80 INTERVIEW Help for the hybrid worker Brad Hintze of Crestron explains how to equip workspaces for effective collaboration There are two recurring challenges that impact a hybrid employee’s productivity: “Searching for an available workspace at the beginning of the day, coupled with difficulties in connecting their laptop brought from home,” explains Brad Hintze, executive vice president of global marketing at Crestron. “This leads to an unproductive and frustrating start to the work day.” According to Crestron’s Tackling the Modern Workplace by the Numbers report, over half of the workspaces available to surveyed employees are inadequately equipped for full hybrid engagement. And 60 per cent of respondents said that they cannot effectively see and engage with either in-room or remote participants. These factors can impact productivity and, ultimately, employee retention. But Crestron believes it has the answer. “We work with Microsoft to develop products that seamlessly integrate with Microsoft Teams solutions, addressing the challenges of modern work,” says Hintze. Crestron defines ‘modern work’ as work practices based around flexible work patterns and supported by digital technology, with a focus on three key elements: remote collaboration, in-person collaboration, and scaling up these patterns across the organisation. “Crestron has been a leader in roomscheduling technology for years and we are applying that knowledge to our desk scheduling solutions to tackle the challenges of modern work,” says Hintze. “These solutions fulfil the critical need to help employees find, or schedule, a workspace when they are working in the office.” Crestron’s Desk Touch and Desk Q solutions empower businesses to provide hot-desking spaces, making them fully schedulable workstations. “Desk Touch caters to highend executive spaces, while Desk Q is a cost-effective solution built to be deployed at scale,” explains Hintze. “Both products supply organisations and their employees with the necessary data to quickly find a workspace and let IT teams know what spaces are being used when.” Crestron has also launched its AirMedia Connect Adaptor, which is designed for employees connecting their personal devices to office systems, and is specifically tailored for Teams Rooms software. “It was evident that organisations required a ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) system that could seamlessly enable content and presentations,” says Hintze. “This adaptor allows for BYOD connectivity with a single touch without the need for additional applications or software downloads, enhancing meeting productivity in any environment.” With 84 per cent of employees regularly having at least one remote participant in their meetings, according to the Creston report, businesses are now more inclined to invest BY ALICE CHAMBERS “ We are leveraging our intelligent video solutions to ensure that everyone sees and can be seen in every meeting”
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