The initial driver for the adoption of workplace collaboration solutions was undoubtedly the pandemic. Today, the justification for moving to a hybrid model is much more likely to be the gains available from productivity, efficiency with the favourable reduction in the opportunity costs incurred by having key personnel travelling to in person meetings. But it is also clear that those adopting collaborative tech technologies have greater expectations of their solutions, largely encouraged by the prevalence of AI, spatial audio and enhanced visual displays. ISE 2026 saw the launch of a number of collaborative solutions embracing innovative technologies.
Despite resent innovations by some of the collaboration software platforms, a fundamental issue remains aching a balance between the capabilities of office-based technologies and the needs of home-based and other remove users. As a relative newcomer, Boom Collaboration showed its portable all-in-one video conferencing device further blurs the lines between home and office work. The Boom UNO is a complete conferencing system that combines a 120° wide angle full HD camera with a 360° omnidirectional microphone and built-in speaker. The compact stylish device has plug-and-play functionality, via one USB cable, and is available in black and white colour variants. It is compatible with Zoom, Teams, Webex, Google Meet and all the major meeting apps. A status light is complemented by full duplex HD audio, a vertically adjustable lens and touch keypad with volume and mute controls.
Boom Collaboration was created in 2020 by founders Fredrik Hörnkvist and Holli Hulett, in a bid to disrupt the sector and stand out from the crowd – creating high performance, high value advanced products. The ambitious California-based business has quickly developed an extensive conferencing portfolio and operates in around 30 countries, including the UK and central Europe. “There’s little doubt hybrid work is here to stay and for many organisations it’s now firmly embedded as an integral part of modern working cultures,” Hörnkvist explained. “The right equipment can boost productivity while saving corporations money – creating true meeting equity for all participants. For us, demand for flexible portable products that are suitable for home as well as office life continue to accelerate. The Boom UNO is a compact vertical video bar that ticks every box.”
Co-founder Hulett added: “The Boom UNO gives users all the tools they need for effective collaboration in a simple user-friendly package. Enjoy video calls in full HD combined with a powerful speakerphone with omni-directional pickup, full-duplex and advanced echo cancellation and noise suppression. It’s very easy to use and pop in a bag to transport between the home and office, or wherever people are working.” The Boom UNO is lightweight and compact. It measures 18.1cm tall and is 6.2cm wide and deep.
The open office challenge
Modern office design frequently incorporates open or shared spaces with the concomitant issues of privacy, security and concentration by the users. “Collaboration, wellbeing, privacy and focus are at the centre of today’s hybrid work trends – inspired by the latest technology solutions – as the rhythm of professional life continues to evolve”. That’s the view of global headset and speakerphone manufacturer EPOS, who highlight how businesses around the world now need more than just standard technology and modern office design, to empower today’s workers. Steven Schmidt, VP, Global Commercial Innovation & Marketing, at EPOS believes that: “Hybrid work allows us to achieve the best of both worlds, the focus and collaboration of the office, with the flexibility and autonomy of remote work. But in today’s dynamic working arena more people are returning to the office in greater numbers for longer periods and this creates its own challenges too. Office spaces are now the dominant force, acting as crucial hub for creativity, interaction and culture. But more people means more noise and annoying distractions.”
The dual landscape
Navigating the dual landscape of office v versus remote, remains a delicate balancing act, Steven emphasised; citing how high-quality headsets and also speakerphones can play an important role. “Successful organisations provide the technology to empower productive remote working, boosted by office spaces that foster teamwork and bonding, while crucially also providing quiet spaces for those that need to focus,” he pointed out. Many organisations previously waved goodbye to assigned desks in favour of team pods and swapping solitary personal offices for open-plan environments. While collaboration via proximity is a powerful tool, the downside is that employees can find focused work in the office more demanding due to increased distractions.” But, he cautions: “Background noise can seriously impact productivity leaving workers struggling to interpret and understand the entirety of what’s being discussed, impacting the absorption and retention of key information.”
