A Video Solution For Every Meeting Space

One of the biggest frustrations amongst corporate companies is the “meeting space”. Common gripes include that there are too few, they are too small or they just don’t have the technology needed in order to provide the perfect meeting experience. It is with this that SkyGroup Communications has developed a basket of video solutions from Lifesize, to take the guesswork out of defining solutions to fit the environment.

The offering from the company carefully packages a client’s requirements and pairs it with available video technologies that meet the scope and budget of mini, small, medium and large meeting spaces.

“Creating the right meeting environment is often left to an interior designer, when it should in part, be a collaboration between a designer, a user and the IT department. Creating the balance is not easy, but unless the process is collaborative, it will be nearly impossible,” states Marius van Wyk, technical and operations director at SkyGroup Communications.

“Fortunately vendors like Lifesize have ensured that the technology already exists to negate the argument that smaller meeting rooms lack the sophistication to perform collaborative and video-led meetings. All you really need to do is select the right solution for your business.”

Mini: Ultra small and ultra-scalable.

The mini meeting space is amongst the fastest-growing meeting room types today. It is an area that would usually seat up to only two people and needs to make use of modern collaboration technologies that enable the employer to make better use of their office real estate. Traditionally it is the quiet place that employees move to, to make a call, or where a manager may need to have a quiet word. According to van Wyk, this is the perfect place to deploy the affordable Lifesize Dash, which has been developed to provide a cost-effective video collaboration experience in the mini space, without sacrificing consistency and ease of use for users and IT administrators.

Small: Maximum productivity per square foot.

Not all meetings are made up of more than five people, but they still require a space to be held. Which is why small spaces and huddle rooms are arguably the most productive rooms in the building as they are the hub of the business, the place where brainstorming happens, and spontaneous collaboration is encouraged. So the technology in them should meet the purpose. “We have found that the Lifesize Icon 400™ and Phone HD, which are designed to deliver effortless video conferencing for the huddle room experience, is a client’s best bet. It allows for flexibility in application – but consistency in quality,” states van Wyk.

Medium: The original collaboration space.

The traditional conference room and boardroom is the most hotly contested piece of real estate in a business and it is often misused by being booked for meetings of only two people – simply because there is nowhere else for them to go. If you have created enough mini and small spaces, then you can really invest in the boardroom, as this is where larger teams connect and build relationships through regular, face-to-face conversations.

“The corporate boardroom is really the heart of an organisation. It is where all the big decisions are ultimately made and as a result it should offer an immersive experience to bring everyone together. We have developed a package, using the Lifesize Icon 600, Camera 10x and Phone HD, to create the ideal conference room system. With this you can connect people from multiple geographies while still drawing from a technologically advanced system that literally puts everyone in the same room,” he adds.

Large: A big space for the big picture.

A large meeting space is not the boardroom. It is instead, an auditorium, classroom or multipurpose room. These spaces have the most potential for collaboration and require multiple AV inputs and outputs in order to better connect multiple devices (cameras, laptops, DVRs, microphones, etc.). It is however the most difficult space to deploy technology into as it requires integration with panel manufacturers and third-party integrated audio solutions — and a secure, rack-mountable design. Not getting this space right can cost a lot of mindshare, which is why SkyGroup suggests the Lifesize Icon 800, Camera 10x and Phone HD, enabling the speaker to make use of the space to deliver unforgettable keynote experiences to big audiences.

“We all understand the importance of meetings, but they remain the biggest bone of contention in a business which is exacerbated when the technology in the room fails. Importantly you need to create the right space and that is only achieved with the right technology to match the space,” ends van Wyk.

For more details contact: Charlene Bowen on +27 11 463 0013 or charlene@skygroupcom.co.za.