PenguinIN, Actility and its subsidiary Abeeway are entering into a partnership aimed at expanding their IoT solutions portfolios with joint offers, focusing primarily on Managed Indoor Positioning and Navigation serving a wide range of industries including healthcare, construction, Oil & Gas, airports, education, hotels, theme parks and shopping centers.

Headquartered in Irvine, CA, with a regional office in Dubai, PenguinIN is a leading indoor positioning and IoT use cases provider. The company creates digital parallel for physical spaces to optimize day-to-day processes and offer unique experiences for visitors and operators. PenguinIN leverages all available radio and sensor information to provide state-of-the-art indoor positioning information to build ROI-driven use cases, with solutions that have already been proven successful in some of the most challenging environments.

[In Partnership, OCK, Actility and Abeeway Aim to Strengthen LoRaWAN IoT Adoption in Asia and to Promote the Use of Tracking Devices Globally]

The use of LoRaWAN connectivity is one of the keys to success of such use cases. LoRaWAN is a widely used wireless protocol that allows battery-powered sensors to communicate with IoT applications via a long-range, ultra-low data rate connection, resulting in longer battery life.

Actility provides the LoRaWAN IoT connectivity management solution with ThingPark Enterprise, a platform that helps customers build network infrastructure by managing LoRaWAN gateways, adding sensors, monitoring network operations and controlling the flow of data to application servers, enabling the deployment of large-scale IoT projects in record time. Actility's subsidiary, Abeeway, provides various tracking devices that work both indoors and outdoors thanks to their multi- technology geolocation system, integrating GPS, Abeeway's patented Low-power GPS, Wi-Fi Sniffing and Bluetooth Low Energy.

Actlity Was the Right Fit

As PenguinIN expands its portfolio of use cases, the need has surfaced for a fully controllable long-range backhaul technologies. Actility was the right fit with its know-how, acquired through years of experience and thousands of use cases deployed, to help them complete their offers with solutions for private network server management and Abeeway asset management devices.

[Global Smart Badge Industry Report 2021-2026; Expected to Grow by Over $10 Billion with North America Leading]

PenTrack is a software-based, cloud-hosted indoor tracking solution offering impressive accuracy and performance. It works with off-the-shelf tags and does not require proprietary hardware. Whether it is venue-wide presence or room-level accuracy, their machine learning algorithms ensure that clients get the best accuracy with cost efficiency to satisfy their use cases. Using Meraki's Location APIs, PenguinIN works with clients deploying Meraki infrastructure to enable PenNav and PenTrack solutions.

PenNav is a leading turn-by-turn indoor navigation solution delivered through mobile applications and digital kiosks. This solution is enriched with location-based messages, analytics and business rules. Offered as a managed service, accuracy of indoor positioning is maintained long after the initial system setup.

Advantages of Abeeway Long Autonomy Devices

With LoRaWAN connectivity,  Abeeway long autonomy devices allow continuous usage for months and years. The devices work both indoors and outdoors owing to their multi-technology geolocation system, integrating GPS, Abeeway's patented low-power GPS, Wi-Fi Sniffing, Bluetooth Low Energy and Bluetooth LE Beaconing feature for precise indoor tracking. Abeeway devices combine cutting-edge location technologies, robust hardware, a meticulous selection of high-performing low-power chipsets and the no-compromise optimization of software.

[Senzary and Actility join forces to ease IoT and LoRaWAN adoption]

Making Abeeway trackers compatible with PenguinIN software allows new types of use cases for indoor and outdoor geolocation. The integrated solution is designed to deliver reliable location data even in complex indoor and outdoor use cases or hazardous environments like a construction site, a mine, a refinery. It provides real-time data of the operating status of machines and monitoring of mobile assets as well as people. This unique, custom fit IoT tracking solution is particularly relevant for use cases such as asset tracking and management in indoor facilities, factories, resource tracking, theft prevention, warehouse logistics, fleet management and much more.

OCK Setia Engineering Sdn. Bhd, one of the largest telco engineering service providers in Malaysia, Actility and its subsidiary Abeeway have agreed to a partnership aiming to expand LoRaWAN IoT adoption in Asia and to promote the use of tracking devices to help businesses prevent COVID-19 spread in shared work areas by controlling social distancing and contact tracing.

OCK is a regional telecommunication, mechanical and electrical (M&E) engineering service company that provides engineering services to cellular operators and equipment to vendors in the areas of full turnkey network roll-out, planning, optimization, operations, and maintenance.

[The Effects of COVID-19 on the Live Events Industry]

The group, which from Malaysia also operates in Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and China, and boasts a workforce of over 4.000 people, provides telecommunication network services and turnkey solutions for its telecommunications clientele comprised mainly of telecommunications operators and telecommunications technology providers, encompassing network planning, design and optimization, network deployment, network operations and maintenance, infrastructure management, energy management and professional services. The company is now seeking to broaden its offer in real-time tracking solutions through this partnership, using Actility's expertise to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in its own offices.

Deploying IoT and LoRaWAN in Service to Human Safety

During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, businesses must ensure social distancing and contact tracing to allow their workers to feel more confident about working in co-located physical workplaces. Automating the monitoring of new safety policies, while empowering employees as part of the new normal in business operations and making them feel safe when returning to the office, is critical for any organization.

OCK has also felt an increasing need to protect its workers through proximity and contact tracing solutions and has looked to Actility's expertise in this area to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the company.

[ISE 2022 Establishes COVID Safety Guidelines]

This solution, which works by combining LoRaWAN technology offered by Actility with Abeeway's Smart Badges, helps to enforce physical distancing and limited occupation density to prevent individual contamination, while offering real-time monitoring of policies and traceability which helps managers take mitigation measures immediately, such as retaining non-compliant personnel.