Research suggests that by reducing the effort required in listening, more cognitive resources are freed for speech processing and encoding information into long-term memory – improving recall performance by around 10%. What’s more, audio devices designed based on how the brain perceives sound can reduce the cognitive effort to interpret information, resulting in significantly reduced listening fatigue, in turn improving productivity. EPOS believes investing in smart audio devices is an easy and cost-effective way to reduce staff frustration over noise levels and enhance concentration, well-being and productivity when in-office staff need to focus.” EPOS has developed a way to improve ‘cognitive performance’: “This is where our BrainAdapt technology really shines to make sure today’s professionals can perform their best – based on a group of pioneering technologies that work together to improve cognitive performance, reducing listening effort by as much as 67%.” Steven added: “So, you’ve got your office space and figured out the tech. But it doesn’t stop there! To maximise employees’ full potential and boost performance, championing well-being in the hybrid age is becoming ever more crucial. Equally modern businesses still need to create an equitable workplace – one that provides the same opportunities – and visibility – for remote and on-site employees. This means investing in collaboration and conferencing solutions that create a unified experience, empowering employees to engage and contribute effortlessly, regardless of their location.”
A key feature to look out for is exceptional voice pickup – so that everyone in a meeting can be heard clearly, ensuring all viewpoints are considered, and nobody gets left out. “Privacy needs to be respected too, both for clients and staff, to avoid overhearing sensitive information in open-plan spaces. You need microphones to only pick-up the user’s voice and also audio to enable them to hear dialogue first time every time to avoid appearing unprofessional, asking for conversations to be repeated. Voice authenticity is crucial for effective and effortless conversations. You need to sound great and hear great, so customers feel taken care of.” Steven concludes: “Maintaining productivity and individual focus are the biggest ingredients for success in today’s hybrid world. Shutting people off from distraction is good but with EPOS Hybrid ANC they can still hear some sound as it’s very important not to block out everything and leave people feeling isolated. If a fire alarm goes off for example, they need to hear it too. You need the best of both worlds. For hybrid working to continue be successful, a balance of wellbeing and technology needs to be struck. What works successfully for one company or team may not translate to another, so the key is to continue understanding the needs of your individual workforce and tailor plans accordingly whilst remaining flexible too.”
Meeting equity
In many hybrid workspaces, the outstanding challenge id that of meeting equity – ensuring remote and in-room participants can contribute equally – remains one of the defining problems of hybrid work. At ISE 2026, AI was positioned not as a novelty as a potential means of addressing this imbalance. AI-powered cameras and audio systems are increasingly being used to improve how participants are seen and heard. The objective is not only that remote attendees can follow the conversation, but that they are clearly visible and audible to those in the room, and vice versa.
Vendors including Shure, Neat, Logitech and Huddly demonstrated
intelligent multi-camera setups, with features like automated framing, speaker tracking, and audio zoning designed to reduce participation gaps. These systems dynamically adapt to the environment. Making meetings feel more balanced. In these complex spaces, such as large boardrooms and other multi-camera environments, AI assists in configuring additional cameras, optimising angles, and aligning audio zones automatically. This reduces manual setup while improving consistency across the room. The nature of these environments mitigates against overt displays of technology, with vendors trying to make meeting room technologies, effectively, invisible.
While near ‘invisible’ meeting room technology was clearly an aspiration of some vendors, a factor that was almost universal was ease of use ny the user. “When the system adjusts framing automatically, when microphones isolate voices without intervention, and when meetings start without technical distractions, participants can focus entirely on collaboration. The highest level of innovation increasingly lies in technology that simply works – and fades into the background”.
Simple and scalable
User requirements aside, AI is also advancing how IT and AV teams operate in collaboration environments. Platforms such as the NetSpeek’s Lena, provides an AI orchestration solution purpose built for multi vendor AV and unified communications ecosystems. Lena and similar products are helping teams proactively detect and resolve issues; automate routine support tasks; and maintain system performance at scale. AI driven workflows can identify misconfigurations, run health checks, and even remediate problems in real time, reducing manual troubleshooting and enabling IT professionals to focus on higher value work.
Nonetheless, demand for seamless integration across ecosystems continues to grow. Enterprises rarely operate within a single platform environment, and IT teams require solutions that integrate cleanly into existing infrastructures without complex bridging or manual reconfiguration. The emphasis at ISE was not on interoperability as a feature, but on integration as a prerequisite for scalability. Systems must deploy consistently across rooms, geographies, and use cases – without increasing administrative burden.
