As some workers reluctantly return to the office, a handful of video-technology companies are hoping to help ease the pain.
“We want to make things less rigid,” said Simen Teigre, chief executive of Norwegian video-tech company Neat. “Employees want meetings in dynamic settings, and they want to come into work to collaborate.” His company’s new product, the Neat Board 50, is an iPad-meets-whiteboard device that is loaded with apps such as AppSpace, Miro and Facebook’s WhatsApp.
Although the video-tech sector is populated with numerous vendors, only a handful have a product portfolio that includes video-enabled interactive flat displays and video-bar devices certified for use with Microsoft Corp.’s
MSFT,
Teams and Zoom Video Communications Inc.
ZM,
said Craig Durr, an analyst at the Futurum Group. He pegged video-device revenue at more than $4 billion in 2023.
As Alphabet Inc.’s
GOOGL,
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Google, Apple Inc.
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Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.
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Salesforce Inc.
CRM,
and other companies push employees to come back to the office at least some of the time, the market appears to be rife with possibilities for third-party vendors.
Market-research company Frost & Sullivan found that 49% of companies use at least two video collaboration platforms and 21% plan to add more solutions. Another study found that a majority of employees value hybrid collaboration spaces and flexible furniture in the office.
Yet only 36% of employers have upgraded their video-meeting technology. At some companies where workers feel they need more and better tech tools, turnover rates are as high as 71%, according to a 2022 State of Remote Work report from communications-equipment company Owl Labs that surveyed 2,300 U.S. workers.
And while artificial intelligence is getting plenty of press, solutions for the hybrid work world seem to be centering on camera and video systems. Logitech International
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Crestron Electronics Inc. and Huddly have unveiled multiple-camera solutions, while Cisco Systems Inc.
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has introduced desk-scheduling devices, said Prachi Nema, an enterprise communications analyst at technology research company Omdia.
Video tools for collaboration, though still at the fledgling stage, could well find traction. Neat, for example, has 12,000 customers in 55 countries, including software company HubSpot Inc.
HUBS,
and Nebraska’s First National Bank of Omaha. Although the U.S. is Neat’s largest market, more of its technology is now also finding its way to Europe and Asia.
“We are committed to making the office a collaboration destination for hybrid teams, and that means giving them the best applications and the most adaptable technology so they can make any workspace their own,” Teigre said.
This story originally appeared on Marketwatch
