into the conference room bearing a laptop on which a PowerPoint presentation arguing for the necessity of legal counsel lay in wait.” No one reads meeting minutes for their literary quality, so keep your adjectives and references to Ulysses to a minimum.
So what should the final document look like? Here’s a good example. If your document looks anything like that, give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.
ADDITIONAL READING
Conference Room Design: A Guide for the Perplexed
Meeting Room Setup in 1 Day
AV System Integrators: Are They Really Necessary?

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99 Haikus About Conference Room Cable Management

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I
First call of the day:
“We need an HDMI
To VGA stat.”
II
Ticket items: 10.
Number of tickets dealing
With cable woes: 10.
III
“Can’t display Prezi?
No prob. Just call up IT.
That’s what they’re there for.”
IV
9:30AM.
“Sorry to trouble you but
My Mac won’t connect.”
V
I put the cable
In the HDMI port.
Why doesn’t it work?
VI
1 room, 10 laptops.
Will 12 cords and adapters
Be enough? Hope so.
VII
“Hmm, it seems I left
My adapter back at home.
Let’s call up IT.”
VIII
This conference room is
Populated with cables,
But not people. Sigh.
IX
HDMI? Check.
VGA? Check. USB?
Check. Thunderbolt? Woops.
X
“IT here. I have
That adapter you asked for.”
“Thanks. What took so long?”
XI
My laptop: MacAir.
My output: HDMI.
TV: VGA?
XII
That’s the third cable
To go missing this morning.
Thieves walk amongst us.
XIII
Mini DisplayPort.
Damn, this laptop only has
Mini DisplayPort.
XIV
Why did I get a
Master’s in CS when all
I do is lug cords?
XV
Like Sisyphus, I
Carry wires room to room for
All eternity.
XVI
A VGA cord
Stuck in a USB slot.
No wonder Trump won.
XVII
We went to the moon
And yet it takes 10 minutes
To share a screen. Hmmm.
XVIII
How far is it to
The nearest Best Buy? I need
5 cables by noon.
XIX
“Hi there, Jim from sales
Can’t connect to the TV.
Can you help him out?”
XX
Who put this cable
So close to the garbage bin?
Now it’s all sticky.
XXI
Why are these cables
Going out the window and
Across the train tracks?
XXII
“Call 911 now!
Troy tripped on a VGA
Cord and broke his neck!”
XXIII
“Hello, you’ve reached the
IT department. Waiting
Time: 8 to 12 weeks.”
XIV
Don’t seem to recall
VGA delivery
In job description.
XXV
“The train company
Called. They want the cables off
The tracks right away.”
XXVI
“We need to hire a
New project manager. Troy
Is in a coma.”
XXVII
How do I send my
Prezi to the TV screen?
Better call IT.
XXVIII
Greg normally deals
With the cable set up, but
He’s on vacation.
XXIX
Tonight’s top story:
A train derailment has caused
Mass casualties.
XXX
It’s now 2PM.
Where are the cords I asked for?
They’re two hours late.
XXXI
I found these cables
On Todd’s desk after he quit.
Ugh, why do they smell?
XXXII
Let’s see what I have
In this drawer. 12 VGA
Cords, 10 USB.
XXXIII
I used to believe
That wires were worth the hassle.
Now I’m not so sure.
XXXIV
If I had a dime
For every cable mishap
I’d be Scrooge McDuck.
XXXV
“I’d like to order
1 connectivity box.”
“500 dollars.”
XXXVI
“Sorry, that was a
Typo. I actually
Need 20 boxes.”
XXXVII
“In that case, the price
Will be 10,000 dollars.”
“Do you take credit?”
XXXVIII
“Debra, can you please
Come to my office right now?”
“What’s the problem, sir?”
XXXIX
“Did you spend 10 grand
On those connectivity
Boxes? …well, did you?”
XL
“Yes, how else are our
Users supposed to screen share?”
“Debra, you’re fired.”
XLI
Another issue
With wires in Conference Room C.
When will they learn? When?
XLII
Like Prometheus
Bound to a rock, so am I
Bound by these cables.
XLIII
“I asked for five cords
And yet I only see three.”
“Best Buy was sold out.”
XLIV
Yet another day
Wasted in the conference room
Fiddling with wires.
XLV
I wish they made an
HDMI cable that
Was 90 feet long.
XLVI
2017.
Who would have guessed that we would
Still be using cords?
XLVII
Is it possible
To share screens wirelessly?
Let me check Spiceworks.
XLVIII
Let’s also see what
The good folks on /SysAdmin
Recommend I do.
XLIX
Forrest Gump would say,
“Life is like a box of cords;
Tangled and messy.”
L
Click. Just connected
My laptop to the TV
Wirelessly. So easy.
LI
I know I promised
99 haikus, but I’m
Just gonna end now.

