How To Choose the Best Meeting Room Technology
Choose the Right Meeting Room
Meeting rooms and office spaces come with a variety of different additions, amenities and meeting room technology that can benefit your meeting should you need it. It’s important to pick the right space for your exact meeting. Something too formal could ruin the creative needs of an ideation session, but something too casual could leave potential clients feeling cold and uninterested. The last thing you want is to have to postpone a meeting because you’re missing something crucial to your work, so it’s important to pick the right space for you and your team.
Decide Your Needs
It’s worth discussing with your colleagues, clients or management before booking to find out exactly what you need to make the day go smooth. Get everyone’s input to make sure nothing is missed and that no-one is going to get any disappointing surprises on the day. Somebody may decide last minute they want to print certain documents to pass around rather than just putting them on a screen, but as anyone who has worked in an office knows, printers can be temperamental at the best of times. It may be the case that someone can’t make it in person but is happy to dial in via phone or video call. Whatever it is, decide it in advance so your meeting can go ahead with any major hitches.
The Purpose of the Meeting
Some meetings don’t need much. It could be a table in a breakout area that simply needs somewhere for a few people to chat for an hour. It may need somewhere private to discuss and view sensitive issues that need no prying ears or eyes. The purpose of your meeting will decide exactly what you need and how important it is. If it’s a 14 person C-Level board meeting to decide the future of the company, a bench in the breakout area is unlikely to cut it. Likewise, if two people need to discuss a quick idea, they probably don’t need a full AV system, high speed internet and 12 seats. Understand the tone and requirements of your meeting and what you need to make it happen.
Do You Need to Present Information?
If you need to display and present information or a presentation, you’ll need either a projector or a display. If it’s a large room, you’ll need to make sure it has a large screen so people can see everything no matter where they’re sat. Different laptops and displays will require different connectors, so it’s important to have this information figured out beforehand so your meeting isn’t held up by constant tech issues.
Will you Need to Use Video Conferencing?
Video conferencing is a great way of hosting a meeting, even if your team can’t all be in one location at once. High speed internet and crystal clear webcams have made virtual meetings almost as lifelike as the real thing, and can allow even international clients to call in in real time and be a full part of the conversation. Video Conferencing requires a large display, a clear webcam, fast, reliable internet and microphones so everyone can be heard no matter where they are on the planet. If there’s a lot of people, you may even require microphone headsets so there’s no crossover or feedback from the speakers into the microphones. It’s also important that everyone involved understands exactly how to use the equipment so there’s no awkward delays or interruptions that could potentially stall your progress.
Budget Considerations
There’s no point wasting your money on a room filled with things you aren’t going to use, so figure out exactly what your available budget is and make sure your room matches it. Bigger rooms with more equipment will generally cost more, but if you only require something simple, it can save you money.
Uncover Great Meeting Rooms with Spacepool
Whether you need high speed internet and a 50 inch display for global video conferencing, reliable printers for sharing documents with your team or simply air-conditioning for those long indoor meetings in the middle of summer, Spacepool has a wealth of different meeting spaces for all kinds of businesses.