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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.

Want to set up a wireless Conference Room?Try Now

The way we conduct meetings has changed over the years, thanks to technology. From the telephone to video to the interactive display, meeting rooms and huddle spaces are no longer bound to location and time zones. The tools we use have certainly evolved to help us be more productive, efficient, and collaborative.
Let’s look at how conference room technology has grown:
Telephone conferencing. Alexander Graham-Bell’s telephone in 1877 changed how we communicate from remote locations. Business meetings didn’t need to be in the same room. No need to wait for messages to arrive via telegraph or post. He brought real-time communication!
Since then, we’ve seen the telephone’s purpose change thanks to innovations, such as:

  • The speakerphone allowed groups to speak through a single 1:1 communication flow.
  • Conference functionality allowed a user to connect more than one phone line to another or transfer to another.
  • Conference call systems opened communication to allow multiple phones to connect into a single line.

WATCH:The Birth of Telecommunications” (History)
Video conferencing added a visual element to work communication. People could see and speak to one another. Video initially was an enhancement to audio. Since then, it flipped with the rise of the Internet and cloud connectivity.
Video communication has changed how we see, hear, and speak with one another. Tools like Skype, Facetime, Google Hangouts and WebEx gives us options to record or live stream our conversations. All the while, we make our business portable and social.
VIEW:The History of Videoconferencing” (Telemerge, Inc./SlideShare)
Where are we today? The wireless presentation has bridged the gap between teleconferencing and videoconferencing. It has promoted unified communication to allow teams to connect across different platforms, devices, and audio visual setups. It’s changing company cultures by bringing people together through a central access point.
We’re able to contribute and bring value to our meetings no matter our location.
WATCH: Get Started with Ubiq
Where do we go next? Take a look at what Lightpath put together in a great timeline infographic on “The Evolution of the Business Meeting.”
Tell us where you see conference room technology and conference room AV equipment are heading!

Want to set up a wireless Conference Room?Try Now

The average rate of productivity in the workplace is said to have improved slightly in the past year, according to the Department of Labor (DoL). However, many organizations are still challenged in this area. For instance, another survey by Salary.com found that 89 percent of employees waste time each day, with some losing at least 30 minutes by doing non-related work tasks.
When it comes to increasing worker efficiency, several factors from health and sleep patterns to office design and desk plants have been said to influence it. Year over year though, a few hacks have continued to prove effective in boosting office productivity.
1. Take Control of Technology
Several studies have shown that technology can boost worker productivity, but only when used effectively. One example of effective technology usage is to save time. For example, implementing wireless presentation software can open up time that was once wasted on setting up meetings, implementing digital signage that sends your conference room calendar to all of your interactive displays can help increase meeting room attendance, and using video conferencing can save you from traveling across the globe.
The key is to guide and control how certain technologies are used to create engagement and avoid distraction. For example, online collaboration tools allow workers to share, proofread, and edit projects in real-time from anywhere, accelerating the entire process. However, relying on them too much or using them unnecessarily can decrease efficiency. Organizations need to find the balance that works best for them.
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2. Set Performance Goals and Track them  
One basic factor that can hurt productivity is that employees simply don’t know what is expected from them. When organizations give their employees specific, clear and realistic goals, it can help boost motivation and competition. This is especially true when individuals are rewarded or recognized publicly for meeting and exceeding goals. In fact, not recognizing achievement is the number one reason that people leave their jobs. Companies can even increase engagement by tracking and gamifying performance milestones. Several online applications and programs like GamEffective can help track productivity and transform it into a game or employee engagement tools like OfficeVibe, that can engage your employees in less than 5 minutes a month.
3. Measure Productivity Consistently
Every business is unique, which means that not every productivity tool or policy will produce substantial results. This is one reason why establishing a consistent method of measurement is essential.
Another, perhaps more important reason, is that it creates the opportunity for company leaders to give employees meaningful feedback and to receive feedback from them. Measuring efficiency in your office should be designed in a way that helps employees grow personally and professionally.
4. Let them Work from Home, Occasionally
The Harvard Business Review published results from a study on Chinese travel company, Ctrip’s remote workers. The company compared the efficiency of employees allowed to work from home to in-office employees for a nine month period. It found that the at-home workers made 13.5 percent more calls per week on average than their in-office counterparts.
The study claimed that giving employees a break from the daily monotony of their workstations, meeting rooms, and huddle spaces can actually boost happiness and productivity. It wasn’t that the at-home group worked harder than the on-site one. It was all about having flexibility. Maintaining a healthy balance between on-site and remote options can increase overall performance.
Employees are the driving force behind every organization’s success. With so many devices and gadgets, they can easily lose focus and fall behind. Organizations that take control of their office environment and engage workers are the ones that will maintain increased productivity and growth year after year.

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