The solution also allows businesses to avoid temporary shutdowns through enhanced safety measures and tracks all interactions between infected and healthy people to identify contamination clusters.

Advantages of LoRaWAN Connectivity

The use of LoRaWAN connectivity in solutions like this, is one of the keys to the success of such use cases. LoRaWAN is a widely used wireless protocol that allows battery-powered sensors to communicate with IoT applications via a long-range, ultra-low data rate connection, resulting in longer battery life.

[Top Integrators 2021: COVID-19 Recovery]

Actility provides the LoRaWAN IoT connectivity management solution with ThingPark Enterprise, a platform that helps customers build network infrastructure by managing LoRaWAN gateways, adding sensors, monitoring network operations and controlling the flow of data to application servers, enabling the deployment of large-scale IoT projects in record time.

Actility's Abeeway subsidiary provides various tracking devices that work both indoors and outdoors thanks to its multi- technology geolocation system, integrating GPS, Abeeway's patented Low-power GPS, Wi-Fi Sniffing and Bluetooth Low Energy.

As the workforce returns to the office, AV/IT managers, technology decision-makers, and consultants are revamping the workplace and higher-ed campus to enhance collaboration, communication, and engagement in the new era of hybrid. Simply adding more of anything is not a solution, but careful planning to understand the need and how people want to work and learn is critical to future success.

With the expectation that there will be a greater percentage of hybrid workers than in 2019 returning to the offices at financial technology company Square, senior AV systems engineer Laura Talon is designing spaces that work for the individual. "Our workforce includes folks who are thrilled to return to the office, others who prefer to continue working from home, and a significant percentage who want to split their time between the office and home," she said. "We're building to accommodate everyone on that spectrum as much as possible."

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A Trend Toward Purpose-built

While some AV/IT managers are ordering more displays to enable videoconferencing, others focus on multi-use displays. "We're not seeing more displays, but we definitely see different kinds of displays," Talon said. "We're testing several interactive models that will allow users to work with a number of different collaborative tools in the room while still having the freedom to use the displays for videoconferencing when necessary," added Talon.

Talon and her team have an idea of how workflows will change. "We'll continue to make improvements and enhancements to our AV systems over the next year as we get a chance to see how people are using the office in this new environment." The team is testing interactive displays to discover new ways to improve the conference room and whiteboarding experience. "There is a big focus on interactivity and creating a space where users can be productive and innovative with their teammates locally, and remotely rather than just having meetings."

Audio Matters

At Square, high-quality audio that allows users in different locations to communicate clearly is a priority, and so Talon and her team have been testing various audio technologies. "We've tested in-wall speaker and low-profile beamforming speaker/mic solutions that not only perform beautifully but also allow us to design rooms that feel more like a living room than a conference room," she said. "We feel that when a collaboration space is less formal and more comfortable, a lot of users are able to create and focus in this more relaxed environment."

Integrated IoT Delivers Actionable Results

Talon is exploring IoT features that will help automate certain features within the space. "For instance, we tested a Samsung Frame display with an IoT room sensor, so the act of closing the door of the room switched the display from art mode to conference mode," she said. "We're discussing different uses of these sensors, including room usage metrics, temperature control, and lighting and shade control. We're excited about the idea of automating the office experience in thoughtful ways that allow our employees to focus on what they do best rather than details that can be addressed with technology."

Vivotek unveiled new branding on June 10 that includes a new logo, new brand identity, and brand ethos with the slogan “We Get the Picture.” Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Taiwan, Vivotek specializes in IP surveillance technologies.

Vivotek USA president David Liu said the rebrand comes as the 21-year-old company transforms itself to support IoT technologies.

“When we say, ‘We Get the Picture,’ it means to understand the whole situation in a prompt manner, and to always be a step ahead to deliver the solutions demanded by our end users,” said Liu. “During the rebrand journey, we discovered that the way we have done business for the last two decades, with outstanding service and business integrity, has profoundly shaped who we are today. Our new positioning and look redefine our role in the next era of IoT, but more importantly, they deliver the clear message to our customers and partners that they can trust and stand side by side with Vivotek.”

Liu explained that Vivotek’s rebrand represents a recommitment to its clients. The company aims to take a more holistic approach and provide leading technology and intelligent insights. The new brand identity reveals its new style with a modern, user-centered, and digital friendly design.

Liu added that in continuing its tradition of research, development, and user focus while moving to support the world of IoT, Vivotek will remain competitive, continue to drive growth, and sustain meaningful and creative long-term relationships with its partners.

More from Vivotek

Vivotek Adds Day/Night Surveillance Camera Model • The 5-megapixel CC9380-HV day/night surveillance camera with H.265 compression is built to withstand the demands of harsh outdoor applications.

The What: Zyter has launched Zyter Smart Factories, an end-to-end intelligent solution that connects factory floor machinery, workers, and building systems using the latest Internet of Things (IoT) technology devices on Zyter’s digital transformation platform.

The What Else: Zyter Smart Factories is a component of the Zyter SmartSpaces IoT platform. Trusted by Qualcomm to be the foundation of its Smart Cities Accelerator Program, the Zyter SmartSpaces Platform is designed to break down silos of information by integrating and consolidating data from IoT devices and applications in a seamless interface.

Zyter Smart Factories gives manufacturers a 360-degree view of what is happening across the entire factory floor using a network of connected devices and sensors, including safety equipment worn by workers. IoT sensors send alerts and notifications on worker safety issues, authorization breaches, machinery utilization, and asset monitoring to the Zyter Smart Factories dashboard. Zyter Smart Factories translates this data to analytics to help manufacturers understand factory productivity and safety metrics, as well as gain insight into other metrics related to factory management, operations, and efficiency improvements.