Hardware options
ISE 2026 provided a snapshot of the range of options available to businesses seeking to implement hybrid working. Logitech’s message, for example, was that work happens anywhere now, and collaboration hardware should adapt just as intuitively. The focus was on modular solutions that can scale from huddle rooms to large spaces. Logitech isn’t just refining hardware – they’re investing in ecosystem level usability and workflows that help organisations unlock the full value of hybrid environments. Yealink’s mantra foe ISE was ‘simplicity with intelligence’, highlighting its 4th genweration MVC Kits, Meeting Boards, Meeting Bars and Teams phones. Yealink was one of the vendors highlighting AI assisted features such as advanced noise suppression, full duplex audio and intelligent camera framing. These built in elements are designed to deliver meeting equity — ensuring remote participants are seen and heard with parity.
ISE stalwart Crestron focused heavily on AI powered automation, unified control and simplified room orchestration. Cisco presented its latest collaboration devices designed for large and complex spaces. New AI driven capabilities and unified management were aimed at improving both the user experience and IT efficiency. Presentations and signage emphasised environments where users can “command a room without lifting a finger,” demonstrating AI driven room automation for audio, video, lighting and environmental control. Q Sys, on the other hand, showcased how a ‘full stack’ AV platform can simplify deployment. Its RoomSuite modular system, unveiled as a new way to standardise deployment of collaboration systems was said to make configuration faster and more intuitive.
Audio experts Shure showed how AI driven voice clarity and intelligent systems. In the Shure Innovation Lab presentations underlined how AI isn’t just a feature — it’s becoming foundational to solving real deployment challenges such as noise suppression, speaker focus and dynamic audio adaptation. Shure also the importance of meeting equity, for productivity gains and future proofing audio infrastructures for workspaces of every size.
Biamp’s emphasis was firmly on simplifying audio excellence through automation. One of the lead features topics was Biamp’s “auto tuned DSP” for Teams Rooms and larger spaces — enabling automatic room audio optimisation with a single button, dramatically lowering commissioning effort. MAXHUB made a strong statement at ISE 2026 with several new product introductions. The XBar Series of Videobars, for example, is an all in one collaboration videobar with multiple cameras and Windows based computing built in.
Sound Control Technologies (SCT) brought another layer to the collaboration conversation by focusing on connectivity that simplifies installs like the RTK AM1 power/HDMI/Ethernet/USB table extension dock, which enables cleaner, more predictable BYOM setups without complex programming.
Finally, Barco and Sennheiser discussed the shift from BYOD setups to fully integrated room systems with the launch of ClickShare Hub.
Software innovations
As the providers of the software platforms for collaboration it would have been surprising if the major providers said nothing at ISE 2026. Zoom outlined how Zoom Spaces is evolving for more complex, AI first collaboration environments. Discussions focused on new ecosystem partnerships, scalable room support, and product innovations designed to make hybrid work smoother. These developments emphasised how Zoom is expanding beyond desktop collaboration to intelligent, flexible room systems that adapt to modern workplace needs.
With the combined influence of hardware vendors and platform providers paramount, ISE 2026 produced two outstanding conclusions. Hardware vendors are no longer competing on individual hardware features alone- even if to so results in a short-term advantage. In unified communications and collaboration, the shift toward room systems over individual peripherals was clear. The common takeaway was: simplify the experience; reduce integration friction; and deliver centrally managed, lifecycle-ready environments. From the integrator’s perspective the consensus was success in 2026 won’t come from selling components, it will come from designing, integrating, and managing complete room ecosystems.
AI is sure to feature in room intelligence, audio and video optimisation, content creation, device management and in enhancing the user experience. In collaboration environments, AI enhances framing, tracking, and voice optimization. For integrators, AI is no longer a future roadmap slide, it’s part of the standard room, display, and device discussion.
Recommended EPOS solutions
• The EPOS IMPACT 1000 is a flagship Bluetooth headset, made for the new open office, with adaptive noise cancellation, an exceptional microphone and a comfortable design. BrainAdapt technology ensures both sides of the call stay focused for an impactful dialogue with no brain fatigue.
• The EPOS ADAPT 660 USB-C helps hybrid workers focus anywhere. Built on EPOS BrainAdapt technology, it reduces listening effort in noisy settings. Adaptive hybrid ANC monitors surroundings, adjusting the ANC accordingly for optimal concentration.
• The EPOS ADAPT E1 – premium, active noise-cancelling true wireless earbuds are designed for professionals – combining UC-certified call quality with high quality music playback for all-day use.
