InfoComm 2026: Modernizing AV Design, What’s Driving Technology Decisions & the Shift to Digital

Summary 

What is InfoComm? 

InfoComm is the biggest annual pro-AV showcase and conference in all of North America, catering to technology designers, integrators, consultants, distributors and more. This massive event features specialized trainings, jaw-dropping keynotes and of course, two large halls full of booths and demos from vendors all over the world. 

The 2026 show took place in fabu-Las Vegas, surrounded by amazing entertainment, culture and unimaginable architecture (buildings shaped like spheres or guitars, anyone?)

This year we sent our largest group ever to seek out the latest trends, newest tech and modern methods to bring back to our team, so we can make sure we are only offering the best to our customers. 

ET Group Team at the InfoComm 2026 Entrance Signage

In attendance were members from our Growth and Innovation team, Design and Engineering, Customer Engagement, Project Delivery and our ever popular Vendor Liaison (and top-notch show coordinator who kept our large group in line and on schedule!) to ensure we stay innovative across all stages of our organization. 

Here’s what the team learned: 

Key Trends from the Show Floor

Manufacturers are building more of their own UC engines

AV is no longer just Audio-Visual anymore, but has grown to encompass the entire collaboration experience, which is both exciting and complex. Today, businesses don’t just need to consider the quality of a camera or clarity of a speaker, but also the compatibility between their hardware, meeting platforms, far-end experience, network and any other applications that may be running in their environment such as digital signage or monitoring software. Most often, collaboration environments are made up of many parts from many vendors in order to account for every part of the experience. 

Until now. 

Many manufacturers known for selling traditional AV hardware are expanding their scope to incorporate UC compatibility. Over the last several years we have seen increasing convergence between AV and IT as collaboration continues to shift from analog to digital, which means more platforms, applications, security, network and management requirements to consider.

Crestron Collaboration Technology Display at InfoComm 2026

What does this mean?

A lot of manufacturers seem to be moving beyond just hardware peripherals and are now building deeper compute platforms so they can better control the experience, support their own ecosystem, and tie everything into proprietary remote monitoring and management licenses.

Biamp Devio UCX Meeting Room Hub (Available for Teams and Zoom this summer)

Biamp Scheduling Solution

This looks like brands such as Crestron, Logitech and Biamp offering full, all-in-one solutions that include audio and video devices, control systems, DSPs (digital signal processors), cable solutions, design assist software, and space monitoring and management systems from one consistent provider. 

Why this matters:
One the one hand, this streamlines design and deployment processes, ensures compatibility and consistency, and makes support more seamless by removing typical frictions seen in multi-vendor environments, while also creating more predictable lifecycles. 

However on the other hand, this may be leading to more segregation across the industry, meaning it will be harder to integrate third party devices or platforms and could cost businesses more by requiring additional solutions such as interoperability licenses or more complex software integrations to fill any gaps not resolved by these one-and-done vendors.

Increasing demand for Google solutions

Meeting rooms designed for Google Meet are on the rise, and many manufacturers are ready to accommodate. Video conferencing vendors like Logitech, Neat, HP Poly and Sharp were promoting Google room systems and devices, while platform vendors such as Synergy SKY and Pexip are making it easier for non-Google rooms to connect through solutions such as interoperability. 

At Sharp’s offsite showroom, they showcased their latest LB3 Series AQUOS BOARD, offering multi-UI support which includes the option to run Google EDLA (Enterprise Device License Agreement). This means that instead of operating from an unofficial “open source” model, this device is Google certified, guaranteeing access to Google Support, an embedded Google Play Store, integrated Google Workspace apps and native Google Android UI.

Sharp LB3 Series AQUOS BOARD running Google EDLA

Though solutions for platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom still took up the majority of the show, Google’s presence was certainly felt and we expect to see more throughout the rest of 2026 into the next few years. 

Why this matters:
Unlike many of the collaboration platforms on the market, Google is a web-first meeting solution that does not require additional software or infrastructure changes, while still offering a holistic, integrated suite of workspace applications such as Gmail, Docs, Sheets (Google’s version of Excel), Calendar, Chat and Drive, as well as access to Google Play Store for additional tools such as whiteboards. 

