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Welcome to Day One of LAVNCH WEEK 5: UCC Day!

UCC Day

It’s finally arrived, the week you’ve all been waiting for LAVNCH WEEK 5! Tuesday was UCC Day; on this day we dive into any and all things UCC. We had product demos, panelists and great conversations centering on all things UCC, including the past, present and future of the market. Read on below to find a recap of the whole day!

By the way, we also announced the launch of LAVNCH [CODE], the new publication for emerging AV technology! LAVNCH [CODE] will feature a range of emerging technology-based newsletters for readers to choose from and explore emerging markets, including XR, the future of content creation, experiential advertising and much more. And, we announced LAVNCH [CODE]’s inaugural Out of This World Experiences Award, to which you can submit your technology solutions to between now and March 20! Nominations are now open, so go check it out.

Anyways, let’s get on to our recap of UCC Day. You can also watch the entire day on demand by registering here. Enjoy!

DGnet Collaborate: An exciting leap forward for whole-room conferencing

DGnet CollaborateOur first product demo of LAVNCH WEEK 5 was with Damiano Global Corporation! The company demoed the DGnet Collaborate whole-room conferencing solution LIVE with Gary Kayye during UCC Day. This product, designed for managed conferencing and flexible collaboration, offers a touch panel interface that allows users to control collaboration services from Zoom, Microsoft, Google and other collaboration software. And, it’s easy to toggle between these platforms when needed! Users can share a single camera, display and audio device between these platforms. Gary Kayye says this solution is an example of how you build a room that is switchable.

During the demo, guests Frank Damiano and Keven Stacey explained how the touch-screen solution allows users to quickly toggle between Zoom Rooms and Teams. DGnet Collaborate allows users to manage multiple service platforms on a single device, and the systems are all remotely monitored and managed. Read more about the DGnet Collaborate here, and don’t forget you can watch the day on demand right here.

Kayye’s Krystal Ball Live with Gary Kayye

KrystalBall2021 1

Gary Kayye always offers his annual predictions for the next year in AV, and this was his 21st year writing the article! Lucky for you, Gary went through his past predictions for 2021 and his future thoughts for 2022 LIVE! Oh, and this session gave those who attended AVIXA CTS RUs, too!

2021 Review

Gary’s past predictions for AV trends are scarily accurate, and he’s done it once again. He made a prediction that 2021 would be digital signage’s best year ever, and sales were up 34% in 2021 for the market. He also predicted growth in cybersecurity efforts, new voice control capabilities in ProAV solutions, huge mergers and acquisitions in the industry and that Epson would release a new product aimed at K-12 education — all of which came true! He did miss his prediction that the Olympics would be postponed again, but ratings were extremely low, so we’ll still give him credit for it.

2022 Projections

For 2022, Gary made tons of predictions, including that more projectors will be sold this year than in the last three years. We’re excited to see how many predictions he gets right! He also outlined his top 22 companies to watch for in 2022 and said these companies are doing big things in the UCC market (and in many other places in the audiovisual industry). Some of these include AVer Information, Audio-Technica, Stem, INOGENI, T1V, eGlass and many more (none are sponsored or clients)! See them all in Gary’s 2022 Krystal Ball article or on demand right here.

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Millennials, The Hybrid Workforce and You

millennials and their work force trendsMillennials, millennials, millennials! They’re here to stay in your workforce, and Steph says it’s time to adjust to their needs in (and out) of the office. Steph’s session covered how employers can make millennials happy, as this group willl soon be the largest cohort of workers in the U.S. Millennials grew up in a hybrid world and have mastered tech since they were young. So, how can businesses make do with their skills?

Firstly, there’s more to being “hybrid” than just offering a livestreamed meeting. Millennials desire the comforts of the hybrid environments they grew up in, so here are some key points to creating a business that allows them to thrive.

  1. Hybrid work is the best option for millennials: This group of workers enjoys the flexibility of having their own space to work as well as an office space. And, having an office space makes for a happy worker — as long as they can choose when to come in.
  2. True freedom means a good work-life balance: Setting up a company culture that prioritizes a healthy work-life balance sets millennials up for success.
  3. Set up strict expectations: Millennials are hard workers who can have a difficult time breaking away from work, especially when they’re working from home. Outline expectations early and thoroughly!

Here’s a link to Steph’s presentation in case you missed it.

UCC Update

Ucc uodates

To wrap up the day, Steph, Xzavia Killikelly and Chris Fitzsimmons looked into the trends that the UCC market is facing today. What trends are we seeing now that will impact the future of conferencing and collaboration? The trio discussed topics such as how involved integrators need to be during installs, how to set up a truly hybrid workspace and that conversations need to be had about how systems should work in and out of the office.

A huge theme in this conversation was the word “future-proof.” When designing UCC systems, both in the workplace and other locations, the systems should be “future-proofed.” This means that designers need to understand how fast hybrid solutions are changing — and that the systems will most likely have to adapt as needs change. If we truly listen to our end users and their needs, we’ll be able to design better systems that work as close to how they want them to as possible. And when we make these systems adaptable, we’ll be able to produce UCC systems that are actually prepared for the future!

Don’t forget you can watch the ENTIRE UCC Day session on demand! Thank you so much for joining us, and we can’t wait to see you tomorrow for DS Day!

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