How to Make All-Hand Spaces Scalable and Future Proof
Customers want performance, reliability and efficiency from their investment in town hall environments, but the word on everyone’s lips is “scalability.” Purchasers of AV solutions want to maximize their investments while ensuring long-term adaptability.
Recognizing the speed at which AV technology evolves, users seek reassurance that their infrastructure will be able to adapt to new innovations without requiring a complete system overhaul. Moreover, scalable solutions allow businesses to save on upfront costs by enabling them to start with what they need and expand over time. That’s because scalable solutions provide flexibility for business growth and evolving needs. Organizations today continue to adapt to a hybrid world. They need standardization across multiple locations and have a desire for seamless integration of existing and future technologies. They also seek more sustainable solutions that promote modular upgrades and repurposing of existing equipment.
The fact is, for businesses that rely on AV for customer and employee engagement, scalable solutions are integral to maintaining their competitive advantage. Consequently, the providers of AV solutions for town halls and all-hands spaces focus closely on scalability. Here are some ways that you can, too.
Weigh Current vs. Future Needs
Scalability is all about meeting the needs of the present while maximizing your ability to accommodate the requirements of the future. It’s a tall order, especially when you can’t quite see what’s coming around the pike.
The first thing an organization needs to do is assess current and future needs in light of short and long-term strategic objectives. That involves considering factors like workplace size and growth potential, the types of meetings and events that will take place in your all-hands space, user behavior and technological expectations around collaboration, conferencing and imaging, and the costs vs. benefits of integrating new technologies like AI, 4K video, IoT, etc.
Build a High-Bandwidth Network Infrastructure
A reliable network infrastructure will be critical to ensuring your network can handle the high bandwidth demands of 4K video, real-time collaboration and large-scale digital signage. Accordingly, consider gigabit ethernet and Wi-Fi 6 for better network performance and scalability. In the hybrid future, you’re going to need sufficient bandwidth for video conferencing, streaming and cloud-based collaboration tools.
Embrace Scalable Audio and Video Solutions
Flexibility, adaptability and future proofing are at the heart of scalable audio and video solutions. Start with modular audio and video systems that allow for the easy addition of new components as your needs evolve. Leverage AV-over-IP to take advantage of the flexibility and scalability that come from allowing audio and video signals to be transmitted over standard data networks. Implement cloud-based solutions for audio and video management, as they provide the freedom to scale services up or down as needed without having to build an infrastructure around them.
Embracing scalable audio and video solutions also requires planning for future video resolutions and audio formats. That means ensuring your infrastructure can support 4K and 8K video content as well as lossless audio formats. You’ll want to select video processors and audio mixers that can scale up to these higher standards and manage future technology demands. Also consider compression technologies like H.265 (HEVC) for video streaming.
As video and audio content scales in terms of resolution and complexity, your network infrastructure must be poised to handle increased data traffic. This will require high-bandwidth network switches, quality of service (QoS) configurations that prioritize AV traffic, and redundancy in network components to prevent downtime and ensure reliability.
You’ll also want to embrace wireless AV solutions as they can dramatically increase scalability by allowing for flexible setups and easier system expansion without the need for complex rewiring. Significant advances have been made in wireless video conferencing systems, presentation systems, and audio solutions, and the pace of innovation will only accelerate.
Build on Standardized, Interoperable Platforms
Ensure flexibility by choosing AV systems and components that are built on open standards or interoperable platforms. They make it easier to integrate future technologies and third-party solutions without locking you into a specific vendor. Such systems will support AV-over-IP for easier and more scalable network management. They’ll also integrate with IT systems to streamline management across both AV and IT networks.
A key advantage of centralized AV management is the ease with which you can oversee and control your technology infrastructure across multiple locations. Features may include remote monitoring of AV systems to detect and resolve issues proactively; centralized configuration management for easy updates, maintenance and troubleshooting; and analytics to track usage patterns and help an organization optimize its AV resources over time.
Prioritize Flexibility in Meeting and Collaboration Spaces
Agile organizations enable anywhere-anytime meeting and collaboration. They do so by ensuring rooms have universal connectivity options to accommodate various devices. They implement digital signage and room scheduling systems that can be easily scaled and adjusted for different room sizes and purposes. They also use reconfigurable furniture and mobile AV equipment to allow for quick setup changes. The era of spaces dedicated to a single use seems to be over. Instead, organizations of all types are reimagining spaces through the lens of versatility and utility.
Integrate with Future Collaboration Platforms
What’s the key to integrating with future collaboration platforms? Ensuring flexibility, compatibility and seamless user experiences is part of the answer. There are several ways to do this. First, emphasize interoperability and open standards so that your AV infrastructure can integrate with multiple platforms as they evolve. You should also invest in cloud-based and SaaS-compatible AV systems, which allow for real-time updates, scalability and remote monitoring.
On the hardware front, choose products with firmware upgradability from providers that have a track record of long-term software support and regular updates. It’s also crucial to implement AV-over-IP for scalability and flexibility, ensuring your system is compatible with both current and emerging collaboration platforms. It’s important, too, to design meeting spaces for hybrid and flexible workflows by building multi-platform support, wireless collaboration tools and adaptive room design elements into those environments.
As in every other area of society, AI will figure prominently in future collaboration solutions. Consider AI-powered cameras that auto-frame and track participants, intelligent audio processing with noise cancellation and voice isolation, and automated transcription, translation and real-time analytics for global collaboration.
While much about the future remains unknown, we can be confident that cybersecurity and compliance with future standards will be vital to scalability and future-proofing efforts. This will involve using end-to-end encryption for AV communications, ensuring secure authentication with SSO, MFA and OAuth integrations, and regularly updating software and firmware to protect against vulnerabilities.
It’s also prudent to plan for AV IT networking capabilities by ensuring your AV infrastructure supports NDI, Dante, and AVoIP, for lower latency and higher bandwidth, by using networking hardware such as the Netgear Pro AV solutions that are designed for use in these environments.
Finally, future-proof your AV infrastructure with a scalable upgrade strategy that enables incremental improvements rather than complete system replacements. Key elements include taking a modular approach to AV installations, using subscription-based software, and regularly evaluating emerging collaboration trends.
Design for Easy Maintenance and Upgrades
A smart strategy for future-proofing a town hall space is to opt, whenever possible, for modular equipment and systems, including hardware and software that can be upgraded or expanded as needed. On the software front, it’s smart to invest in cloud-based solutions, which offer great flexibility and scalability for both hardware and software. After all, with cloud technologies, businesses can integrate remote collaboration tools, scale data storage and streaming capabilities, and stay current with software updates and security patches.
Infrastructure maintenance and upgrades are also facilitated through comprehensive service and support contracts, including managed services, which are designed to enhance system longevity, and AV-as-a-Service offerings, which continually refresh your AV infrastructure without imposing the responsibility of ownership on the user.
Set a Long-Term AV Strategy
In a hybrid world, AV technology is fundamental to business continuity. By creating a long-term AV strategy that includes plans for scaling, integrating new technology and adjusting to new work environments, you can position your organization at the vanguard of change. An effective AV strategy will factor technology lifecycles and upgrade strategies (as well as ongoing operational, support and training costs) into your overall business goals and growth plans. You strategy should also be evaluated regularly to adapt to changes in technology and the business environment.
No One Can See the Future – But You Can Confidently Plan for It
Designing for scalability and future-proofing the AV infrastructure for your all-hands space requires a strategic, flexible and modular approach. It’s true that you can’t predict every technological advancement, but you can prepare for whatever comes next. The key is to be mindful of your evolving needs and emerging solutions and create a system that can adapt to them.