This means that Google ecosystems are easy to access and scale, making it an increasingly popular choice for businesses who have limited IT resources, small-to-medium businesses that can take advantage of lower-tier storage and call capacity without requiring additional licensing expenses, or businesses that work in extremely large scale industries that cater to many audiences such as education that want easy scale and customization.

Expansions in the Microsoft ecosystem

Even though platforms like Google Meet are increasing their footprint in the collab space, Microsoft Teams is still where we are seeing the most innovation from vendors trying to remain relevant and competitive in 2026. 

There were two key Microsoft insights that stood out at the show: 

Q-SYS Room Bar running Microsoft Teams Rooms on PC
Q-SYS is evolving what it means to offer an all-in-one room bar (camera, mic and speaker all in one device) for Microsoft Teams Rooms. Their new RoomSuite Collaboration Bar runs on a built-in Windows PC, which will allow for faster access to new Teams features as they release, simplify room deployment and offer greater design flexibility that has been previously harder to achieve with traditional application-based deployments.

Q-SYS RoomSuite Collaboration Bar Display at InfoComm 2026

This is because this new device eliminates the need for a separate compute appliance (such as a mini PC) in order to pair peripheral devices which was historically required, since most room bars are android-based, forcing Teams-Rooms-on-Windows users to rely on more complex device configurations. 

MDEP is expanding to include more device categories
Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP) coming to scheduling panels is another important shift. 

MDEP is a Microsoft-built operating system for Teams Room systems and devices such as in-room hardware, collaboration endpoints and digital signage solutions. It’s based on Android but replaces much of the standard Android software stack with Microsoft-managed components that are optimized for enterprise devices.

Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform Display at InfoComm 2026

MDEP represents a large shift in Android-based collaboration devices, because it gives Microsoft much greater control over how Teams-certified Android hardware is built, secured, and managed.

By having MDEP-certified scheduling panels available, this opens the door to expanding Teams Rooms designs—improving consistency, security, and manageability across Android-based Teams peripherals, where previously there were security and compatibility concerns about incorporating non-certified devices. 

Why this matters:
Microsoft Teams Rooms are being designed with more secure, reliable devices, built using certified solutions that provide more seamless and feature-full collaboration experiences for end users, while still offering flexibility for both Android and Windows users. Over time, we will see better scalability, manageability and support for long-term growth.

AI and software are becoming part of room deployment

AI is no longer just a meeting feature. It is showing up in setup, tuning, camera framing, audio optimization, diagnostics, and support workflows — all things that can help make deployments faster and easier to manage.

While over the past few years we’ve gotten familiar with in-meeting AI features like auto-framing and speaker tracking, it’s now being incorporated into even earlier stages of room design and deployment, and continues to enhance how we support spaces. 

Manufacturers like Crestron and HP have introduced AI design applications that assist with the whole process: 

Another new standout solution we saw at this year’s show was Pleneo, an AI room deployment platform that can cut down project delivery time from what can sometimes take multiple days into a handful of hours. Pleneo’s platform is an AV and UC vendor agnostic software that leverages AI to design, deploy, monitor and manage rooms for several different collaboration platforms (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc.) at scale. 

“Every product shares one operating system, one cloud, and one goal: make big rooms feel small.”

Pleneo works by removing manual time and labour from the process, leveraging their RoomOS platform to speed up device selection, automate hardware placement based on room size and shape, auto-generate equipment BOMs (bill of materials), and reduce deployment time by pre-registering device MAC (media access control) addresses that come online the moment they’re connected to power. 

This easy deployment is powered by their proprietary on-prem RoomHub box, which performs onsite local audio/video processing, edge computing, communication with RoomOS and coordination between all connected devices. 

Pleneo also offers post-deployment room monitoring for support and management. 

Why this matters:
For integrators, AI design and deployment assistance will lead to faster device selection, better design validation and make solutions easier to deploy, adjust, manage and support. This will allow us to be more productive by delivering solutions sooner, increasing customer satisfaction and boosting the number of projects we can successfully complete.

