Inavate + Shure: Validating user demands

Every voice matters. More so, when they come directly from end users! To get the truth, Shure sought out data on meetings and the frustrations of users with conferencing. Armed with clearer insights, the manufacturer now presents better solutions to address the market.

Taking a data-driven approach, Shure engaged Illuminas and commissioned a survey encompassing 401 business professionals and IT decision makers to determine the future of conferencing. These respondents came from a wide range of industries from banking to agriculture.

The survey revealed that 87% of IT and business professionals believed virtual meetings were critical and/or very important. Good news for AV? Not quite.

While videoconferencing is definitely a core offering of the AV industry, it seems there is significant room for improvement. The survey commissioned by Shure revealed that only 36% of the business professionals surveyed believed that their organisations currently have the right technology to support virtual meetings. Three out of five felt their employers had the basic technology in place but need to make improvements.

What does this mean in application? Chris Merrick, director, marketing global systems at Shure, explains: “Not having the right equipment can negatively impact several factors for businesses – workplace efficiency, cost savings and even morale.”

The data confirms Merrick’s statements. The top problems listed included the need to re-schedule meetings, miscommunication resulting in reworking projects and decreased employee satisfaction. Interestingly, the data brings ‘audio’ forward as the main component of a great ‘videoconferencing’ experience.

Overall, poor audio quality is a leading cause of meeting room problems based on the findings. Among the top frustrations, respondents listed background noise, echoes, only hearing partial pieces of speech and side conversations.

The data shows these frustrations are widespread. Overall, 82% of business professionals surveyed have experienced a negative impact of poor audio quality, with lost time and productivity leading the list. It is clear that audio needs to be the focus of attention to elevate videoconferencing for users. According to business professionals, the biggest factor in improving virtual meetings is providing flawless audio, with a whopping 81% saying this is the main culprit.

Addressing the needs from the market, Shure has setup a dedicated web site to help businesses improve their conferencing capabilities. At Effortless.Shure.com, visitors can access resources and tips for effective conference room set-ups, white papers on building the best audio. Their newly launched Shure audio conference ecosystem was also designed to be flexible across audio system architectures in all room types and ensures end users will experience a high-quality, more unifying AV conference experience across an enterprise – regardless of location.

Jim Schanz, vice president of global integrated systems sales at Shure, concludes: “Shure audio equipment has a distinguished history of being trusted on the biggest stages for world leaders and for music legends. We are bringing that quality to boardrooms and meeting rooms in a way that makes it seamless for users to operate and effortless for IT staff to set up and manage.”

Editor’s note: This research was done prior to Covid-19 but still presents relevant, if not more pertinent findings that echoes today’s work situation.

Article Categories








Most Viewed