What are the big Microsoft Teams Rooms trends to watch out for in 2024?
Here are my Top Three - so also the hot things to visit at ISE24 this month.
Firstly, video, but specifically multi-cameras. Systems and support now exist for multi-camera rooms. But how good can they be? How accurate and seamless can they be for good user experience? How uniform will the experience be for remote users? And how consistent if hybrid meetings include multiple vendors’ multi-camera systems?
It seems to me that there’s a bridge to cross here where we need to get used to experiencing multi-camera systems before they will look and feel like natural experiences - and we can focus on the people and what they are saying, rather than the medium delivering them .
Secondly, audio. So 2024 should be the year where both speaker identification and spatial audio become a reality. How will spatial audio work in larger rooms - especially when the speakers are ceiling mounted? For spatial audio, logically the speakers should be co-located by the screen. But with a large table, this implies that people close to the screen will get a much louder experience than those at the head of the table?
Finally room design - the room itself. During 2023 we saw a growing awareness that room design and the way the room self-presents to remote participants is just as important as the user experience for the in-room participants.
In 2024, we will be helping users, AV consultants, architects and AV integrators with this missing link. Technology-enabled workspaces require spaces designed for technology - not just meeting rooms with technology bolted on. We use the latest AV and environmental standards, unique advanced parametric CAD design - and decades of combined experience - to help create hybrid meeting and teaching spaces that are as effective for remote participants as for those in the room.
Getting the room design and configuration right is the only way to futureproof hybrid workspaces. They can make the technology work to its best advantage - and means you don't have to use the tech as some kind of sticking plaster or First Aid kit to make up for their shortcomings.
Posted: 3rd January 2024