2024 is right around the corner and corporate leaders are at the point in time when they need to make decisions on prioritizing investments for their business. It is especially important for businesses to decide how their workplaces will be equipped to handle the needs of their workforce in the coming year.
In contrast to the trend of remote work that exploded during the pandemic years, businesses around the world have started asking their employees to work from the office albeit with some level of flexibility. This new age is all about hybrid flexibility. By 2024 end, it is expected that 90% of all businesses will have a return-to-office policy for their employees. As such, CxO concerns have inevitably tuned toward employee enablement and engagement.
Effortless collaboration is key
The return-to-office policies are expected to sharply focus on a hybrid workforce mode where employees have the flexibility to choose when they work out of the office and when they work remotely. The problem here is that there may be scenarios where collaboration becomes difficult when different sets of people working on the same objective work from different places.
It will become essential for corporate offices to be equipped with the right audio-visual communication systems to reduce the friction that exists in such a fragmented collaborative environment.
The world of audio-visual communication has also witnessed a series of transformative developments over the past decade. So, when it comes to powering office spaces with the right communication tools, decision-makers must be aware of the latest enterprise AV trends in the market.
What does 2024 look like for enterprise AV?
Let’s make the decision-making process easier for leaders by listing out the top enterprise AV trends that are bound to make an impact in the coming year:
Universal software support
The pandemic saw the widespread adoption of conferencing and communication software and systems like MS Teams, Zoom, Cisco WebEx, and much more. Several enterprises have deployed combinations of these tools to make it easier for employees to stay connected with their peers. In a hybrid working environment, it is expected that some employees would be attending meetings or conferences virtually from home while other participants may be in the office. Office peers are likely to be in a meeting room to avoid distractions and interference.
On this note, enterprises need to have their meeting room infrastructure, design, and flow tightly integrated with powerful AV solutions that support the seamless deployment of popular conferencing tools. No employee should feel inconvenienced or constrained due to the inability to connect the meeting room audio and video feeds to their communication tool.
In 2024, selecting your enterprise AV tools should involve a process where the communication platforms used by your business will be evaluated for the ability to support such tight integration and seamless workflows.
Elevated presentation experiences
Audio visual systems used in workplaces are not just meant for video conferencing or conducting virtual meetings. In fact, as offices open their doors to employees, they are also opening the doors to customers and other stakeholders who may pay a visit frequently.
This means that corporate presentations, showcases of business services, demonstrations, etc. will be very common events happening in the workplace. Add to this, there could be large-scale events that a company hosts within its office building and are broadcast or streamed to a live audience on the internet in parallel.
Hence, every enterprise AV solution that a business deploys on its premises must be able to seamlessly capture the essence of every event that is conducted, irrespective of size or scale.
They must be able to achieve the right balance of recognizing speakers while offering an engaging platform for both in-office and web audiences. Live streaming events would be very common in 2024. Enterprise AV systems need to ensure that they support not just the hardware but also the digital capabilities needed for effortless engagement in such live streams.
Immersive capabilities
Several businesses have begun to realize the importance of having an engaging and informative experience when they conduct virtual conferences or customer showcases. The use of AR and VR technology, as well as 360-degree audio-video capabilities, will open new possibilities in such corporate events.
From an audio-visual standpoint, enterprises need to ensure that they have the right hardware and software in place to support multiple use cases to allow for such immersive experiences. From tracking acoustic signals to capturing dynamic video frames in real-time, the demands are very high from the enabling systems used in these circumstances. The platforms used for enterprise AV management should have the ability to unify multiple controls and offer a simple yet comprehensive management console for presenters.
Adoption of artificial intelligence
The enterprise audio-visual scene, like all others, is poised for radical changes courtesy of AI. In 2024, it is expected that most corporate meetings will leverage the use of intelligent voice assistants to set up and manage meetings. Video conferencing systems will fold in a host of AI-led features like intelligent transcripts, speaker focus, adjustments in AV levels, and several others.
Additionally, there would be new opportunities in the field of real-time automated meeting translation using generative AI tech. What enterprises need to ensure is that they have the right AV architecture needed to support data and other requirements for running such AI-powered innovations.
Gearing up a great year ahead
As the curtain falls on 2023, enterprise leaders need to actively consider being prepared to power their workplace with the infrastructure needed for tomorrow’s needs. To achieve this, they need not just any hardware or software resources, but a strategic roadmap that helps in getting the latest AV tech on board with the right capabilities tailored to the organization’s needs. This is where a partner like Resurgent can help make a huge difference.
Get in touch with us to know how to leverage the power of Pro AV in 2024.