The key features of Zyter Smart Factories include a continuous stream of real-time data from IoT devices on machinery, material, and workers to enable factory managers to optimally plan production runs; detections and alerts whenever workers remove hard hats, safety goggles, and other gear; and usage of high-value machinery in terms of running times, usage efficiency, energy consumption, and more. 

The Bottom Line: Ready for 5G connectivity, Zyter Smart Factories enables manufacturers of all sizes to easily upgrade from legacy hard-wired IT and Wi-Fi systems to a private 5G-enabled IT or cellular network that supports multiple IoT devices. 

Black Box has joined the Avnet IoTConnect Partner Program—part of Avnet's IoTConnect Solutions Suite—to accelerate its IoT deployment capabilities. Working with technology solutions provider Avnet, Black Box will increase its capacity to design, deploy, scale, and manage complete IoT solutions in a quick and cost-effective manner.

Through the partnership, Black Box and Avnet will collaborate to offer systems integration services for end-to-end deployments of IoT solutions, together with regional integration capabilities. Drawing on its 40 years of experience connecting people and devices, Black Box says it will apply its expertise in 5G, edge networking, data centers, and cybersecurity, and provide comprehensive design, integration, and support/maintenance services for each deployment.

Using Avnet's Microsoft Azure-powered IoTConnect platform, Black Box will be able to connect devices seamlessly and address both the software and hardware needs of those IoT solutions. 

"The demand for solutions that connect buildings, people, and assets is growing exponentially. Now more than ever, companies need tools to plan, monitor, analyze and secure their operations," said Martin Willemsen, general manager APJ, GSI Black Box. "At Black Box, we are excited to partner with Avnet in providing an end-to-end IoT solution and integration for our customers."

"Through Avnet's IoTConnect Partner Program, Black Box will be able to quickly accelerate and scale its systems integration services for end-to-end deployments of IoT solutions," addd Lou Lutostanski, vice president of IoT, Avnet. "By utilizing Avnet's IoTConnect platform and its ecosystem of applications and devices, Black Box can bring its expertise in 5G, edge networking, data centers, and cybersecurity to more industrial IoT deployments."

More information on the Avnet Partner Program is available here.

One of the key lessons learned from COVID-19 is that chaos breeds innovation. The pandemic has expedited this in the display industry, radically shifting the way we communicate and collaborate. As a result, we need to find new and creative ways to solve modern business problems with a focus on what is coming in the future. 

Here are five trends to keep top of mind in the display business to successfully innovate:

Mobility

This means anywhere, anytime, and any device access to information. There has been no greater catalyst than the pandemic for driving this requirement. Even those who were skeptical of the benefits of working from home have been forced to adapt. In many cases, the experience has been extremely positive, after an often painful learning curve. Those who have embraced mobility early have been the most successful with their business continuity plans after lockdowns started. Sharp’s Synappx Go is a great example of this kind of mobility technology, allowing users to share content to Sharp displays directly from a mobile app.

Collaboration

Is starting a meeting in an office conference room as easy as using smart home tech in the house? Probably not. Smart businesses need to make sure that no meeting room is harder to use than a laptop—or true collaboration will suffer. They can do this by leveraging the applications we’ve already learned during quarantine and by using a multi-platform approach, integrating applications such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to make it easier for employees to collaborate. 

[The Integration Guide to Collaboration]

They also need to continue the momentum of video collaboration, equipping conference rooms with simple connectivity and a quality camera/audio experience like we’ve been used to at home, including solutions like Windows collaboration displays. 

IoT

We have all become much more aware of having a healthier home, and we will likely take this mentality to our offices, too. But to have healthier workspaces, you need to start with smarter workspaces. 

In other words, if you don’t have adequate data about comfort factors in your conference rooms, you won’t know how to make good decisions about how to fix it. This is where Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) comes in. IoT involves data collection and analytics, while AI can take those analytics and do smart things with it. For example, displays with sensors that pick up room activity, such as temperature and humidity levels, and process that data in the cloud, can then be accessed to make spaces healthier and more productive. 

As-a-Service

With technology, there is never a constant. Every few years, we have to consider upgrades to stay up to date on the newest devices and software that can drive employee collaboration and productivity. But more and more, we are beginning to ask whether we can procure this technology via subscriptions rather than purchases. Many organizations are having serious conversations about utility models and considering if they can just pay for what they use, as they use it. 

[The Integration Guide to Flat Panel Displays and Mounts]

In the display world, companies that are moving to this cloud-like usage model demonstrate greater flexibility to meet shifting user needs. Given the popularity of this procurement and deployment model, you may have already bought your last piece of hardware.

AV Meets IT

With the growing digital transformation all around us, we are seeing an acceleration of the convergence of AV and IT. Soon, there won’t be successful AV people that don’t understand IT and vice versa. This is essential as businesses begin to realize that every AV solution—like sensors on displays—is actually a connected solution that complements the data-oriented IT practice. As digital walls begin to come down, we are finding new ways to provide full-stack solutions that end users demand and that improve productivity. 

There is a tech renaissance happening in the display industry and it started well before COVID-19. However, the pandemic has added fuel to the fire of innovation. We need to start thinking about where we want to be in the future and how to adjust our core competencies to serve clients according to their future needs. 

Bob Madaio is VP of marketing for Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America. After 20-plus years helping market data center solutions at EMC (now part of Dell) and Hitachi, he now leads the marketing team and efforts for Sharp across all products and channels.  His role is to accelerate the growth of Sharp's brand and presence within the information technology industry, expand critical technology alliances, and drive innovative programs through Sharp's channel sales network and the Sharp Business Systems direct sales organization.

As 2019 winds down, predictions abound on the technology advancements and innovations expected in the year ahead. However, there are several anticipated advancements, including 5G wearables, quantum computing, and self-driving trucks, that will not happen in the first year of the new decade, according to global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research.

