Volume 12, Issue 23 — December 6, 2021

rAVe UCC — Volume 12, Issue 23

December 6, 2021 | Volume: 12 | Issue: 23

So here we are, still (mostly) working from home as we close another COVID-19 year. In some ways, this is a bummer. In others, this has been one heck of a learning experience for us in the UCC market. We’ve gone from selling tons of USB cameras to selling home-based Teams Rooms (and Zoom Rooms). And, we’re seeing more at-home UCC products coming our way weekly. I see one product segment — the home-based personal collaboration board — as a huge growth opportunity for all of us. So far, the best two are the FLEX from Newline Interactive and the Google Meet Series One Desk 27 from Avocor. If you’re not selling these yet, you should be!

The emergence of the ePTZ camera for at-home applications is proving to be a big opportunity, too. For example, the new ePTZ from Vaddio, known as the IntelliSHOT, is one of my favorites, along with the AVer CAM340+. And it’s a matter of time before we see one from Huddly, the company dominating high-end USB webcams right now.

And what about all the acquisitions!? Today, AVI-SPL announced they’ve purchased SKC Communications. Last week, Pexip announced they acquired Skedify, and I suspect you will see companies like Logitech buying some partners in 2022, too. I am bullish on UCC, and I can’t wait to see all the new UCC gear at the upcoming Barcelona-based ISE show in early February!

If you just wanna talk about all this, Zoom me (919-868-3358)

— Gary Kayye

COLUMNS

+ Are You Offering Work Havens? [Mark Coxon]

I have seen some chatter about commercial integrators offering services for home offices, but the response is typically that these are residential applications and not in the commercial integrator’s core capability, nor are the projects large enough to warrant new entry. To that I say, maybe our thinking is too small. What if we developed a strategy to build “Work Havens?”

+ The Home Office Sector [Scott Tiner]

As I think about my other experiences working from home, something that is really missed is the physical movement I have lost from being in the office. Even though I would tell you that I have always spent all day on a computer, that was not really true until the pandemic hit.