When it comes to catering for the new age of hybrid working, flexibility is the name of the game. Andrew Wong explains how MAXHUB is in the ideal position to provide comprehensive solutions for the new way of working.
The needs of the enterprise/corporate customer have evolved dramatically since 2019. Many companies today continue to operate with a hybrid working culture or a largely remote workforce, enabled solely by reliable and high-quality conferencing technologies that allow companies to stay connected and work more effectively than ever before.
Today, MAXHUB has positioned itself as a market leader for UC systems in the corporate space, transitioning to offer high-end hardware solutions with stress-free software to provide the enterprise world with a system that is simple, reliable and high quality.
Andrew Wong, regional consultant, MAXHUB, explains: “When MAXHUB first came into the market we offered good business enterprise solutions at a more affordable/business-friendly price for small/medium sized businesses. Now, we are stepping out into the corporate and enterprise world with even higher quality products.” The needs of the modern day videoconferencing system requires both hardware and software of a high calibre to provide a seamless experience for in-person and virtual attendees. For MAXHUB, this combination is second nature. Wong says: “MAXHUB isn’t just a hardware provider, we also have a strong software development team, especially for UC products and our MAXHUB Wireless Share which supports interaction between MAXHUB interactive panels, and personal devices such as mobile phones and laptops.”
When the pandemic struck, MAXHUB found itself in a strong position to support the needs of remote workers and hybrid office setups, with the company’s range of products tailor-made to support the transition to a more flexible way of working.
Wong explains: “Businesses adapted to the new normal in the post pandemic era to provide more agile and flexible approaches for their workforce. MAXHUB solutions are designed to significantly improve videoconferencing and collaboration experiences without complex wiring and configuration.
“MAXHUB is the leader of ‘All-in-One’ IFPD solutions, and we expanded our communication and collaboration product line to support businesses in repurposing their office space in the post-pandemic era. We see growing demand for the ‘all-in-one’ collaboration panel that replaces multiple meeting room audio-visual devices with one device, eliminating the need for a complicated installation. We also boast ‘all-in-one’ conferencing camera systems that can be deployed instantly and turn any challenging spaces into productive meeting places.”
When the pandemic started and most companies moved to videoconferencing remotely, the importance of the videoconferencing room became paramount. Previously, the meeting room was centred around the physical meeting experience but now has evolved to become a flexible, adaptive space that can meet the changing needs of end users.
MAXHUB meets this need with its state-of-the-art UC M40 camera system. Wong clarifies: “We came up with the UC M40 360-degree camera system which can capture an entire room of participants and undertake auto-framing to target all participants in the room. For remote participants, they can see everyone in the meeting room clearly and they can hear voices clearly through a speaker checking function, allowing everyone to have a face-to-face meeting experience through the videoconferencing solutions.”
Wong adds: “Our BYOD plug-and play approach gives users the flexibility to run their own preferred video meeting software, utilising the intelligence views of the 360-degrees camera and AI audio without complicated settings. The M40 supports seven different video layouts to fit into various meeting scenarios with one-tap mode switching, to ensure every participant is seen clearly, even when seated to the side, without fisheye distortion.”
Many businesses today are also looking to optimise workspace functionality or to repurpose meeting spaces into dedicated videoconferencing rooms to support the growing demands of hybrid meetings. MAXHUB has kept ahead of the curve by supporting the growing trends in activities-based workspaces and expanding its offerings to cover professional UC product lines and smart non-touch displays for the flexible demands of the market.
Wong clarifies: “Over 50% of workers worked from home since the pandemic began, and even after the reopening of the economy, many business are still adapting a flexible working pattern. Almost every meeting will have remote participants joining whether from home, satellite offices or co-working spaces. Meeting rooms no longer just facilitate physical meetings but should have facilities that allow remote participants to join in seamlessly on the fly.”`
Many people and businesses have transitioned to videoconferencing apps such as Zoom, Teams, Webex and other applications to enable businesses to run as normally as possible. However, some organisations use a plethora of videoconferencing applications on a day-to-day basis which can naturally pose a headache for any company or employee.
MAXHUB offers a solution for this issue in the form of its UC S10 Pro soundbar, a device that can run multiple videoconferencing apps simultaneously without additional configuration.
Wong: “Our flagship 5-in-1 videobar, UC S10 Pro, not only supports the BYOD connection for users to utilise the autoframing camera, but also includes six-mic arrays to track the active presenter, with a hi-fidelity speaker to cover small to medium size rooms.
“It also has an Android system built-in for users to run videoconferencing with compatible Android apps without needing a PC, as well as an integrated wireless screen-sharing feature to display up to four devices simultaneously for better collaboration. UC S10 Pro is a software agnostic videobar system that delivers a frictionless video meeting experience, where users can switch from one meeting provider to another on the fly through its intuitive quick access menu, without complication to access system configurations or hardware reboots.”
This flexibility extends to enabling collaboration sessions on the fly through MAXHUB’s built-in wireless collaboration functions through MAXHUB’s flat panels, enabling offices to work anytime, anywhere, from any device.
Wong: “To maximise the usage of offices, we see a lot of companies using displays that are only for digital signage so we are adding secure wireless collaboration functions into our smart display. If you have a visitor, you can have an ad hoc meeting via a laptop streaming directly to the digital panel with built-in wireless collaboration function, it’s a very versatile product.
“MAXHUB is the brand leader in the worldwide corporate IFPD market with 26% of total market share, according to the latest Q3-2021 IFPD Worldwide market report by Futuresource UK. From its worldwide market understanding and years of experience in product design and solutions delivery, MAXHUB is able to ensure our solutions help solve various user demands.”