On Workplace 3.X: Peerless-AV

Robert Meiner, Technical Sales Engineer at Peerless-AV
(Image credit: Future)

AVT Question: Please share insight and best practices for ensuring meeting equity for all employees and how to deliver the best collaboration experience regardless of location.

Thought Leader: Robert Meiner, Technical Sales Engineer at Peerless-AV

As meeting and working in person was no longer an option due to the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate offices around the world were forced to create a completely remote work environment. Since then, many businesses and offices have completely shifted their business model, ultimately offering a version of a hybrid work to their employees.

While hybrid work offers immense flexibility to employees and employers alike, it has completely shifted the typical work culture and the way companies connect and communicate with each other and clients. Many businesses are now opting for digital solutions that replicate the typical in-person meeting space we are used to in order to create that “face time” rapport. 

The days of the typical boardroom are dwindling, and instead, businesses must focus on how to see every virtual face in the room at once, instead of the number of people the space can fit." —Robert Meiner, Technical Sales Engineer at Peerless-AV

With this change comes needs in new technologies/offerings as well as a shift in how businesses plan office spaces, meeting rooms, et cetera. The days of the typical boardroom are dwindling, and instead, businesses must focus on how to see every virtual face in the room at once, instead of the number of people the space can fit.

Over the past few years, innovators in the AV industry have created a variety of different solutions that meet the needs of hybrid business models. As hybrid work starts to become more the norm, we can expect to see a completely new corporate meeting space. This can include installing larger digital displays that account for virtual employees and downsizing the typical conference room and table. 

A recent installation at a world-renowned university tackled this issue head-on to turn the standard lecture hall into a virtual space. This virtual space now includes a custom dvLED video wall—among other essential AV solutions—that allows up to 96 students to be seen in the same manner. Corporations can take this model of hybrid corporate meeting spaces and scale it down to their needs to keep up with the changing work culture.

Cindy Davis
Brand and content director of AV Technology

Cindy Davis is the brand and content director of AV Technology. Davis enjoys exploring the ethos of experiential spaces as well as diving deep into the complex topics that shape the AV/IT industry. In 2012, the TechDecisions brand of content sites she developed for EH Publishing was named one of “10 Great Business Media Websites” by B2B Media Business magazine. For more than 20 years, Davis has developed and delivered multiplatform content for AV/IT B2B and consumer electronics B2C publications, associations, and companies. From 2000 to 2008, Davis was the publisher and editor-in-chief of Electronic House. From 2009 to present, as the principal of CustomMedia.Co, Davis developed content plans and delivered content for associations such as IEEE Standards Association and AVIXA, content marketing for Future Plc, and numerous AV/IT companies. Davis was a critical member of the AVT editorial team when the title won the “Best Media Brand” laurel in the 2018 SIIA Jesse H. Neal Awards. A lifelong New Englander, Davis makes time for coastal hikes with her husband, Gary, and their Vizsla rescue, Dixie, sailing on one of Gloucester’s great schooners, and sampling local IPAs.