With the growing understanding of the latest coronavirus and the resulting relaxation of social measures to limit the spread of the virus. what now is the advice for those responsible for the workplace. Jeff May, UK Sales Director at Konftel, assesses why video conferencing is set to play an even more important role in the evolution of the workplace.
In office environments, what are the employer’s obligations in the light of new variants of coronavirus? Obviously, employers have a duty of care to their staff. They want to keep them healthy, happy and productive. If employees are off ill then it’s bad for individuals and bad for business too. There are many effective ways to minimise the risk. Obviously social distancing and mask wearing are two options. Creating more space in rooms and limiting numbers will further help. But I think many organisations are undergoing a cultural change. The pandemic has proved that for many people they can work in more flexible ways not just from their desk in an office. A combination of home and office work will become the norm. This requires investment and a radical rethink for many employers and their workforces.
So which solutions make the best options for hybrid working (integrating home and office)? For many companies hybrid working is already becoming the norm but some are achieving much better results than others. So what are their secrets to success? Lots of lessons can be learned by delving deeper into the effective ways home working is being combined with traditional office life. New research from analysts Metrigy encompassed 400 global organisations. Of those a ‘success group’ of 68 companies was filtered out based on above average performance in three criteria.
1. Revenue gains
Increased project capacity through more effective team collaboration was achieved with faster responses to sales opportunities. Higher quality customer interaction and better support for partners and employees were further benefits.
2. Increased productivity
The success group enjoyed more efficient meetings with easier collaboration and less time spent travelling.
3. Cost savings
Reduced travel and real estate costs were typical areas where companies achieved savings.
The most successful companies…
• provide employees with a choice of work location
• provision more video and audio devices for work from home
• are more likely to be deploying video to all or most meeting rooms
• are more likely to use video for most meetings and see it as critical business technology
• consider the ability of meeting rooms to support multiple meeting apps of high importance
• refresh meeting rooms every three years.
In conclusion, there are many combined factors that provide a competitive commercial advantage from managing the hybrid workplace right.
Learnings
On average 10% more of the successful companies use video for most meetings, see video as business-critical technology and equip employees with high quality endpoints. It might not seem like huge differences, but the pattern is convincing – the success group‘s behaviour makes a big impact. We also recognise it’s completely natural for people to want to use their own laptop for the apps and collaborative tools they prefer or have been provided by their IT department. Over 80% of the success group find multi-app access of moderate or high importance. Konftel also understands that it can be a bit of a jungle out there to find the right equipment for the right rooms. One size doesn’t fit all so we’ve created an interactive Room Type Guide to optimize the decision-making process. Furthermore all our products are Climate Neutral Certified which offsets the impact on the planet of growing demand. Users can conference with a clear climate conscience from the very first meeting.
In conclusion, many successful companies from around the world are already embracing hybrid working based on greater use of video meetings, to reap long-term rewards. The time to act is now!
Which collaboration solutions? Which collaboration solutions offer the best integration with IOT facilities? Efficient collaboration is crucial for business success. It’s important to choose technologies that are easy to use and that seamlessly integrate together. That could be presentations or video calls via many different platforms. IOT offers a world of almost limitless interaction, collaboration and communication. Konftel technology works across any meeting platform, and we have pioneered a Bring Your Own Meeting concept where users bring their own laptop to a meeting room, plug in one cable and use the app of their choice to start a conference call. It’s important to be as vendor agnostic as possible to provide customers with the widest choice and convenience.
Security
But how can businesses achieve the best level of security in a hybrid working environment? Security is a very important aspect of hybrid working and shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s vital that all devices are fully protected with users at home or in the office working on the same systems with restricted access where necessary. But what is the best way of managing desks, meeting rooms and AV resources? I think there are two elements here; one is around remote room management systems and the other is around human behaviour and making sure rooms are always ‘good to go’ in terms of physical equipment when meetings are scheduled. It’s important to minimize and restrict the opportunity of problems. Room control systems manage the lighting and heating etc but there can still be issues with conferencing equipment going missing into another room for example or cables disappearing. Our One Cable Connection hub is extremely popular as it means people can turn up for a meeting, simply plug in one cable from their laptop and they are off and running. The less equipment people need to touch and get involved with the better. Wireless connectivity solutions (through third parties) is another way forward, such as scanning a barcode on a user’s laptop to provide access to meeting equipment.