For businesses, it means better, more intuitive collaboration solutions that actually save time and money on design and delivery—so you can use your new tech sooner while saving on labour.

Interoperability and platform flexibility are more important than ever

Manufacturers are heavily focused on providing all-encompassing room solutions that enhance platform experiences. Intentionally designed devices and workflows for Zoom Rooms, Microsoft Teams Rooms and Google Meet rooms that are tailored to each individual platform. When used to collaborate within their designated platform, these rooms provide a seamless and productive experience. However, as these platform-specific builds become more popular, another issue has become more apparent: 

Businesses still require flexibility to join meetings on other platforms, and leaning too far into differentiation is causing friction due to incompatibility or even complete lockout. 

This is why we are seeing a rise in popularity for solutions like Pexip and Synergy SKY that provide interoperability software that unlocks these platform-specific room systems to enable multi-platform connectivity seamlessly, and without unnecessary device workarounds. 

Logitech platform solutions, featuring Pexip Interoperability

We also saw some standout BYOD solutions, like Barco ClickShare’s latest wireless BYOD solution for Microsoft Teams Rooms. Their new next-generation platform enables users to launch and participate in alternative meeting platforms, such as Zoom and Webex, directly from their laptops while seamlessly leveraging the room’s camera, microphones, and speakers. This provides greater flexibility for end users without requiring additional cabling or room configuration changes. 

Why this matters:
For manufacturers, there should be more consideration of the need for platform flexibility when bringing devices to the market, before they find their customers looking to competitors who offer the interoperability capabilities they need. 

For businesses, when looking to enhance their primary platform experience, it’s important to choose an AV partner that understands the need for added flexibility and delivers solutions that enable that desired friction-free experience. 

Security as foundational: 

Security is no longer an afterthought to be resolved later. It’s a major consideration that needs to be built into the design from the start. With so many digital, AI and cloud-based solutions, the possible risks are increasing with every new device or platform that hits the market. 

Today, more and more businesses are expressing the need to know how security and privacy will be managed and protected before signing off on room designs, and citing specific requirements for certifications from manufacturers such as SOC 2 or GDPR, and data residency concerns. 

This adds a whole new layer to how AV designers must navigate how we build rooms, adding considerations such as authentication, compliance and encryption to the process, further solidifying the growing convergence of AV and IT across the industry. 

Why this matters:
AV design is no longer just about meeting hardware requirements, but also ensuring that everything we deliver aligns with IT expectations. The most important question has shifted from “does the system work?” to “is the system secure and network-ready?”

AV-Over-IP is becoming standard

Not only are AV designs becoming simpler due to single-vendor systems, but IP-focused solutions are also becoming more common. 

Also known as AV-over-IP, manufacturers are prioritizing cleaner installation, simplified cabling and easier scalability by leveraging internet connectivity over traditional LAN or WAN configurations. IP configuration allows for video control, audio control and other data to flow through one single connection point rather than more complex USB or proprietary cabling. 

Crestron Multi-Camera Solutions Display at InfoComm 2026

Why this matters:
One connection point is easier to configure, control and collect data from, while leveraging internet makes it simpler to add and/or oversee your devices without complicated matrix switches, fixed endpoints or manual routing.

This allows businesses to cut costs, grow or change environments quickly and promotes more flexibility. 

Some other quickfire trends to watch

The workplace is becoming measurable
There continues to be a major shift toward data. Everything in our AV environments is generating insight now—how spaces are used, how meetings run, how systems perform. Businesses are gaining more and more visibility into what’s actually happening in their spaces. 

For AV providers, this provides us the ability to be better business partners by making data-backed decisions based on real, validated information. The expectation is no longer that we are just designing and installing equipment, but acting as ongoing technology advisors that deliver long-term success for our clients. 