In its new whitepaper, 54 Technology Trends to Watch in 2020, ABI Research’s analysts have identified 35 trends that will shape the technology market and 19 others that, although attracting huge amounts of speculation and commentary, look less likely to move the needle over the next twelve month. "After a tumultuous 2019 that was beset by many challenges, both integral to technology markets and derived from global market dynamics, 2020 looks set to be equally challenging,” said Stuart Carlaw, chief research officer at ABI Research. “Knowing what won’t happen in technology in the next year is important for end users, implementors, and vendors to properly place their investments or focus their strategies.”

5G Wearables: “While smartphones will dominate the 5G market in 2020, 5G wearables won’t arrive in 2020, or anytime soon,” said Stephanie Tomsett, 5G devices, smartphones, and wearables analyst at ABI Research. “To bring 5G to wearables, specific 5G chipsets will need to be designed and components will need to be reconfigured to fit in the small form factor. That won’t begin to happen until 2024, at the earliest.”

Quantum Computing: “Despite claims from Google in achieving quantum supremacy, the tech industry is still far away from the democratization of quantum computing technology,” said Lian Jye Su, AI and machine learning principal analyst at ABI Research. “Quantum computing is definitely not even remotely close to the large-scale commercial deployment stage.”

Self-Driving Trucks: “Despite numerous headlines declaring the arrival of driverless, self-driving, or robot vehicles, very little, if any, driver-free commercial usage is underway beyond closed-course operations in the United States,” said Susan Beardslee, freight transportation and logistics principal analyst at ABI Research.

A Consolidated IoT Platform Market: “For many years, there have been predictions that the IoT platform supplier market will begin to consolidate, and it just won’t happen,” said Dan Shey, vice president of enabling platforms at ABI Research. “The simple reason is that there are more than 100 companies that offer device-to-cloud IoT platform services and for every one that is acquired, there are always new ones that come to market.”

Edge Will Not Overtake Cloud: “The accelerated growth of the edge technology and intelligent device paradigm created one of the largest industry misconceptions: edge technology will cannibalize cloud technology,” said Kateryna Dubrova, M2M, IoT and IoE analyst at ABI Research. “In fact, in the future, we will see a rapid development of edge-cloud-fog continuum, where technology will complement each other, rather than cross-cannibalize.”

8K TVs: “Announcements of 8K Television (TV) sets by major vendors earlier in 2019 attracted much attention and raised many of questions within the industry,” said Khin Sandi Lynn, video and cloud services analyst at ABI Research. “The fact is, 8K content is not available and the price of 8K TV sets are exorbitant. The transition from high definition (HD) to 4K will continue in 2020 with very limited 8K shipments—less than 1 million worldwide.”

For more trends that won’t happen in 2020, and the 35 trends that will, download the 54 Technology Trends to Watch in 2020 whitepaper.

Quick Bio

Name: Manny Linhares

Position: Director of IoT Strategy

Company: Legrand AV

SCN: What is your position, and what does it entail? What are your responsibilities?

MANNY LINHARES: I serve as the director of IoT strategy for Legrand North and Central America. In this role, I oversee all elements of the company’s efforts to design and develop connected products for power, light, and data applications in commercial and residential applications. In commercial AV, our brands include Chief, Da-Lite, Middle Atlantic Products, Projecta, and Vaddio.

SCN: How long have you been in this position?

ML: I started in the IoT strategy director position in January of 2017. Previously I led Legrand’s strategy for our Data Communications Division, focused on the data center and building network markets.

SCN: How has your background prepared you for your role?

ML: I’ve also previously held positions with Eaton Corp. and Schneider Electric, managing research and development, applications engineering, project management, and many sustainability initiatives.

SCN: What are your short- and long-term goals?

ML: In the short term, we want to partner with manufacturers who share our vision of purposeful design and delivering a valuable user experience. Everyone is familiar with the estimates that our industry will reach somewhere around 50 billion connected devices by 2020. AV integrators will benefit from this growth explosion by leveraging the technology for their customers—but only if manufacturers can work together to help leverage these devices as systems through easy interoperability.

Long term, we want to support integrators as the business model continues to shift. We recognize that integrators need to be ready to build services and find ways to support their customers throughout the entire building, not just in a conference room or other dedicated space. With the proliferation of connected systems, there are many new and exciting opportunities for integrators to manage more of the ecosystem of the building.

SCN: What is the greatest challenge you face?

ML: It really comes down to interoperability. If we are going to realize the full potential of IoT for AV and a variety of other markets, these systems and devices need to work together seamlessly. Interoperability is essential to creating the kinds of experiences we hope to deliver as manufacturers—ultimately ensuring the satisfaction of our customers.

SCN: Where do you see the AV/IoT market heading?

ML: AV integrators have been dealing with the fundamentals of IoT for some time. Deploying products that sit on a network or that communicate with sensors is something this community is well versed in. Where integrators need to do more is in accelerating how IoT systems and devices can expand the scope of their services.

Working with both the residential and commercial sides of our business, it’s clear that the developments in IoT for the home are driving how technology evolves in commercial applications. Customers are already demanding that the same level of usability and functionality they have at home be available in the office. For us in the AV industry, that presents a big opportunity to own the expansion of networked systems.

SCN: Are there new initiatives we are likely to see from Legrand AV?

ML: We just announced an expansion of our IoT partner program. Since Legrand launched its global IoT program, Eliot, we have forged over 50 global partnerships with leading companies in the consumer electronics, hospitality, and automotive markets.

Our goal for this year is to grow and strengthen these partnerships to take our integrations to even deeper levels, and work to develop new ways of managing all the available data for the ease and benefit of the user.

SCN: How can systems contractors better position themselves to profit from products and/or services you offer?