Social distancing
Even so, what is the best way of managing space and workers to ensure compliance with social distancing rules? Creating more space between people in meeting rooms is one of several important factors to minimise the risk of infection. Ventilation is crucial too. It’s important to choose video conferencing systems that have a wide-angle lens, good audio pick up and even the option of expansion microphones or daisy-chaining devices together to increase the room range. Auto framing can help too, ensuring everyone is included wherever they are positioned.
The state-of-the-art?
How would we assess the state of the workplace market at present – what percentage of customers have the necessary technology installed to support hybrid working? It’s a mixed picture out there with some organisations much further down the hybrid road than others. Before the pandemic flexible working was not very common but the various lockdowns have been a game changer – proving that people can be just as productive wherever they are working.
Flexible working is here to stay.
As more people return to offices more remote meetings will be required as not everyone will be present as before. This means more room investment is needed on-site.
Home working exploded during the pandemic and the next challenge is making sure offices are fit for purpose so that conference calls can take place wherever people are based. We feel it’s important to ensure that everything done at home can be replicated just on a bigger scale in the office with more people sat together.
We have seen a massive increase in conferencing and collaboration during the pandemic because of remote working but this is expected to be dwarfed by the explosion in office installations as all business plan their meeting requirements with confidence and much greater awareness than they had previously.
Creating more space between people in meeting rooms is one of several important factors to minimise the risk of infection.
It’s vital that all devices are fully protected with users at home or in the office working on the same systems with restricted access where necessary.
We’re still at the early stages with all the latest research indicating that only 10-15% of companies around the world have all the infrastructure in place.
We have pioneered a Bring Your Own Meeting concept where users bring their own laptop to a meeting room, plug in one cable and use the app of their choice to start a conference call.
Current UK government regulations for offices
You should talk to your workers to agree arrangements to return to the office, consulting with workers and trade unions where appropriate. You should remain responsive to workers’ needs and consult with them on any health and safety measures you have put in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading. You should give extra consideration to people at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and to workers facing mental and physical health difficulties.
You should give extra consideration to people who may consider themselves to be at higher risk and to workers facing mental and physical health difficulties. You might also have other workers who are at higher risk and for whom additional precautions, advised by their doctors, should be considered.People who have COVID-19 are no longer legally required to self-isolate. Workers who have the main symptoms of COVID-19, or a positive test result, should follow the public health advice to stay at home and avoid contact with other people. They should not attend work.
Unvaccinated close contacts of those who have COVID-19 are no longer legally required to self-isolate, and vaccinated close contacts are no longer advised to test for 7 days.
Good ventilation brings fresh air into indoor spaces. The more fresh air that is brought inside, the more diluted any airborne virus will become. In poorly ventilated spaces, residual virus can remain in the air after an infected person has left and increase the risk of COVID-19 spreading.
You should ensure there is an adequate supply of fresh air in your premises. You can do this through:
Opening windows, air vents and doors to improve natural ventilation. Opening doors and windows even for a brief period (for example, between meetings) can help refresh the air and reduce COVID-19 particles in it. Opening the windows and doors fully, where possible, will provide the most amount of fresh air into the space. If you use mechanical ventilation, ensure that your systems are set to maximise fresh air and minimise air recirculation. It’s not advised to recirculate air from one space to another, which increases the risk of transmission. However, recirculation units that do not draw in a supply of fresh air can remain in operation as long as there is an alternative supply of outdoor air. Identifying any poorly ventilated spaces that are usually occupied as part of your risk assessment, and taking steps to improve fresh air flow in these areas (see below for further details) You can also encourage the use of outside space where practical, in particular for higher risk activity such as exercise or when people are singing or raising their voices. There are no legal limits on contact between people from different households including in the workplace. There is no government requirement or recommendation for employers to limit capacity in the workplace.
If, based on setting-specific risk assessments, you decide to reduce contact in particular circumstances, you may want to consider the following mitigations: designating seating (for example in offices) for specific teams, or using ‘cohorting’, ‘fixed teams’ or ‘partnering’, so each person works with the same consistent group where space and capacity allow, giving preference to back-to-back or side-to-side working between cohorts or fixed teams who don’t normally mix using screens or barriers to separate people who don’t normally mix (for example between workers and customers), noting that screens are only likely to be beneficial if placed between people who come into close face-to-face proximity with each other, and may not be practicable between desks in a side-to-side office setting you should consider the need for these mitigations in the context of other COVID-19 workplace mitigations (such as ventilation, regular cleaning of surfaces and the use of face coverings) you have put in place. They should only be applied where practical. For example, without imposing restrictions on business operations or reducing workplace capacity.
