Jacqueline Chan, Business Development at Ubiq, was a recent guest on the TechnologyAdvice Expert Interview Series. The series, which is hosted by TechnologyAdvice, explores a variety of business and technology landscapes through conversations with industry leaders.
In this episode we discuss video conferencing trends, the importance of smart watches, and beta testing.
Below are a few highlights from our conversation:
TA: With all the advancements in technology what is Ubiq looking to in the next few years?
Chan: There’s definitely so many things that we’re really excited about. We definitely notice one of the biggest trends is that in 2016, people are really moving to a collaborative setting and really focusing on user experience and making sure that their users are liking the products that are actually in their office setting right now. When new users are coming in, they expect things to be very simple, and they expect that things will actually work. That’s the biggest trend right now is just to have ease of use on both end users and IT.
TA: In terms of challenges, what are you guys helping customers to overcome with Ubiq?
Chan: One of the biggest problems I’ve noticed with some of our customers is that there’s just so many devices coming in to any meeting room or any organization in general, every single day. In the past two years, you can come in with a tablet now, smart phone, new computers, even the new macbook doesn’t even have a USB slot. It’s just really hard to monitor which devices are coming in and that’s something that we’re really trying to solve. Helping anyone with any device able to present without any extra adapters or really willing to accommodate with anyone.
TA: How do you do all of that while also creating a secure solution that gives IT what they need?
We actually have a cloud management dashboard where you’re really able to manage all the meeting rooms, really control what is going on in that specific meeting room at any given time. Our dashboard really gives you an idea of who is using it. You can manage the meeting room. You can update the unit, you can reboot the unit. All those different commands is actually able to be done on the dashboard. This is something that can really help IT and the team.
TA: Do you see Ubiq (or something similar) as something that almost every company will have deployed in 2020?
Chan: Yeah, for sure. Wireless presentation is just one step to our product. Right now we’re actually incorporating the digital signage component. And what the digital signage does is we can add campaigns to displays. You can add images, web links, videos, all that good stuff onto the display, so we’re not really just taking over a meeting room, we’re taking over all the displays.
On top of that for meeting rooms, what we’re envisioning in the future, there’s going to be external software, and meeting room tools, collaboration tools. That’s going to be an add-on to our device. That’s essentially our goal. We want to be that unified tool out there that can do multiple things.
TA: What are some of the big generational differences with wireless presenting? Is this something that Millennials are much more likely to adopt?
Chan: For sure. For sure. The younger the generation is, the more they are going to expect wireless presentation and they are actually going to be more prone to using it, and the adoption period is going to be a lot easier. But the challenge that comes along with it is that your product has to be stellar, because they’re going to be using a lot of different products, a lot of really good products, so having an easy to use product that will work all the time is the key for the younger generation that’s coming into the workforce.
TA: Speaking of the younger generation, I feel like sort of apart of that too, and a part of the technological transformation that we’re seeing right now, a big piece of that is smart devices. How do you see that fitting into the future workplace?
Chan: I actually think it’s happening already. The transition from laptops to tablets and smartphones, it’s happening right now – right before this year ends – it’s happening right now. Companies just have to be really fast to adapt to all of this, and in order to really adapt to it, they need to think of a solution such as wireless presentation that can really accommodate everyone, and especially smart phones. And the next thing we know you might need to find a solution for smart watches and having those smartwatches to be able to present. There’s just so many technologies coming out every day and you just don’t know what’s going to come out tomorrow.
This podcast was created and published by TechnologyAdvice, an Inc. 5000 company looking to help buyers find the best IT software, wireless presentation systems, and more. Interview conducted by Josh Bland.