ML: For success in working with Legrand—or with any AV manufacturer—we believe integrators need to see the AV system as the output to other areas. Every installation today has the potential of becoming a large, multifaceted, “smart” project. Often the AV system becomes the eyes and ears of the entire integration, being the interface and touch point for many operations. The integrators who deeply understand this and the client’s specific needs will generate opportunities to address requirements through integrated IoT technologies and devices.

As mentioned, AV integrators are finding that commercial customer expectations are being influenced by the technologies they experience in their personal lives. Because of this, customers now expect this same level of functionality in their work environment—the line between home and work has blurred significantly. It’s up to us as manufacturers to work closely with integrators to evolve and meet these challenges, and together we will deliver solutions and experiences that wow the end user and greatly exceed their expectations.

Always on, hyper connected, highly individual—these are a few attributes of Generation Z, the influential cohort born between 1995-2005, after Millennials. By 2020, Gen Z will account for one-third of the U.S. population, and in 10 years, these digital addicts will be flooding the business landscape. As Michael Dimock observed in a 2018 Pew Research Center report, “Technology, in particular the rapid evolution of how people communicate and interact, is another generation-shaping consideration.” It is undeniable that generational change influences how we work and how we design workplaces. Here are six trends that technology managers should consider as business cultures evolve.

1. MORE FLEXIBLE WORKPLACES

As workplaces become more multigenerational and more digitally driven, technology managers are keeping eyes and ears attuned to trends in the corporate campus, and business culture in general. Hot desking, remote working, and collaboration via BYOx are shaping up to be key influencers.

Greg Clark, CTS, principal consultant with the Sextant Group, sees flexibility in the workplace as an important trend. “Companies, more and more, want to move away from spaces that have finite and specific roles,” he explained. “They want spaces that can do more than one thing; it can be several things. Flexibility is key. That’s a big element of what we are seeing from our side.”

Not all employees want open floor plans with hot desking, however, citing openness as too noisy or distracting. And not all team members use the same tools. CAD operators, for example, have different requirements than sales and marketing. An art director cannot just sit anywhere. How should technology managers strike the balance between AV that supports flexibility but also offers reliability?

“It all about properly planning spaces, really,” Clark said. “It comes down to more of a facilities role as to say, ‘What are my needs? How many spaces of different types do I need? What do those spaces need to do, not only functionally but technologically?’ And parsing it out that way.”

For Jeff Joseph, global AV lead of Indeed, aligning a cohesive AV strategy with the workplace strategy team and HR team helps to unify the experience of multiple generations working in a single office.

“We have open-desk floor plans at Indeed, no matter where you are in the world,” Joseph said. “What that calls for on our side is open communication, meaning if I roll out displays, speakers, and audio into an open space, it has to be expansible and controllable for the whole environment and not just one person.” Workplace strategy and AV working in harmony will help to ensure that stakeholders are following the same vision.

2. MORE COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENTS

Besides more flexible business environments, collaboration solutions continue to dominate corporate AV needs. One example of this is the Zoom videoconferencing solution, which is skyrocketing in its usage and deployment, leading traditional AV vendors to join in the Zoom Room craze. The Works with Zoom program recognizes partnerships with hardware and software manufacturers, such as Logitech, Vaddio, Crestron, Avocor, and InFocus, just to name a few. Zoom is growing at a breakneck pace, with more than 700,000 business customers. Zoom’s customer base also claims more than 88 percent of the top educational institutions, according to U.S. News & World Report. Among its most attractive features are its ease of use, recording, screen sharing, capacity, and more efficient infrastructure requirements.

Collaboration extends beyond videoconferencing. As Greg Clark underscored, there are a variety of collaboration needs and designs, but the key is planning for spaces that support users of all skill levels that is also platform agnostic. Any BYOD user should be able to instantly connect and begin a remote meeting, or share rich content from myriad sources. Don’t discount the popularity of the huddle rooms, he added.

“As a result of the continued trend towards more open-plan workspace and increased workstation density, the huddle room has exploded—everyone needs more and more. A huddle room’s capability seems somewhat simplistic, but the ability to go in and share content, collaborate and co-create in a semi-private environment away from the communal workstation area is important. The ability to save, annotate, and distribute shared content is a relatively simple task, technology wise, but everyone wants it; everyone needs it.”

3. MORE MOBILE, WIRELESS, AND NETWORKED CONNECTIVITY

Considering that Gen Z practically grew up with iPhones in their hands, tech managers should expect to support more mobile devices, not fewer. We’re seeing more and more companies rely less on wired connectivity and much more on wireless. It is an ease-of-use issue, but it is also about aesthetics. Who wants to see untidy nests of cords or unsightly cables dangling across furniture?

As AV over IP and wireless becomes more pervasive, so does the need for bulletproof software and data security. To that end, AVIXA’s new Recommended Practices for Security in Networked AV Systems provides guidance and current best practices for securing networked AV systems of all sizes. Visit avixa.org to access the best practices.

4. MORE DISPLAYS, LESS PROJECTION

Some AV professionals are observing a general trend in the workplace toward more fixed displays, migrating away from projection.

Projection can offer extraordinary large-scale images, and it certainly has its ideal applications. Laser projection in particular has become more popular due to its long shelf life, quiet operation, and brightness. Laser sources are, by nature, lamp-free, a benefit for busy technology managers. However, some companies feel the need to showcase the newest technologies as they try to attract talent. Indeed, many growing companies want AV technology to be a feature of their workplace environment, or at least appear that way. That is one of the key reasons sleek flat-panel display technologies—LCD, LED, and the ilk—are becoming popular on the corporate campus.

5. MORE EMPHASIS ON UX

Clark and The Sextant Group community are passionate about user experience (UX) and ease of use, and Clark sees more of a focus being place on the UX of AV.

“End users want intuitive systems that are easy to use,” he said. While some systems can get extremely complex as to what they are doing behind the scenes, the interface—especially considering the spectrum of generations using AV technologies—has to be dead simple.

