“In today’s hybrid world, the ability to deliver effective virtual events and meetings is absolutely key, and whether employees are at home or in the office, having good audio and video is essential,” says Jake Ward, Business Development Director at live streaming production expert Groovy Gecko.

There is more at stake than mere technological advantage, believes Steve Franklin, Executive Director of integrator Cinos. “Investing in the right solutions changes the way others perceive your company. When customers connect with you on video calls or walk into your meeting room and get a seamless meeting experience powered by best-in-class technology, they know you’re not just a startup or SME, but an established business with quality at the core.”

Until relatively recently, remote conferencing was a cumbersome beast, often requiring expensive equipment, in-house technical managers, and considerable patience from the longsuffering end user – hardly calculated to appeal to the average startup.

All this changed with the pandemic, when the world suddenly discovered cheap, simple unified communications and conferencing (UCC) technologies such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. Fortunately, these tend to translate well into a business context, and are pretty good at scaling up as the business grows.

The familiarity of these technologies supports what James Snelling, Senior Project Manager at integrator Hutchison Technologies, believes are the twin pillars of AV-based communications: simplicity and ubiquity. “Provide high quality communications tech in every part of your office, and make sure it’s so accessible that even your least tech-savvy colleagues can use it without training,” he advises. “Meeting rooms, breakout spaces and booths for private calls should all be fully connected.”

Many systems let workers easily connect their own smartphone, tablet, or laptop – known in the trade as ‘bring your own device’, or BYOD – allowing easy sharing of information via the meeting room system. This can be extended to ‘bring your own meeting’, with participants making all their contributions via software on their own device – flexible, familiar, and cheap.

Alternatively, you can standardise on a single UCC platform, with in-the-room technology that workers can just walk up and use. This delivers simplicity, security, and controllability, but it does rely on all participants being happy to use the same system.

“We’re constantly asked whether customers can have a native Zoom or Teams room but also use all the other video conferencing applications on it,” says Chris Liebrand, Managing Director of integrator Runtech. “It’s not always easy, but there are solutions in place now. We’ve also seen customers standardise on Zoom, then half-way through the year decide to switch to Teams. If they’ve invested in technology that’s not switchable, they’ll face heavy costs.”

Manufacturers are getting wise to the issue. “For example, as well as offering the Cisco Webex experience, Cisco devices can now deliver a native Microsoft Teams experience in the meeting room, and Crestron’s collaboration portfolio delivers native Zoom and Teams experiences from the desktop to the boardroom,” says Franklin.

“Investing in solutions such as Webex also enables small firms to use the collaboration and conferencing tools they need now, while providing the foundations for expansion into more sophisticated solutions such as cloud telephony and customer contact centres as their needs grow,” Franklin adds.

The boom in hybrid working has given rise to the concept of ‘meeting equit’, or providing an equally satisfying experience for both remote participants and those in the office. For home workers this generally means abandoning a laptop’s built-in camera and audio in favour of professional-quality accessories, such as all-in-one soundbars with integrated cameras and microphones.

Similar technology can be adequate for small in-office locations such as solo booths and huddle spaces. Larger meeting spaces are likely to require more sophistication – extra-wide or dual screens to show large numbers of remote participants in a row, a separate screen to display written or video content, microphones that can filter out extraneous noise, and smart camera systems that can figure out who is talking and focus in on them.

There is plenty to choose from. “Entry level manufacturers such as Logitech, Yealink and Avaya have devices with simple plug-and-play functionality, that will typically be customisable and can be scaled up as the business grows,” says Snelling. “For those looking to expand from a previous ‘small business’ set-up, manufacturers such as Crestron, Cisco and Poly tend to be designed for bigger scale and customisation, although they typically call for a larger budget.”

For buyers who feel spoiled for choice, the major UCC vendors have developed certification programmes, such as Microsoft Teams Rooms, containing specifications for variously sized spaces that guarantee that all the hardware and software should work together seamlessly.

To avoid up-front capital expenditure, there are many ‘as-a-service’ options available. “Devices-as-a-service is a growing business, with a fixed cost for the devices that connect to various UCC platforms,” says Derrick Kelly, Director of solutions enablement at integrator AVI-SPL. “You can even include the licensing for those platforms as part of the monthly fixed cost. And many providers have started to offer rooms-as-a-service, offering an end result as opposed to specific equipment at a fixed cost, which allows for growth and even technology refreshes throughout the life of the room.”

Once AV kit is in place, it can be used for more than just remote communication. Screens can double as digital signage, with pre-programmed content that showcases your product, exhorts your staff, or simply guides visitors safely around the building. Audio equipment can replace conventional desk phones, with the organisation’s entire telephony system hosted in the cloud and also accessible to remote staff regardless of location.

“Solutions from the likes of GoBright offer a full suite of solutions for meeting room booking, room, desk and visitor management, digital signage and analytics,” says Simon Tipping, Marketing Manager at integrator MVS Audio Visual. “This provides an effective way of managing the office, with insights into space utilisation and how spaces could be better designed: whether you need more meeting rooms, smaller huddle spaces, fewer desks, etc.”

The latest innovations include ‘virtual receptionist’ kiosks, often linking with UCC platforms such as Zoom. “This provides a professional experience to businesses that can’t justify the expense of a physical receptionist, or who may need to share desk space in a hybrid work model,” says Doug Remington EMEA General Manager at video conferencing hardware manufacturer DTEN.

Virtual events don’t end with Zoom calls or Teams meetings, Ward points out. “There’s a whole range of live collaborative activities and events that businesses can host. Live streaming with a holographic element, for instance, is still very novel, and can be an interesting way to gain media attention and clout around your event or product.

“Business growth often comes through engagement on social media, so it’s also worth acquiring some user-friendly equipment that employees can use to easily capture content for social platforms or setting up a simple studio space where content can be recorded.”

For David Galea, Director of digital leadership at business change consultancy Centigo, basic UCC tools barely scratch the surface of what AV technologies can bring to startups and SMEs. “The ultimate goal of AV communication technologies is to simulate real life, so I believe augmented reality, virtual reality and the Metaverse will take centre stage in the foreseeable future. They not only provide an enhanced environment for working virtually with others, but bring tremendous opportunities for product development and innovation, training and development, sales prospecting, and customer service, all achieved through an enhanced sensory experience.”