You should take account of those with protected characteristics and discuss with disabled workers what reasonable adjustments can be made to the workplace so they can work safely.
If you’re going to someone else’s home to work, for example to provide professional services, you should communicate with households before any visits to discuss how the work will be carried out to reduce risk for all parties.
You should avoid carrying out work in households where one or more family members have the main symptoms or have tested positive for COVID-19, unless essential. For example, if you’re remedying a direct risk to the safety of the household or the public. When you’re working in a household where somebody may consider themselves to be at higher risk, you should consider making prior arrangements to avoid face-to-face contact if possible. You should be particularly strict about handwashing, coughing and sneezing hygiene, such as covering your nose and mouth and disposing of single-use tissues. There are further regulations in respect of office cleaning and dealing with contractors and other visitors to office premises.
Konftel streamlines conferencing
The ultimate achievement for any technology or manufacturing process today is to improve performance and efficiency while reducing environmental impact. At Controlled Thermal Resources, a pioneering Southern California company that produces lithium battery products in a near-zero-emissions facility, sustainability is central to everything they do. When the company recently opened a new office and decided to upgrade its meeting room video conferencing equipment, the drive to improve efficiency, quality and sustainability led them to Konftel. The Swedish technology company manufactures high-performance, easy-to-use cameras and conference phones for video conferencing, and has also made sustainability core to its company mission – as a Climate Neutral Certified organization.
Ongoing success
According to Controlled Thermal Resources’ Real Estate Manager Paul Magana, the company required an affordable, platform-agnostic video conferencing solution that would allow them to collaborate with Zoom, Teams, WebEx and any other service a client or partner might utilize.
“Over the last two to three years, virtual collaboration and video conferences have become part of our daily work process, and the consumer-grade equipment we were using simply wasn’t up to the task,” Magana explained. “Being able to clearly see and hear remote partners is vital to our ongoing success, and between the finicky setup process, frequent issues with connections and screen sharing, and sub-par audio and video quality, we knew we could do better.”
After research and conversations with colleagues, Magana and the company’s decision makers chose the robust Konftel 800 conference phone and easy-to-use Cam50 1080P video camera with pan, tilt and 12x zoom capability. The first conference room to be upgraded now has two of each, providing full-room coverage at a fraction of the cost of competitor’s solutions.
“We looked at various solutions, and Konftel’s wireless products that can run on Power over Ethernet provided significant benefits for our space while being one of the most affordable options,” Magan continued. “What’s more, the fact that Konftel is one of the industry’s strongest proponents of developing carbon-neutral processes and products made it a perfect fit that exceeded all of our expectations.”
Fantastic quality
Magana said that some other solutions they considered would have required tearing up concrete floors to lay new wiring, with some even using proprietary cables. The Konftel 800 conference phone, on the other hand, is powered by PoE (power over ethernet) and uses Bluetooth to provide simple, fast connection no matter who is running the meeting.
In addition to the cameras and conference phones, Controlled Thermal Resources’ new conference room includes an 85-inch wall-mounted digital display with an Apple Mac Mini mounted behind it. Through this combination of technologies, users are able to easily, and quickly, launch meetings without all the fuss of the former setup. Previously, meeting hosts had to connect their laptop to the room’s equipment and ensure everything was running smoothly before each meeting, which reduced efficiency and often required IT support.
“The new system we designed is easier and more reliable, and the quality has been fantastic,” Magana said. “The first time we had a meeting with 20 executives from all different locations, there were no glitches, no dropouts, every word and image was crystal clear, and attendees shared their screens with no issues. The vast difference between the old solution and Konftel’s professional-grade equipment has been a game-changer for our daily meetings.”Controlled Thermal Resources was founded in 2013 and is growing rapidly, with their innovative sustainable processes attracting interest from companies around the world that rely on professional-quality virtual collaboration tools. With both Controlled Thermal Resources and Konftel stating their commitments to sustainability and emissions reductions, supporting each other’s businesses is a no brainer. While the lithium company creates new ways to safely power the future.