6. MORE IOT AND EXPERIENCE-DRIVEN TECHNOLOGIES

Business Insider projects that there will be “more than 55 billion IoT devices by 2025, up from about 9 billion in 2017.” Tech managers should expect requests to integrate more sensors and IoT devices into installed AV systems. Corporations are also looking to build more apps for personalized experiences, making the workplace a “destination.” Look to the proliferation of more automated scheduling and AI-driven systems, such as the Harman/IBM Watson Cognitive Rooms.

Greg Clark suggests keeping the bigger picture in mind, in terms of the corporate landscape.

“Focus on the whole experience,” he said. “What’s the workplace environment? What’s the experience for everyone involved? How can [technology] change my daily activity, improve the workflow? IoT will lead in that direction in a big way.”

While lifecycle planning usually encompasses a five-to-seven-year timeframe, and there are other trends influencing workplace designs, technologists responsible for the commissioning and management of AV would benefit from looking at the corporate campus with a wide-angle lens. From apps to remote working, to IoT, the very notion of an “office” is changing before our eyes.

Margot Douaihy is the editor-at-large of AV Technology. She teaches at Franklin Piece University.

INSIDE THE HABITS OF THE NEXT WAVE OF WORKERS

While it’s still a few years until Generation Z—loosely defined as those born between 1995 and 2005—begins invading the workforce en masse, it’s important to understand their habits and preferences now if we want a clearer picture of the future workplace.

An August study published by Ad Age references a UNiDAYS survey of 22,723 college-age respondents from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand about their technology usage and purchasing habits—and the findings underscore just how strong their ties to tech are.

Of this group, 97.6 percent own a smartphone and 94 percent own a laptop; in addition, 44.2 percent also own a tablet, 36.9 percent own a gaming console, and 14.2 percent own a smart watch. Interestingly, when surveyed about their viewing habits, more respondents said they preferred watching shows, programs, sports, and movies on their laptops than on a TV—a trend that could inform the way next-generation collaboration takes place.

However, the Gen Y and Gen Z Global Workplace Expectations Study from 2014 by the company Millennial Branding found that 53 percent of this age group prefer in-person communication over tools like instant messaging and videoconferencing— so the trend of more and more employees opting for remote working arrangements could begin to slow as this digital-first generation longs for more gregarious occupational lives.

The good news from a tech standpoint, however, is that Gen Z’s intimidate familiarity with all things electronic should translate into greater utilization of facilities’ smart infrastructures—after all, they expect screens to respond when they touch them, and they are also accustomed to learning new user interfaces with little or no guidance.
—Matt Pruznick

Quick Bio

Name: Joseph Bradley

Position: Vice President & Global Head, IoT Services

Company: Cisco Systems

Top Priority: “From our standpoint at Cisco, it starts with connecting dark assets,” he says. “That’s by far one of our biggest core elements.”

SCN: How did your early professional experiences lead you to your current position at Cisco?

Joseph Bradley: The thing that helped me get to where I am with Cisco is not about technology—it’s about people. The first role I had at Pacific Bell was in an advanced management program, and I’ll never forget it. One day the CEO came in and he says to me, “I know you’re good, no doubt—look at your resume,” but then he opened up the blinds behind him, there was this huge center, all these employees. He said, “The issue isn’t whether you’re good. It’s can you make those who are behind you good? Can you make them better—can you make them great?” I got a lot of experience from managing folks at that tech center, from managing folks in customer-facing roles, to managing staff, people in finance, operations, really learning how to connect with and motivate people.

Combine that with a strong curiosity to pick up and learn new technologies. Education isn’t about the fact that you learned; it’s about the act of learning. What do you do each and every day to improve your knowledge? I learned very early on that if you’re going to be great at something, you better know who the best in the world are, and learn to listen to them. Most people wake up every day and they turn the news and go about what they do. If you ask someone in tech, or whatever field they’re in, who are the top people in their field, they don’t know. If you want to be the best, if you want to continue to learn, you have to identify and learn from those best people, whether inside or outside your organization. You have to have a formalized way of doing that. So from Pacific Bell to C3 Communications and then back to Cisco, where I had the opportunity to do things at a larger scale, then back to the startup world at a bigger scale with Uptake, then back to Cisco—in each of those cases, connecting with and motivating people, stressing creativity for the art of the possible, and having formalized listening infrastructure were key for my success.

SCN: What are some things that have made your approach to innovation successful?

JB: People make a common mistake—they think innovation is invention. I always tell folks, innovation is invention plus execution. You have to have both to be successful. The funny thing about the two, though, is you can go get inventions. There’s already a lot of stuff that’s been done, that is sitting around, but they haven’t been able to execute it. Whether it’s MySpace to FaceBook, or it was Borders coming up with digital books and selling it to Amazon. Ideation is everywhere. The hardest part is that execution point. I run emerging technologies and IoT [Internet of Things] for Cisco, and I always tell my team we want to be able to see the value first, say it best, and make it count. Meaning you don’t have to know it first, but you have to be the first one that sees value in it. Then you have to be able to articulate that value, you have to get people around you to be motivated with the power of our suggestion, you have to get buy-in. You have to make it count. At the end of the day, you have to bring it to market and get some success.

SCN: That human element seems to be a big part of your work. How does it impact your thinking about IoT?

JB: It requires us to take a step back to understand how is value realized in any IT or technology deployment. Value is realized when you have something that’s valuable, so you identify the act, but it’s multiplied times its adoption. Value times adoption equals the impact of the technology you’re trying to drive. The people element is hugely important in terms of how can you make the technology work without them knowing it even exists. How can you implement things without changing their workflow? If you change workflow, it becomes increasingly hard to execute adoption. Think about Dropbox. Before, you had to load a separate client on your machine: “Oh my god, nobody’s storing in the cloud.” As soon as you say, “All I’ve got to do is do like I regularly do: click file, click save.” Boom! Everybody’s storing stuff in the cloud. The human element around technology is really understanding that value is realized when a person does something that they would not have normally done. They adopt your recommendation, and if it’s not adopted, then there’s no value.

