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Hybrid working isn’t going away; if anything, it’s accelerating. According to the Microsoft Work Trend Index 2022, the number of hybrid workers grew by 7% year-over-year, and 53% of workers are considering a transition to hybrid work in the next year. With more hybrid workers, more businesses are turning to video conference-rooms technology (for home offices, huddle rooms, and conference rooms of all sizes) to ensure hybrid meetings run smoothly for in-person and remote participants alike. According to Metrigy’s Unified Communications Management and Endpoints: 2021-22 study, “More than half of all companies are expanding their deployments of room video conferencing systems.”
But businesses are encountering interoperability problems when deploying video conference-room technology, and we can thank choice and preference for that. According to Keypoint Intelligence’s 2021 US Future of Office Survey, the average respondent reported using three different video conferencing platforms to meet with others online. And in a recent LinkedIn poll (shown below), we see that trend is continuing as workers are still relying on multiple platforms to connect with others. Since your businesses use one platform, but customers, partners, and vendors use other platforms, your morning sales team meeting might be on Zoom, but your two afternoon client meetings might be on Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for video conference-room technology to be built for a single platform. Sure, you can join or spin up your morning sales meeting on Zoom with the tap of a button, but joining those afternoon client meetings won’t be as simple. And while there are workarounds to support multiple platforms, it may require some software and elbow grease from the IT team.
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Keypoint Intelligence Opinion
Interoperability is becoming a big deal to those investing in video conference-room technology. Again, according to Metrigy's Unified Communications Management study, 75% of survey respondents said that the ability to use video conferencing-room technology to join meetings across multiple video platforms was important when comparing competing products. Therefore, remote conference and collaboration technology providers need to lead the conversation with interoperability.
While features like artificial intelligence (AI)-powered microphones and cameras are sexy, they aren’t quite the differentiator that interoperability can be. We have yet to see a video conferencing-room solution that supports all major video conferencing solutions natively. Besides, AI-powered-everything isn’t very helpful if you can’t start a meeting or use those features due to interoperability issues.
Log in to the InfoCenter to view research on hybrid workflows, remote conferencing, or interoperability issues in our Office CompleteView Advisory Service. If you’re not a subscriber, just send us an email at sales@keypointintelligence.com for more info.
