Picture a business meeting. It’s likely taking place in a conference room, with a large table in the center and chairs spread evenly throughout. A speaker may be standing at the front of the room, reviewing the slides of a presentation.
Reality doesn’t necessarily match this image of meetings in years past. Today, meetings are often conducted completely online. Participants may be calling in from their homes in countries around the world. Video conferencing providers, in turn, are racing to keep up with the changing needs of remote workforces.
Here are a few trends in the field of meeting technology your company should keep its eyes on.
1. AI is Simplifying Meeting Planning
No list of technology trends would be complete without a mention of artificial intelligence. It’s widely considered the breakthrough technology of the 2020s, and it’s reshaping how business is conducted.
Meetings are no different. Video conferencing providers have deployed AI for several use cases, including:
- Identifying who should be invited to a meeting based on the speaker
- Suggesting agenda items based on who is invited to the meeting
- Determining which conference rooms are open during the meeting’s time slot
- Recommending pre-read materials to participants based on the agenda
When meeting organizers no longer have to worry about forgetting to add colleagues to invitations or omitting relevant items from the agenda, they can shift their focus to mastering the material they plan to discuss during the meeting.
2. Voice Recognition Technology is Making It Easier than Ever to Adjust Meeting Room Conditions
Until recently, adjusting meeting room lighting or turning the volume of a speaker up or down required at least one meeting participant to manually press a light switch or turn a dial. It was often a distraction for everyone in the room.
Fortunately, voice recognition technology makes it possible for anyone in the conference room to perform these types of tasks without lifting a finger. It’s no different than a Google Home or Siri device. Meeting participants can simply say a command and the smart devices in the room take it from there, taking actions such as:
- Putting blinds down or up
- Turning lights off or on
- Adjusting volume levels for speakers and microphones
- Changing whose screen is being shared
- Focusing the camera on whomever is speaking
If you’re hoping to upgrade the technology in your office’s conference room, help is available. A Google Meet, Zoom Rooms, or Microsoft Teams conference room setup consultant can advise you on the optimal technology for your space and help you decide where to locate each device.
3. Security Measures Continue to Evolve
Cybercriminals are constantly searching for new vulnerabilities to exploit, and, in recent years, company video meetings have been a target.
Since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been countless stories about data leaks and unauthorized individuals accessing private meetings. It has been a source of concern for many business leaders, and video conferencing providers have responded by upgrading their security functionality.
Some of the newest features include end-to-end encryption, which scrambles virtual meeting data and only allows those with a security key to unscramble it. A separate measure many have taken is adopting token-based security, in which users must verify their identity by checking a token. Tokens are symbolic items created by a trusted source that can consist of a physical item, such as a USB key, or digital items, like a digital signature.
Cyberthreats will only become more sophisticated in the coming years, so you should expect new advances in meeting technology security to keep up.
4. Gamification Will Boost Meeting Engagement
You can spend hours preparing for a meeting, but you can never predict how engaged participants will be in the material discussed during the call. Games may be the solution.
Most of us love to compete and win. The prospect of winning a prize–even if that prize is only recognition from our peers–motivates us to try our best. Virtual meeting providers understand this and have begun introducing gamification functionality to their platforms. Zoom’s app library, for example, contains several options for companies hoping to boost meeting engagement. This includes:
- Quizzes with leaderboards that track the scores of meeting participants
- Popular online games such as Wordle and Taboo
- Word Clouds
- Polls
Many of these applications provide administrators with analytics they can use to measure the impact gamification is having on meeting engagement levels. It’s a simple and cost-effective way to create a meeting environment employees will want to be a part of.
5. 5G is Improving the Reliability of Calls
If AI is the number one technological breakthrough of the 2020s, 5G might be second. It has increased internet speeds while reducing latency, or the time it takes for data to move from one point in a network to another.
So, how will it impact video conferencing? Today, it’s not all that uncommon to have a meeting participant struggle with in-home internet speed. These hiccups make the exchanging of information challenging and can result in participants walking away without clear takeaways. 5G internet access is poised to change this.
With 5G connectivity, companies can expect smoother video calls with fewer interruptions. Improved video quality is only one of the potential promising developments related to the expansion of access to 5G. Experts expect 5G could eventually allow for ultra-high-definition video for video conferencing. Eventually, meeting participants might even be able to share larger, more complex datasets with one another.
It’s Never Too Late to Get Started
If you’re concerned your company isn’t keeping up with the latest trends in meeting technology, you’re not alone. Technology evolves rapidly, and staying current can feel overwhelming. Now is the perfect time to evaluate your approach and identify ways to enhance the meeting experience for all employees.
By investing in the right tools and strategies, you can create a more efficient, inclusive, and collaborative work environment that keeps your company ahead of the curve.