I call myself a digital humanist. I fundamentally believe that value is created not by replacing the human spirit, but by augmenting it. If you think about the power we have and the complexity of the human mind, the ability for us to be creative and see things that we didn’t know existed to begin with, whether you’re talking about art or science or politics, the power of the human mind and creativity and ingenuity is unsurpassed. You see that in our ability to adopt. I think of it as an Iron Man suit. Technology is not going to replace you, but it’s going to make you smarter, faster, be able to do things you never thought before. When you put on an Iron Man suit, now I’m one times 50. That’s the power of what IoT and technology can make happen.

That’s the biggest challenge—if you don’t understand or value the people element. If you think about IoT, all you have to do is keep asking yourself, “Where is value created?” You will see that value isn’t created when you connect the physical thing, it’s not when you capture the data, it’s not when you take analytics and you change process. it’s only when you connect to people and they do something they would not have normally done, they change or make a decision differently, that’s where value is created.

SCN: How do you see the role of blockchain in IoT growing over the next few years?

JB: It’s not about securing things anymore. Security isn’t enough; you have to talk about trust. The assumption behind whether or not I secure something, my assumption is it is valuable, that’s why I want to secure it from a digital standpoint. Why do you believe it’s valuable? I believe data information is valuable because it’s correct. How do you know it’s correct? Well, you don’t. Enter blockchain.

Blockchain technologies, from an IoT standpoint, will be used to ensure data integrity. If insight is a currency of the 21st century, then you damn sure better make sure the source of that insight is correct. Blockchain gives you an ability to be able to do so. To me, that is where you’re going to see the value of blockchain really take off and be used, around establishing data integrity, ensuring that the data element I’m using has that the data as it moves from point to point to point, has not been changed or altered in any way.

SCN: What are some lessons you’ve learned that have had an impact on your career?

JB: One is to forget failing fast and slow, that’s a bunch of crap. Failing fast is having to tell someone every quarter, “You missed your numbers so we’re going to have to lay you off.” Failing slow is having that conversation every year. Both of them suck! What you want to do is improve your rate of learning. That’s number one. Focus on improving your rate of learning.

Number two: All things are important, but they are not equal. It’s very important to understand the importance and prioritize in the moment. As an example, most people talk about shareholder value, then they talk about the customers, then maybe they’ll talk about employees. You have to reverse the corporate value flow in the age of digital age. Value increases exponentially as data and decision-making moves closer and closer to the customer. So, the order of priority is employees first, they then take care of your customers, and as an output, you drive good financials. You can’t manage financials as an input. Financials is an output, it’s a result of ensuring my employees understand what I’m asking, give them the tools of success, and they then have to be trusted to proper decision making to drive value to the customer. If I’m successful at that, then I win the championship, and then it shows up on the financial side.

The third thing: Diversity is not enough. As a leader, it’s not enough that you simply have a diverse workforce. Having 10 people in a room and saying they’re diverse is great. But there’s no value created unless they have a voice, unless there is a level of high inclusion. Putting 10 people in a room and not listening to anybody and having one person talk all the time, that’s not an inclusive environment. Diversity is the potential to create value. The realization of value happens through full participation of that employee base. When you actually hear and listen, and you understand and you engage those ideas, that’s where value is created.

At the Microsoft Inspire event in Las Vegas, the company awarded Crestron its 2018 Microsoft Global Partner of the Year Award for Internet of Things (IoT). Microsoft recognized Crestron for providing outstanding solutions in IoT in the form of Crestron XiO Cloud, an IoT-based provisioning and management solution built on the Microsoft Azure platform.

Crestron XiO Cloud is designed to revolutionize the provisioning and management of Crestron’s open UC, room scheduling, AV, and content sharing solutions with up to 90 percent reductions in installation time, improvements in device uptime, and optimization of people, space, and technology.

Powering the digital transformation

As businesses across every industry continue along their digital transformation journey, Crestron IoT enabled automation and control solutions enable facility management and IT staff to control entire environments with a push of a button or click of a mouse, integrating audio, video, digital signage, scheduling, lighting, building management systems (BMS), HVAC, and security systems. The strength of Crestron IoT-enabled devices and systems is their integration in the Crestron XiO Cloud, providing all-in-one monitoring, management, and control from a single platform.

“Intelligent workplace solutions are the springboard for digital transformation- but managing the devices that enable it can be costly and complicated,” said Ted Colton, vice president of unified communication strategies at Crestron. “Crestron XiO Cloud reduces the complexities associated with deploying, tracking, managing, and evolving the ecosystem of IoT enabled devices that make communication and collaboration seamless. Crestron is honored to be recognized by Microsoft for developing game-changing connected technologies that help propel digital transformation at Fortune 500 companies worldwide.”

Celebrating partner achievement

The annual Microsoft Partner of the Year awards celebrate top Microsoft partners who demonstrate excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. Microsoft received more than 2,600 nominations from 115 countries for the 2018 program. The IoT category was judged by a number of IoT stakeholders and leaders from Microsoft Common Data Service, One Commercial Partner, Windows, and Azure. The judges selected the winners based on their commitment to customers, the solution’s influence on the market, and exemplary use of Microsoft technologies.

“Our ecosystem of partners is crucial to delivering transformative solutions, and this year’s winners have proven to be some of the finest among their peers,” said Gavriella Schuster, corporate vice president, One Commercial Partner, Microsoft Corp. “We are pleased to recognize Crestron for being selected as winner of the 2018 Microsoft IoT Partner of the Year award.”

