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My Day with Sharp and Its Windows Collaboration Board Launch, Plus an Interview with CEO Mike Marusic 

Sharp Windows Collaboration Display I was honored to be the only member of the AV press invited to cover the live, global (it was streamed live from Seattle, Washington, New York City, Amsterdam and Madrid) streaming video launch of the Sharp WCD (Windows Collaboration Display) last week. Although those in attendance, live, saw it as a technical marvel (connecting and streaming a video launch from three countries and four locations at the same time), it was completely driven from via actual 70″ Sharp WCD boards — from all four sites!

This is ONE of the things that differentiates the Sharp WCD from nearly every other collaboration board on the market. In addition to the four locations collaborating via an embedded PowerPoint presentation delivering the content, each site had it’s own video and audio feed — using the attached WCD camera and integrated mic and speakers — that drove all the content. In fact, I recorded the entire one-hour launch and you can actually watch it here:

The OTHER big differentiator is the Sharp WCD’s IoT sensor so, keep reading…

Dubbed the PN-CD701, the Sharp WCD is 4K Ultra HD (3840×2160) display, with built-in microphone arrays, an integrated 4K video camera with and IoT sensor hub that works seamlessly with Microsoft 365 collaboration tools. Those IoT sensors use Sharp’s cloud-based analytics subscription solution that provides users/organizations insight into the environmental conditions within their meeting spaces and how the technology is being used — who’s using the room, how many people are in each meeting, which tools on the WCD are used most frequently and anything else you can think of having a room sensor track — it’s all integrated into the WCD’s IoT platform.

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I was in the NYC launch — which was held on the sixth floor of the flagship Microsoft Store on 5th Avenue and while I was there, I grabbed Sharp President and CEO Mike Marusic and talked to him about the unique ecosystem the Sharp WCD provides. I hope you’ll watch this video as it also includes an up-close look at the WCD too:

As Mike alludes to on the interview, the WCD integrates Microsoft Teams and its Skype for Business-certified but it also works with Zoom, WebEx, BlueJeans (via an app download) and nearly any other video platform. It’s also BYOM enabled too — so, you can bring your own laptop with your own collaboration or video meeting client and connect it. Here’s a brochure about the $11,695 Sharp WCD. 

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