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Conference Room Design: 10 Examples Worth Studying

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A boring meeting in a boring conference room can be intolerable. But a boring meeting in an elegantly designed, state of the art conference room can be very tolerable indeed. As long as you’re sitting in a nice chair, have a smooth mahogany table in front of you, and are surrounded by striking interior design, no amount of discussion concerning budgets, marketing strategies, or team training can fully put you to sleep. Next to caffeine, strong conference room design is arguably the most powerful stimulant that’s legally available.
So for those of you seeking to nap-proof their conference rooms through bold, attention-grabbing design choices, here are 10 examples that you may want to turn to for inspiration.

1. Gore’s Group

meeting room design ideas
The first thing you’re likely to notice about this conference room is that there are giant spikes sticking out of the ceiling Mortal Kombat-style. But if you look more closely, you’ll notice some other design elements that are just as interesting, such as the circular LED light covered by a wooden lattice, the row of tiny spotlights, and the two TVs conveniently arranged on the wall so that no one has to strain their neck. Note that neither TV is connected to the table via unsightly HDMI, VGA, or mini DisplayPort cables.

2. Atlas Holdings

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For most businesses, having a smaller huddle space that floats over your meeting room may not be feasible. But if you just crop out the top portion of the above picture, then recreating this conference room becomes quite a bit easier: All you need are some cylindrical lights, a dozen stools, and a narrow, minimalistic table. It may not look as cool without the floating huddle room, but it should still look pretty cool.

3. Zendesk

zendesk-meeting-area-design-room

A great way to jazz up a meeting room is to encase it in glass. The above meeting room layout, for instance, is about as dull as it gets: boring chairs, generic desk, plain, colorless walls. But encase it all in glass and suddenly you feel as though you’ve just teleported to the year 2029.

4. Red Bull Toronto

14-red-bull-jun-2011-700x483
The left side of the room looks like the alien spaceship from the movie Arrival, the right side looks like the workshop of a carpenter with extremely poor hand-eye coordination, and yet somehow it all fits together in a way that seems perfectly natural.

5. Önen Holding Head Office Building

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If it weren’t for the giant glass ceiling revealing the forest in the background, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this conference room was located on the Internation Space Station.

6. Airbnb Dublin

airbnb-dublin-heneghan-meeting-room
Encasing a conference room with just two panes of glass is one thing; encasing it on all sides and then installing privacy curtains is taking it to the next level.

7. Adidas Shanghai

thumbs_36212-423897-for_the_adidas_group_regional_headquarters_in_shanghai_pdm_international_fabricated_the_boardroom_s_table_on_site_it_combines_a-jpg-770x0_q95_crop-smart_upscale
Although not all businesses have windows that overlook the Shanghai skyline, the other things that make this conference room design stand out are easier to emulate, namely giant overhead LED lights, an enormous conference room sign, and a projector that’s been mounted to the ceiling. (Note: Due to the lack of wires dangling from the ceiling, it’s probably a safe bet that they use a wireless presentation solution for meetings that involve screen sharing).

8. Grupo CP

grupo-cp-offices-by-space-mexico-city-mexico-38
Credit where credit is due: Whoever designed this conference room came very close to achieving the impossible—creating a cabled conference room that looks presentable.
At first glance, it may appear as though the TV’s aren’t connected to the table. But take a closer look and you’ll notice what appear to be connectivity boxes in front of every other seat. You’ll also notice that the table is significantly bulkier than any of the others on this list. This is likely because the table is housing a couple dozen HDMI, VGA, mini DisplayPort, USB, and whatever other cables end users may need to connect their laptops to the screen.

9. Google Budapest

googleconferenceroomdesign

Google’s trademark use of bright primary colors in their meeting rooms has been widely imitated by companies all over the world for many years now. But less widely imitated is the floor of Google’s Budapest conference room, which creates the illusion that the table is floating in the middle of a swimming pool.