The Smart Workplace
End users have higher expectations of their workplace technology. It’s no longer about whether individual devices work as intended, or how sleek and modern the room is, but how every component comes together to work as one complete, intuitive system. Hardware, platforms, control systems and workflows should be so well integrated they aren’t even noticeable. Businesses want minimal user-interaction with their tech, with rooms that adapt to their users—not the other way around. 

Sustainability is at the forefront of decision-making
More and more businesses are evaluating solutions based not only on how well they solve their desired collaboration experience, but are also considering which ones offer the most longevity, lowest energy consumption and highest ROI. 

At the rate that new technology is being produced, there is a real desire from businesses to prolong the lifecycle of their technology; both to gain maximum usage and to lower carbon footprints. 

We are seeing an increase in solutions on the market that have a more positive impact across the board, offering more sustainable practices from design and install, to support and lifecycle planning.  

AV-specific furniture and flexible mounting solutions are becoming more popular
While technology is the engine that makes rooms work, it shouldn’t be the focal point of the space. Businesses want to be able to personalize their spaces and have flexibility when their hardware tools are not in use. 

Brands like Leon and Salamander are designing sound equipment and AV furniture solutions such as cabinets, tables and credenzas that bring style and character to the room without compromising the usability or accessibility needed to install and control technology. 

And vendors such as Global Mounts Group, Peerless AV and rp Visual Solutions provide mounts, carts, stands and more that make spaces more modular and easier to adapt to other use cases when needed. 

But it’s not just about the tech…

The ET Group team at InfoComm 2026 in Las Vegas

All the innovation on the show floor was inspiring and delivered tons of insights to bring back to our team, but what’s most memorable is always the time we get to spend with each other and connecting with members of our extended AV family. We had a great time attending several partner hosted events, which included a night at the famous Las Vegas Sphere to experience the Wizard of Oz in a whole new, immersive way at a VIP event hosted by Crestron, as well as a wonderful private dinner with our friends at Sharp Canada.

 

Wizard of Oz Theatre Experience at Sphere During InfoComm 2026

Wizard of Oz Immersive Visuals at Sphere During InfoComm 2026

And of course, we can’t stop talking about the amazing Nu Disco night hosted by Peerless AV, featuring an amazing blend of retro and modern music, talented dancers, pyrotechnics and everyone dressed in fun, disco fashion.

Peerless-AV Nu Disco Partner Event at InfoComm 2026

The ladies on the team also attended the AVIXA Women’s Council Breakfast, featuring keynote speaker and Peabody Award-winning journalist Mariana Atencio. Her presentation, “Real Matters: Building Trust in an Unreal World,” explored the critical role of empathy, authenticity, and meaningful human connection in a world increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence and digital transformation. Mariana shared powerful insights on how organizations and individuals can foster trust, strengthen relationships, and remain genuinely connected while navigating rapid technological change. 

AVIXA Women’s Council Keynote Session at InfoComm 2026

Outside of scheduled events, we enjoyed lots of great food (shoutout to the best giant cinnamon roll that was so good we ordered it two days in a row), friendly competition at the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix F1 Drive Experience and just taking in the exciting vibe of the famous city. 

ET Group Team Moments in Las Vegas During InfoComm 2026

What’s Next? (Conclusion)

Each day began at approximately 7:30 a.m. and extended well into the evening, reflecting our commitment to maximizing every opportunity for learning, networking, and relationship-building. The event provided an exceptional platform to strengthen partnerships, deepen industry connections, and collaborate as a team while gaining valuable insights from across the AV industry. 

Now that we’re home, it’s time to turn these insights into actions as we continue to design and refine the best AV solutions for our customers. 

ET Group Team Visiting Sharp and Shure Booths at InfoComm 2026

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Workplace Trends 2025: Insights from WORKTECH Academy’s World of Work Report

Looking Back on the Year’s Defining Workplace Trends

At the start of 2025, WORKTECH Academy released its global report The World of Work in 2025, outlining the trends set to shape organizations around the world. ET Group was proud to contribute insights to that report — sharing our perspective on how hybrid collaboration, human-centric design, and AV technology were evolving across industries.

