What technology trends are shaping the hybrid workplace in 2022?
Chip Chapman, President of Integrated Building Systems, recently shared his reflections on essential technology for the hybrid office in TechTalk, a video series that addresses trends, insider news, and frequently asked questions about the technology solutions needed for today’s smart work environment. Here’s the extended transcript of that session:
Social and hybrid
First and foremost, as human beings, I believe history shows that we're naturally social animals. And the office gives us a place to gather not only to conduct work but to experience a shared culture, to collaborate, and to enjoy in-person interaction.
As we shifted to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, even the most simplistic forms of video conferencing from our living rooms and kitchen tables gave us a much-needed point of connection with the outside world.
But even if the 2D effect of Zoom was better than a conference call, it sure as heck didn't replace social interaction—the ability to meet and greet and have conversations one-on-one. And that’s why I think we're never going to get away from that office experience in some form or fashion, which is why I believe the hybrid workplace is here to stay.
5 Tech Trends for 2022
1. Flexibility
COVID has proven we can operate effectively with a hybrid work environment.
But even pre-pandemic, we saw a movement toward people wanting flexibility. People were going to cafes, they were going to the library, they were going to various places based on what their work demands were and what they felt made them most productive. I think the pandemic accelerated the number of businesses that acknowledged this form of “flexibility.”
So today, whether a business is planning to build new offices, renovate, or even move, they’re wanting to create flexible spaces in that office environment to appeal to their teams, and to support collaboration.
Technology solutions for in-office flexibility are things like hoteling, to give people the ability to work anywhere that’s open in the office, as well as robust wireless networks and wireless presentation systems to support everyone’s devices.
Flexibility usually means “easy to use” — especially for control systems for video conferencing.
Keep in mind: flexibility in the office usually requires a high level of standardization of IT systems to make everything easy to use—to create a seamless experience for anyone walking up and using the technology. For example, every conference room has the same set up and control system, every hoteling station plugs in the same way to the same network configuration.
2. Low Touch
The pandemic has created a certain fear around what we touch. If I come back in the office and I'm around other people, you know, how do I minimize the touch?
There are increased cases where we've used technology, whether that's room sensors or what have you, to try and automate processes. For example, a room scheduler system lets everybody else in the office know that a room is in use.
But any moment they walk into the room, people want the ability to not have to touch a lot of things and yet the room comes alive and starts working—that’s the trend I'm seeing. Clients are asking, "Can we do that? What are our options? What are our options not to have to interact as much with equipment?"
Also, most clients and most individuals, I think, have their own device—their laptop, or tablet, or what have you—and they want to be able to bring it in a space and use it, take turns throwing content to the screen, and not have to jump on that common computer that everybody is touching. I think we're going to continue to see that kind of trend.
Modern access-control systems provide many low-touch options for building controls.
There are also low-touch options for access control nowadays. There was a trend toward biometrics, but now people are a little weird about wanting to touch things. But with an app on their cell phone, or the ability to just get in proximity of a sensor, modern technology allows people not to have to touch something to get access to a building or space within the building. There are many more options for that now, even with facial recognition. So, there are a number of choices that are available for no-touch or at least less-touch.
3. Video Collaboration
Most older conference rooms and meeting spaces were designed with technology for presenting information, not for video conferencing, hybrid meetings, or unified communications.
Today we’re being asked to turn these areas into collaborative workspaces. Businesses want to have better space for team events, maybe for all-day, half-day kind of meetings. To function well, we want to make sure they have really good mics, good cameras, and good speakers so everybody can hear who’s in the room and who’s on the other side of the camera. Like me, I talk a little low sometimes, so the newer voice-lift system might be the right solution. I see a lot of organizations making those kinds of AV investments.
4. Digital Signage
We're seeing more use of digital signage throughout spaces, letting people know what they should and shouldn't be doing and making sure that they're current on what the protocols are for work. Digital signage solutions like Brightsign are an effortless way to get more value out screens in conference rooms, for example. There are also creative ways to arrange screens in a variety of patterns—on a diagonal, stacked, offset—and then program those screens to display content across the complete set or to show different content in distinct areas.
Artistic arrangements of digital screens grab attention and share information in creative formats.
I think we're going to continue to see more creative uses of digital signage for internal collaboration and communications.
5. Wireless Connectivity
The key for making a lot of this flexibility app is not only having fast, reliable connectivity for hardware that’s plugged in, but also robust Wi-Fi.
Video meetings demand significant bandwidth. Verizon estimates that, for the average business service, VoIP calls require 1 Mbps, video conferencing demands about 4 Mbps, and VoIP video calls pull 28 Mbps.
If your team is like ours, back at the office you could easily double or triple your bandwidth demands or more to achieve the speeds required to support video meetings. Small to mid-size businesses might find their existing 50 Mbps Internet service to be inadequate, for example, depending on the number of staff, devices, and video platforms.
Start your next project with Integrated Building Systems
To explore how these technology trends might benefit your business or to start planning your next project, reach out to schedule a free consultation with Integrated Building Systems.
Our technology design and engineering team is available to meet by video conference or on-site.
PS:
Supply Chain Challenge Continues
In late 2021, some of the biggest challenges we saw for clients moving back into their office space involved supply-chain issues. We're still having problems getting equipment delivered in a timely manner. The key takeaway for 2022 projects? Early planning is essential.