10. Horse-Head Conference Room

conference room design ideas
Frank Gehry’s 1997 conference room design exists only in a Princeton museum, and it’s easy to see why it hasn’t seen any real-world use: Mounting a flat TV to those walls could be a challenge. But if you want an innovative, attention-grabbing design and have access to a lumberyard full of curved wood, conference rooms don’t come much more attention-grabbing than this.

Conference Room Design & Cables

No article on conference room design is complete without a note on the restrictive nature of cables, which are to interior designers what handcuffs are to convicts.
As soon as cables are introduced into the conference room, the number of design possibilities is immediately reduced. Conference room tables, for instance, come in all shapes and sizes, but if you’re going to rely on wires, your table options are limited to extremely large clunkers that come with built-in connectivity boxes and cable management boxes. Likewise, the number of tiles that you can put on your floor is just about infinite, but if you rely on cables, you basically have no choice but to bury them under a carpet. And that’s not to mention all the problems
Luckily, there’s an easy way to avoid cables. By implementing a wireless presentation system in your conference room, you can allow your end users to share their screens with just 1 click of a button. No cables, no headaches, no hassles.
ADDITIONAL READING
Conference Room Design: A Guide For the Perplexed
Top 10 Conference Room Projectors of 2017
Conference Room Schedule Display Solutions: 3 Suggestions

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5 Must-Have A/V Products for Your Conference Room

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You should never judge a book by its cover, but you should always judge a company by its conference room. If the first thing you see when you arrive at a business meeting is a standard definition TV that’s been strapped to a wobbly cart with velcro, you’ve learned something very valuable about the company’s approach to innovation. Likewise, if you walk into a meeting room and see a 4K TV that’s been mounted perfectly flush with the wall, your reaction will be, “If this company knows how to do that, they can do anything.”

Here are 5 conference room AV products you need to buy in order to create that sort of impression.

1. 4K Television

A must-have AV product: Samsung KS9500 series.

There are a lot of things you can justify not buying—paintings, bookshelves, certain pieces of furniture—on the grounds that you are “going for a minimalist aesthetic.” Unfortunately, a good TV is not one of them. In order for video conferencing and business presentations to work, a large shared screen is absolutely essential. And although they’re expensive and still have some issues that haven’t been adequately addressed yet (good luck finding media that you can play at full resolution), 4K TVs are noticeably better than their 1K counterparts. Even if you don’t actually use the TV to play full 4K video, it’s always better to have 4K resolution and not need it than to need 4K resolution and not have it.

If you have the money to buy a 4K TV, you probably also have the money to hire a carpenter to mount the TV to the inside of the wall. By doing so, you’ll restrict easy access to the HDMI ports at the back, but if you use a wireless presentation solution (like, say, Ubiq) having easy access to the HDMI ports will not be necessary.

Our recommendations:
Samsung QM65F
LG 65UX340C
NEC 65″ X651UHD-2ED

2. Telephone

Polycom SoundStation 2

For decades, experts have been predicting that video conferencing would render Alexander Graham Bell’s 1876 invention obsolete. And yet for some reason, the telephone refuses to go away. Perhaps it’s because people are too self-conscious about their appearance, perhaps it’s because no one likes the idea of sending large amounts of data through their 4G network. Whatever the reason, the telephone is here to stay, and you’ll definitely be needing one for your conference room. More specifically, you’ll need one that can provide clear audio, connect multiple lines at once, and hands-free capabilities (speakerphone and microphone included).

Our recommendations:
Polycom SoundStation 2
Avaya B179 Conference VoIP phone

3. Projector

Sony VPL-VW365ES

If your meetings are usually attended by more than 20 people, a 4K TV—as glorious as it is—might not be enough. You may want to consider buying a projector and converting an entire wall into a movie screen. In addition to offering a bigger image, today’s conference room projectors provide greater brightness (lumens), operate clearly in both dark and lit rooms, and are small enough to be portable. High-end 4K projectors can cost as much as $10,000 or even $20,000, so unless your name is Tim Cook, be sure to seriously weigh the pros and cons before buying. (Or just buy a low-end version; few people have actually seen high-end 4K projectors in action, so they’ll be unlikely to notice that you’ve cheaped out).

Our recommendations:
BenQ SU931
Optoma EH500
NEC NP-P501X
Sony VPL-VW1100ES Native 4K 3D SXRD

4. Sound

JBL Basic Double-Zone, 70V Wall Mount Sound System

Investing in a 4K TV or projector can be counterproductive if you don’t also invest in a decent sound system. That stunning 4K resolution will be a lot less impressive if all you can hear coming out of people’s mouths is a muffled garble.