Avocor has formed a partnership with Microsoft to build Windows collaboration displays that feature advanced touchscreen technologies to enhance collaboration and enable teamwork. The new collaboration displays are fully compatible with Windows 10 and deliver the power and productivity of Office 365 and Microsoft Teams at room scale.

“Microsoft is making teamwork easier than ever before, and the new Windows collaboration displays enable this by providing a room-size display on which people can work together, using apps like Microsoft Teams and Whiteboard to get projects done,” said Ruston Panabaker, vice president IoT solutions, Microsoft. “We are thrilled that Avocor is working with us to launch the Windows collaboration display category, and that they are bringing a line of innovative displays to market that will be compatible with Windows 10 applications, touchscreen and inking capabilities.”

Collaboration displays built by Avocor aim to enable people to work together in real-time and collaborate in efficient and intuitive ways. These new 4K, 20-point-touch displays offer smooth pen and inking capabilities that enable people to easily use the best of Microsoft 365 collaboration tools—from Windows and Office to Microsoft Whiteboard and Microsoft Teams—at room scale, all backed by the intelligent cloud.

The upcoming Windows collaboration product line by Avocor will feature integrated cameras, stereo speakers, far-field microphones, and pen, and will easily connect to any Windows 10 PC via a single USB-C. In addition to being teamwork devices, Windows collaboration displays from Avocor will include built-in sensors that connect to Azure IoT, so facility managers can utilize the environmental data they collect to make real-time decisions.

“Avocor is changing how people can collaborate and working with a partner like Microsoft accelerates the customer experience so it’s easy and effective,” said Scott Hix, CEO Avocor. “Windows collaboration display products by Avocor will be an ideal solution for huddle spaces, offices, and meeting rooms and seamlessly integrate into any enterprise.”

Some people believe the Internet of Things (IoT) is new. While it may be a new concept to the audiovisual industry, this phenomenon began in 1993 when students at the National Center for Supercomputer Applications, a research institute at the University of Illinois, unleashed the first web browser interface called Mosaic, which served as the genesis of the proliferation of the internet as we know it today.

In recent years, the AV industry has caught onto the concept of IoT. The impact of AV and its use of digitized audio, video, and control systems, as data riding on a network with other data, has opened a whole new horizon. To many in the industry, this is not news. To others, this is akin to black magic and upsets the whole balance of the world. Either way, this phenomenon is here to stay.

C-suite and executive-level staff have in large part grown up accustomed to traditional dividing lines between AV and telephony, networks and video, voice and control. The topic of AV on the Network can challenge their core understanding of what a telephone connection offers to users. At one time, that meant either a telephone or a computer.Today there may well be AV systems plugged into the same network or at least using the same cable and connector as a means of signal transport. Further, comprehending that a computer connected to the network may be acting as an AV device (and vice versa) adds yet another perception of complexity that generates potential for error. These users prefer to keep things separate; they want the functionality but they don’t want the headache of having to know how it works. The IoT is driving the next generation to assume every device is a computer and that its use is ubiquitous to functionality.

Non-traditional executives and those in younger generations – including millennials – assume and desire that their computing device will offer seamless access to all the functionality and systems on a network, from voice to video and audio to data. Millennials are interested in understanding the inter-connectedness of the tools they are using and the level of functionality they bring them as a user of "the network." They assume they can log into any device, anywhere, and their profile complete with permissions, search history, and personal preferences will be accessible. Millennials want to push the boundaries of traditional networking; to do so they have to know how and why things work the way they do, and they simply expect that they do, seamlessly and without failure, all at the speed of light.

The fact that traditional AV is catching onto IoT has dramatically changed the way products are conceived, engineered, manufactured, and deployed. Many products, traditionally items that ship in boxes and break when dropped, are turning to the idea they can be managed by software, not physical knobs and buttons. They can indeed be driven by a computer platform and they can communicate with other devices, bringing a level of interaction and connectedness that has been difficult to achieve in years gone by. This whole concept is fast becoming a cultural shift within the AV industry that vastly changes our most common perceptions of systems design, deployment, and maintenance. AV is now a component of the network, and it must begin communicating and interacting with other aspects of communications, such as routers, switchers, firewalls, quality of service, and user interface. Therein lies a challenge for many manufacturers of AV devices, which first entered into the digital network world using proprietary network protocols, which tend to excuse other manufacturer products and devices, assuming the AV device is indeed its own network, and not part of the larger unified building network.

As a result of the move toward IoT, AV technology is becoming more integrated into traditional network technology than ever before. For those who are fearful of change, IoT is a new frontier that is beyond comprehension. For others, this is a whole new opportunity to examine technologies (inclusive of voice, video and data), from the user perspective and to develop new approaches to aid them in every aspect of business and education.

Witness the Microsoft Surface Hub and its interface to allow users to think and perform, rather than worry about how to use the tool. It’s a fully integrated hardware and software solution that largely embraces soft tools to accomplish functions that were once large bricks that consumed power and generated heat while consuming valuable space and required secret sauce (integration) to make it all work. This one device changes almost everything.

Then there was Google Glass, now being supplanted by multiple products providing augmented reality. This technology changes how we interact with computers in the workplace and in our homes. We have now moved from the two-dimensional world into three dimensions of virtual reality, and we have done this at a price point that makes this ability to interact with a computer an everyday affair. The day of the common keyboard and mouse are slowly disappearing as a result of these new methods of interaction.

There are any number of technologies entering the home and workplace today that are all inter-connected, and offer users new dimensions of interface and interaction that are networked. These devices utilize audio, voice, video, and data in a common ubiquitous manner that are currently changing the world as we know it.

Randy Tritz has more than 35 years of experience in the design, engineering, and installation of AV, command and control, teleconferencing, and multimedia systems. He has focused much of his career on education and the development of facilities and spaces that lead critical learning environments.