Tag: ROI

Want to set up a wireless Conference Room?Try Now

Wireless Conference Rooms vs. Cabled Conference Rooms: Which Has the Better ROI?

Posted on

The average cost of an HDMI cable is $10 – $15.
At first glance, this may seem like a pretty sweet bargain. For the price of a movie ticket or a foot-long submarine sandwich, you can buy a piece of equipment that easily attaches to the back of your conference room TV and instantly solves all of your connectivity issues forever.
What’s not to like?
Well, consider the following statistics:

  • Despite the prevalence of HDMI cables in enterprise conference rooms, 87% of IT managers report that problems connecting laptops to the TV is one of the top 3 issues that they are called on to deal with.
  • 88% of end users complain about meeting room equipment.
  • The average IT manager is called upon to resolve 8.6 meeting room technology problems per week. That’s 447.2 incidents per year.
  • The average meeting room technology problem takes 23.1 minutes for an IT manager to resolve. That’s 3.31 hours per week or 22.95 days per year.

Why so many problems with cables?

In today’s BYOD environment, end users give presentations from their laptops, and not all laptops have HDMI outputs. Some have VGA, DVI, Thunderbolt, etc. This means that in addition to HDMI cables, IT managers also need to have a small arsenal of alternative video cables and adapters on hand at all times. All of those $15 cables and adapters can add up fast, and good luck making them look presentable: The art of conference room cable management is an extraordinarily difficult thing to master. (So much so that many IT teams end up hiring AV installation companies to do the job for them).
Consider some more statistics:

  • In addition to the 23 days per year that IT managers waste solving cabling issues, employees waste 15.5 days a year in unproductive meetings.
  • 90% of presenters prepare for technology failure (such as printing off handouts in case screen sharing doesn’t work), and 44% do a tech rehearsal beforehand
  • Atlassian estimates that the salary cost of unproductive meetings for U.S. business is $37 billion.

So while the cable itself may only cost as much as a movie ticket, the true cost of cables—once salaries, wasted time, and AV installation costs are factored in—is much closer to a full-on movie production.

What about wireless conference rooms?

Unlike their cabled counterparts, wireless conference rooms don’t require constant troubleshooting, and therefore enterprises don’t hemorrhage money by deploying them. Although the initial cost of a wireless presentation system may be a bit steep compared to the $15 you’d spend on an HDMI cable, the amount saved in the long run is gargantuan. As far as ROI is concerned, wireless conference rooms are to cabled conference rooms what law degrees are to lottery tickets.
But there is a bright side to using cables: IT managers report that they walk a distance of 92.5 meters from their desk to the meeting rooms and back each time they have to go to help with a meeting room technology incident. This means they walk at least 3.2 km per week or 41.366 km per year.
With all that exercise, who needs a gym membership?
ADDITIONAL READING
Conference Room Cable Management Checklist
Top 5 Conference Room TVs of 2017
Death of the Shared Conference Room PC

Want to set up a wireless Conference Room?Try Now

What is the ROI behind your office technology?

Posted on

 
There are several factors to consider when investing in new office technology. Perhaps the most influential of those factors is return-on-investment or ROI. Determining the ROI of business technology is harder than it first seems. InformationWeek recently conducted a survey of C-level executives and found that it is challenging for all of them to agree on the value of proposed tech investments.
Each executive position may have their own vision of what office technology ROI should look like. However, there are some key characteristics that are common amongst successful tech initiatives. Company leaders can use this checklist below to help evaluate the ROI of their technology.

Does it boost productivity?

Over 50 percent of organizations measure productivity when calculating technology’s ROI. Tech solutions that have a steep learning curve or require hours upon hours of training in order to use it effectively can actually decrease productivity. Office technology should make an employee’s job easier and business processes more efficient.
For example, mobile technologies are providing some of the greatest productivity boosts for businesses. Mobile solutions like wireless presentation software, wearable devices, tablets, and collaboration tools mean that employees are no longer confined to working solely at their desks. They can communicate and collaborate from anywhere and at anytime, accelerating the work cycle.

Does it offer measurable value to customers?

Have you connected with customers and target audiences after learning more about them through data tools? Are customers finding your business or communicating with you through technology? Are they using your mobile app to make buying decisions?
When technology improves the customer experience or helps you connect with them, it is providing a big return-on-investment. Attracting a new customer costs as much as five to ten times more than retaining a current one. However, technology that personalizes and improves the customer experience can keep them coming back and spending 67 percent more.

Does it create new revenue streams?

By utilizing big data and new technologies, The Weather Channel is one organization that has created revenue streams that weren’t possible before. With advanced tools like drones and sensors, the weather capturing company’s forecasting range has expanded to over 37,000 personal reporting stations and increased the accuracy of their predictions. Recognizing the value of weather to business operations, it created new revenue by offering accurate weather reporting, alerts and additional services to companies worldwide.
Valuable office technology can not only increase current revenue streams but also create new ones. With the right tech presence, even small businesses can now have a global presence. Tech can open up new opportunities for companies that use it effectively.
There are thousands of tech products that claim that they will bring benefits to businesses. Ultimately, company leaders want to know that their investment will improve performance or increase revenue. If you are investing in new technology, and it doesn’t fit into any of these categories, it is likely time to rethink your purchase.