It’s also important to make sure that the people you’re video conferencing with are able to hear you, so in addition to buying speakers, you may want to buy a few microphones and install them at various points along the conference room table.

Our recommendations:
JBL Basic Double-Zone, 70V Wall Mount Sound System
Atlas Sound 70V Ceiling Mounted Sound System for A/V and Conference Rooms (2 Speakers)

5. Wireless Presentation Solution

No list of conference room AV products is complete without a wireless presentation solution.

In today’s BYOD environment, a conference room that relies on cables and wires to connect laptops to the TV or projector is simply not feasible. In order to accommodate every laptop that enters the room, you would need to have an expensive and elaborate collection of cables and converters with various outputs on standby (HDMI, VGA, HDMI to VGA, Thunderbolt, Lightning, etc). If you were to attempt to use all of these wires and converters simultaneously, your conference room would resemble a mad scientist’s lair. Better to go wireless.

Our recommendation:
Ubiq Hive

We may not be the most objective people to ask, but we think the Ubiq Hive is pretty sweet. It allows you to present wirelessly from laptops and Surface tablets regardless of their video outputs in less than 10 seconds. (For more information on the Ubiq Hive, click here or go to literally anywhere else on this site).

Additional Reading
Conference Room Technology: 5 Investments You Should Make
AV System Integrators: Are They Really Necessary?
Conference Room Design: 10 Examples Worth Studying

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Do Your Training Rooms Have An Up-to-Date AV Set Up?

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These days, the setup for these training rooms are vary vastly from business to business.

Some businesses may use traditional overhead projector setups, others may still used flip-charts, whiteboards and in some cases, interactive whiteboards.  Many others rely on ‘Bring Your Own Technology’, which normally involves the presenter bringing their own laptop or hard drive and spending half the allotted time trying to set it up with the projector.

But, surely in today’s modern world, there is a better alternative to these, quite frankly, outdated methods.  Think about the last meeting you attended, did you notice any presentation sources around the room? How many of the features in the training room were actually fully utilized during the meeting?  These are the questions more and more businesses are asking.

More and more, it is becoming apparent that businesses are turning to AV setups to streamline their training rooms, ensuring they operate much more efficiently.  AV setups are a fantastic solution to presentation issues because they are completely adaptable and compatible with the majority of devices. This means you’re able to connect a vast range of devices to a system and have them work seamlessly.  This opens up new doors of opportunities when it comes to training meetings.

As businesses and organizations expand year on year and new technologies are being updated almost daily, it has never been more important for businesses to get their training programs right. With employees on-board and their knowledge up-to-date, businesses will find that their workforce performance will dramatically increase and will operate much more effectively. It’s also estimated that 40% of employees who receive poor job training leave their jobs after the first year.

By utilizing an up-to-date and fully functional AV setup into your training rooms, you can guarantee that you are making the most of your dedicated training space, allowing you to use software, programs and display multimedia that would have otherwise have been out of the question.

AV setups are universal, allowing you to connect multiple devices of varying brands, models and age. Alongside being able to connect and use your existing technology, the majority of AV setups today will also be compatible with new technology that is yet to be released. This ensures that AV setups in your training rooms remain cost effective and won’t harm your businesses budgets with constant hardware upgrades.

It’s easy to see why more and more businesses around the world are in the process of installing up-to-date AV setups in their training rooms. By maximizing their employees potential and functionality of office spaces, businesses are able to meet targets and goals easier, increasing sales, productivity and profits.

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Rolling TV Stands: A Conference Room Eye Sore or a Necessity?

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We’ve all seen them from time to time. Settling in to your morning meeting, organizing your possessions and you look up as the proceedings begin.  Catching your attention in the corner of your eye, you notice the dusty outline of the rolling TV stands.  Experiencing feelings of nostalgia?

Too many.

These stands remind us a time back in our younger school days, the excitement that was felt when lessons wouldn’t go ahead and  instead the class would sit and watch a film.

For the most part, these television display solution were crucial to the successful outcomes of meetings. Able to show videos and presentations and, as time went on, the ability to connect devices and computers which revolutionized the way that conference meetings were held.

But, as the landscape of modern meetings evolves, are these rolling TV stands still a vital part to today’s office running, or are they simply too dated and unnecessary?

By using a portable television stand, conference rooms are able to maintain flexibility in the room. The television screens can be adjusted to suit any position and any number of viewers, allowing conference rooms to remain a flexible place for a meeting.