Now, as the year comes to a close, many of those predictions have not only proven accurate — they’ve defined how workplaces have transformed. Across our clients and projects, we’ve seen firsthand how these ideas have come to life, influencing how teams connect, collaborate, and design spaces that truly work for people.

Measuring Vibrancy, Not Attendance

This year, one of the clearest shifts we saw was the move from tracking occupancy to measuring vibrancy — the energy, connection, and sense of purpose that make workplaces come alive. Organizations have moved away from headcounts and toward creating environments people want to be in.

Spaces that balance collaboration and focus, and that support spontaneous connection, have become the most valued. For hybrid teams, vibrancy — not presence — has become the new metric for success.

From Activity-Based to Relationship-Based Work

The transition from task-oriented design to relationship-based workplaces became a defining trend throughout 2025. Instead of structuring spaces around activities, organizations began designing around relationships — how people connect, share ideas, and build trust.

At ET Group, this shift was evident through our Hybrid Discovery Experience (HDE) workshops, which help teams uncover how connection and culture truly form. By designing for relationships first, we’ve helped organizations create spaces that strengthen collaboration and belonging across hybrid environments.

Creative and Hybrid Leadership

The leaders who thrived in 2025 were those who embraced clarity, empathy, and creativity. As hybrid work matured, the most effective leadership models were built on trust, transparency, and shared accountability.

ET Group’s self-managed structure continues to reflect this evolution. Our distributed teams operate without traditional hierarchy, and this model has proven that creativity and autonomy can go hand-in-hand — unlocking innovation and resilience in a changing world of work.

Rebuilding Mentorship in a Hybrid World

Early predictions pointed to the decline of informal mentoring — and we’ve seen this play out. The challenge for many organizations has been to recreate those moments of connection in a hybrid context. This year, structured mentorship programs, reverse mentoring, and open “virtual office hours” became key ways to sustain learning and growth.

Access to leadership — not proximity — has become one of the strongest predictors of engagement and retention, particularly in hybrid and distributed teams.

Designing for Meaningful Connection

2025 has reinforced a truth we’ve long believed: technology should enhance connection, not replace it. Across industries, organizations have prioritized inclusive meeting systems and platforms that ensure every participant feels seen and heard.

At ET Group, this philosophy drives our AV design — creating spaces where technology blends into the background so that human connection takes the spotlight.

The Digital Everywhere

As workplaces became increasingly flexible, technology followed suit. This year, the idea of “digital everywhere” became reality — with meeting tools extending beyond boardrooms into lounges, collaborative zones, and informal spaces.

ET Group’s platform-agnostic approach supported this evolution, helping clients ensure consistent, seamless collaboration experiences across Teams, Zoom and Webex — wherever work happens.

Digital Detox and Wellbeing by Design

After years of hyper-connectivity, 2025 saw wellbeing emerge as a strategic priority rather than a perk. Many workplaces introduced biophilic, tech-free zones that encouraged employees to rest, reflect, and reset — a necessary balance to our always-on world.

This aligns with ET Group’s human-centric design philosophy, where wellbeing, comfort, and connection are integral to performance and creativity.

Data-Driven Experience

Throughout 2025, data continued to shape the modern workplace. Organizations used analytics from room usage, support tickets, and employee feedback to refine experiences and drive efficiency.

ET Group’s Remote Monitoring & Management (RMM) tools have played a crucial role in this shift — helping clients gain real-time insights into how spaces perform, ensuring reliability and continuous improvement.

Building for Resilience and Sustainability

As extreme weather and uncertainty grew, so did the focus on resilient and sustainable design. In 2025, many organizations shifted from short-term retrofits to long-term strategies built around adaptability, energy efficiency, and circular practices.

ET Group has championed this evolution through remote support, e-waste reduction, and hybrid work solutions that minimize travel — proving that sustainable choices and smart design go hand in hand.

Inclusive and Neurodiverse Workplaces

This year marked a growing commitment to neuro-inclusive design — workplaces that recognize different sensory needs and communication styles. From acoustics and lighting to interface design, organizations embraced accessibility as a standard, not an afterthought.

