Today's collaboration spaces seem to be evolving at a lightning-quick pace—and it has not been an easy task to keep both remote and in-person employees happy. As Keith Yandell, EVP of innovation, FORTÉ, explained, there has been a consistent market disconnect, leading companies to struggle with delivering reliable and dependable meeting experiences.
[AV/IT Technologies Supporting A Culture of Collaboration]
That disconnect is what prompted FORTÉ's research on collaboration, which began last November. The company commissioned a proprietary digital survey to understand the current state and future direction of meeting room and collaboration space technology, with a heavy focus on AI solutions in the conference room. The State of Modern Collaboration Spaces report compiled the insights of 512 U.S.-based C-level and AV/IT leaders who contribute to decisions about meeting room and collaboration space technology within their organizations.
Article continues belowIn short, this was not taken lightly. What was discovered was that AI-enabled collaboration is very prevalent in modern meeting spaces; however, problems still arise. These problems, explains the report, are not necessarily feature-driven, but focus more on reliability and predictable performance.
"While AI-enabled collaboration tools are widely deployed, meetings still fail too often due to reliability issues, join friction, and reactive support," Yandell said. "This was a trend that FORTÉ saw repeatedly across customer engagements and support data. Organizations are investing more and upgrading more frequently yet are still struggling to deliver dependable meeting experiences. We wanted to provide the Pro AV community with real-world feedback, shifting the conversation from feature adoption to reliability, execution, and measurable outcomes."
There were six key findings in the report regarding the modern collaboration space today and in the future. Many are focused on reliable and dependable technology, as well as understanding how AI-enabled solutions can enhance the conference room experience with proper integration and employee training.
The report also revealed that, despite AI being arguably the biggest buzzword in Pro AV for years, there are still reservations in full AI adoption, including security concerns, integration, and of course, cost. However, AI-enabled collaboration is no longer a trend or differentiator; AI is becoming a collaboration standard, and it is doing so much sooner than later.
Yandell spoke to three findings that stood out in the report.
- Reliability is the biggest barrier to productive meetings. "Nearly half of respondents cited technology not working properly as the top reason meetings fail," Yandell said. "Productivity is most often lost before meetings begin. Fixing failure points delivers greater value than adding more tech features."
- AI investment is shifting toward operational intelligence. "IT leaders are reframing AI’s role, prioritizing AI capabilities that work in the background to prevent failures, monitor room health, and reduce manual IT intervention," he noted. "AI is increasingly viewed as operational infrastructure."
- Meeting room failures are an IT efficiency problem. "Leaders estimate IT teams could reclaim an average of 52 hours per month if meeting-room issues were eliminated," Yandell explained. "Reactive troubleshooting is a recurring drain on IT resources. Proactive monitoring affords more time for higher-value initiatives."
The report reveals that there is currently a gap in collaboration technology between expectations of what is promised and what that technology delivers on a day-to-day basis. It provides several authoritative insights into how organizations can close that gap and turn their investment in collaboration into a competitive advantage by using AI solutions to help alleviate conference room challenges.
Yandell concluded that AI can do much for collaboration spaces of the future, but the foundation must come first. "The future of AI in the meeting room is quieter," he added. "Success will come from environments that detect issues before meetings start, reducing human and IT intervention. Aside from management, collaboration itself is heading toward a reality where AI is an active participant. The key to success will rely on user adoption and meeting spaces that foster co-creation between human and machine."
The State of Modern Collaboration Spaces is now available for download at FORTÉ's website.