The majority of rolling stands also come with shelving options, allowing you to add further additions to the set up, such as DVD players, speakers or room for remotes and controllers. Cabling can also be hidden within a stand, making sure appearances are maintained at all times.

But, compared to a wall mounted screen, rolling stands to have a lot of disadvantages.

TV stands are renowned for how much room space they consume. This means, specifically in smaller conference rooms, rolling stands are not a space effective solution. In addition to this, as the stands are portable, users are constantly having to disconnect and setup the system, depending on where they want the screen to be used.  There is also the risk of the television being knocked over whilst on a rolling stand, despite whether it’s being used or not. If this happens, this can cost a business more unnecessary expenses.

For these reasons, more and more business are turning to wall mounted solutions.  Not only do they create a much more professional image for a business and their clients, but are also ten times more practical.

Nowadays, TVs are extremely thin and light. Therefore, when mounted on a wall, minimal space is taken up, allowing for more space in the conference room.  When positioned correctly, wall mounted TV’s become the focal point to a room, with minimal risk of damage or accidents.

All wiring for wall mounted setups can be hidden in the back and along walls, meaning rooms have a less cluttered feel and the setups can be left connected, meaning setup can be saved in every meeting, you simply turn it on and go!

In conclusion, although practical in the past, rolling TV stands are becoming a thing of the past and more and more businesses are opting for more professional, high quality solutions that save time and maximize opportunities.

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Conference Room Display Optimizations You Should Try Today

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In the majority of conference rooms, the TV display is the focal point of the room and, second to the chairs, the most used function in the room. Many businesses install their conference room display, connect them up and turn them on and they’re ready to go.

Although this might work in some cases, businesses that adopt this approach are missing out on some potentially serious quality issues. This can cause problems in some meeting rooms as certain colours may not be displayed properly, screen resolution may be off balance and objects may not appear of the screen as they should. For the users of the screen, they may have trouble deciphering what is on the screen which in turn can result in them being inattentive and distracted, leading to miscommunication.
To prevent and resolve some of these issues, today we will explore ways for you to optimize your screen for the best possible results.
Positioning & Room Design
Firstly, before we even turn the screen on, check your screen positioning in comparison to the room. Is it on a wall opposite a window? Is the conference room display being overshadowed by any other objects in the room or is it subject to glare caused by sunlight?
These are all factors you will want to take into consideration when setting up your conference room as they can cause problems when being used, resulting in a confusing and unproductive meeting. (Even the position of the conference room table matters)
Conference Room Display
Optimize Your Screen
This can be achieved by plugging a computer into your screen and using the remote to adjust setting such as brightness, contrast and gamma levels. If using a Windows PC or Mac, you should be able to access your display settings which in turn will open a Wizard, a system process that takes you through a step by step guide on how to make your screen perfect for its viewers.
By optimizing your conference room display in this way, you’ll notice sharper colours, clearer image quality and less strain on the eyes. This will result in more attentive and engaged individuals in your meetings, which in turn leads to better results and increased productivity.
Office desk Screen
Set Up Your Screens Ergonomically
This is one method that absolutely guarantees comfort and efficiency when working in your conference room. By setting up your screen to work at the best possible angles, users of the screen will feel comfortable when looking at it, minimising strain and discomfort.
This can be achieved by positioning the screen at an eye level. This reduces neck strain which would contribute to a viewers discomfort, distracting them from the task at hand and potentially causing muscle damage. It’s highly recommended that viewers should not be viewing the screen at an angle of more than 35 degrees.
Consider Multiple Monitors
If you are planning on displaying large amounts of data on screen, numerous client video streams, or both at the same time, it may be worth investing in multiple screens that can be positioned next to each other and connected to the same streaming device.
This allows for a wider viewing angle in which content can be displayed clearly and concisely, without the need for screens to feel cluttered or full. This allows members of a conference meeting to view information with ease, without becoming distracted by the other data or streams on the screens, minimizing the risk of miscommunication or misinformation.
Check Your Investment
Before you go out and buy your conference room displays, do you research. It’s all well and good going and buying the cheapest and biggest screen for your room but it may not be the most beneficial.
Check your room sizes and distances. You don’t want to purchase a huge screen that fills up one wall and makes the audience and meeting participants feel overpowered and you don’t want to buy a medium or small sized screen that when installed, the conference room display becomes unclear and users cannot read the information without having to get closer or just give up trying to read it altogether.