At ET Group, inclusivity remains central to how we design AV systems and spaces. By designing for the extremes, we help make work more accessible for everyone.

Managing AI Responsibly

As AI adoption accelerated in 2025, organizations faced new challenges around ethics, transparency, and trust. The companies that succeeded treated AI as a partner — enhancing creativity, decision-making, and collaboration, not replacing human insight.

ET Group continues to explore AI-driven analytics to simplify complexity and improve hybrid experiences responsibly — ensuring technology empowers people at every level.

Looking Ahead

The trends predicted at the start of 2025 didn’t just arrive — they defined the year. They’ve reshaped how organizations think about leadership, culture, and technology, proving that the future of work is deeply human.

At ET Group, we’re proud to have contributed our perspective to WORKTECH Academy’s report and to have seen these ideas brought to life across our client projects. As we look ahead to 2026, our focus remains the same: designing hybrid workplaces that blend innovation with purpose, and flexibility with human connection.

Book a discovery call today to learn how we can help your organization use AV technology more effectively.

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3 Ways that Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) Can Elevate the Meeting Experience

3 Ways that Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) Can Elevate the Meeting Experience

In today’s hybrid work environment, seamless communication is critical. However, many organizations face challenges in connecting teams efficiently and ensuring collaboration is productive. Unified Communications (UC) and Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) platforms are revolutionizing how meetings are conducted, enhancing the experience from pre-meeting setup to post-meeting follow-up.

What are the 3 ways UCC can help?


1. Streamlining Pre-Meeting Setup
We’ve all been there: scrambling to join a video conference call, manually entering codes, and dealing with password errors. This friction adds unnecessary stress before the meeting even begins. With One-Touch Dialing, a key feature of modern UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) solutions, meeting participants can join calls in seconds with a single button press. This not only saves time but also sets a productive tone for the meeting ahead.

2. Enhancing the In-Meeting Experience
Hybrid meetings often bring visibility challenges. Participants in the same meeting room might dominate the conversation, while remote attendees struggle to engage fully. UCC platforms equipped with intelligent camera framing ensure that every participant is given equal visibility, regardless of their physical location. Whether employees are in the conference room or dialing in from home, technology like UCC enables a more inclusive experience by dynamically adjusting to focus on whoever is speaking.

This real-time adaptability makes it easier for remote employees to feel involved and for teams to collaborate effectively, bridging the gap between physical and virtual participants.

3. Post-Meeting Productivity Boost
Historically, keeping track of meeting notes, recordings, and next steps was a manual process that often led to lost information and reduced productivity. AI tools integrated into UC and UCC platforms are changing that. Automated meeting transcriptions and recordings are synchronized and easily accessible, ensuring that every team member has access to the information they need.

This AI-driven automation means less time is spent on manual follow-ups, and everyone is aligned on the next steps. Whether it’s through CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) or integrated AI, these tools help streamline collaboration across your organization.

Elevating Your Collaboration with ET Group


The success of your hybrid meetings depends on the technology driving them. At ET Group, we specialize in tailoring UCaaS, CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service), and CPaaS solutions to meet the unique needs of your business. Our team of experts can help you identify and implement the tools that will deliver seamless, friction-free collaboration.

To learn more about how Unified Communications can elevate your meeting experience and empower collaboration, watch our explainer video above. Discover the benefits of a seamless pre, during, and post-meeting workflow powered by UCC technology.

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5 Common Problems Solved by Using the Right Hybrid Meeting Equipment & Training

5 Common Problems Solved by Using the Right Hybrid Meeting Equipment & Training

Hybrid is no longer the future of work—it’s now the norm. But many organizations still struggle to set up smooth and seamless hybrid meetings, due to various challenges. These range from technical difficulties to engagement issues among staff.

Below, we’ve outlined several of the most common problems that can be solved with the right hybrid meeting equipment and training.

What Are the Top Hybrid Meeting Challenges?

Hybrid meetings give your remote and in-office personnel the ability to connect seamlessly in real-time with video conferencing technologies. But these types of meetings are best facilitated by specific spaces and technologies—and your team will need to have the right skills and attitudes to successfully adopt the hybrid model.

That means hybrid meetings face a few common challenges, including:

Hybrid Meeting Benefits

But while these challenges are real and significant, they don’t outweigh the benefits of hosting hybrid meetings over an in-person meeting. Successfully configuring your workplace for hybrid meetings allows you to:

ET Group works with organizations of every size and in every industry to plan and implement custom hybrid workplace solutions. Below, you’ll learn more about some of the ways in which we solve the problems we outlined above.

a group of colleagues that work in a hybrid setting taking a workshop on virtual meetings and technology

Solution 1: Understanding Employee Needs Through Consulting

When your leadership and the rest of your team aren’t aligned on your organizational needs and goals, it’s impossible to invest in efficient hybrid and video conferencing meeting technology. This can hold many businesses back from smoothly transitioning to hybrid work.

The best way to fix this is by ensuring you understand the specific needs of your employees—but gathering this kind of feedback isn’t always easy. Consider working with a technology consultant who can connect with the various stakeholders in your organization and observe critical workflows to provide a clearer picture of your technology environment and the best ways to improve it.

Once you’ve done this, it’s easier to plan efficient technology investments—and ultimately move through the process of prototyping, testing, and designing them. The result is a hybrid environment that is built around the unique needs of the people who use it.

Learn more: How Audio Visual Consulting Provides Key Support for Hybrid Environments

Solution 2: Effective End User Training

Having the right technology is one thing, but getting your personnel to use it to its full potential is another. Many organizations have implemented hybrid solutions, only to find that they struggle with user adoption. How can you make sure you’re not one of them?

The answer to this problem lies in proper end user training. Team members who feel confident and prepared to use new technology are simply more likely to do so.

Learn more: Audio Visual Technology Adoption Starts with Better End User Training

For best results, this training should be adaptable for team members at all skill levels. This helps establish a baseline level of knowledge that the organization can use to guide policy conversations about hybrid technology.

a hybrid meeting with virtual and in person attendees that include a note taker for a collaborative meeting

Solution 3: Non-Technical Skills Training

Some of the skills your team members will need to thrive in a hybrid environment aren’t directly related to technology. Examples include:

Team members who have these skills don’t just use video conferencing meeting technology more effectively—they also participate more meaningfully in meetings. The right workshops are as much about investigating team practices and navigating social contracts as they are about learning how to use software and equipment.

Solution 4: Using Automations to Solve Common Meeting Challenges

One of the most common worries that hold people back from fully embracing any new technology is the idea that it causes more problems than it solves. In the case of hybrid meeting tech, a common assumption is that operating and maintaining it requires more work than it saves.

Fortunately, this isn’t true. For example, ET Group’s tech solutions involve a support component that includes both remote and on-site assistance when required. Additionally, we can automatically gather data that helps you proactively address and avoid technical issues—while giving you insights into the best ways to improve your meeting rooms and the way you use them.

Some of the automations we commonly employ in hybrid meeting environments include:

Learn more: How Remote Workplace Analytics Can Improve Hybrid Meeting Rooms

Solution 5: Continuous Feedback & Improvement

Finally, remember that creating an optimal hybrid meeting environment isn’t a “set it and forget it” task. Successful hybrid meeting spaces need to be maintained and upgraded as technology and workplace trends evolve.

That means continuous feedback is necessary to keep refining and improving your hybrid meetings. Make sure you’re keeping tabs on the latest hybrid workplace technology and strategically implementing it in your organization.

a woman attending a meeting virtually on her laptop

Embrace the Future of Hybrid Meetings with ET Group

Hybrid meetings have their challenges, but none of those challenges are reasons not to set up your organization to facilitate them. By understanding the needs of your team, providing thorough training, using the right automations, and continually refining your processes, you can ensure that your hybrid meetings will be productive and satisfying for participants.

ET Group is here to help. Book a discovery call with us to learn more about how we can create bespoke hybrid solutions designed to support the needs of your workplace

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