Latin America. One of the most talked about trends of 2021 was the staying power of the hybrid work environment. In an article for Forbes® magazine that echoed dozens of other articles, CEO Arthur Pereless of Pereless Systems (the recruitment and hiring solutions company), noted that one of the "pandemic trends that are here to stay" is the widespread adoption of unified communications.
"Communication and collaboration tools in the business sector experienced a huge increase in subscribers during the pandemic," Pereles said. "This trend, as many have already suggested, is probably here to stay because of the efficiencies and cost savings that companies are finding in this new virtual way of thinking."
As video conferencing continues to grow – exponentially – it will become increasingly important that all attendees at every meeting, whether they are one of many in a conference room or joining together alone from a home office setup, sit as if they share an equal seat at the table.
Solutions like smart video can be extraordinarily useful in this regard, as Lauren Simmen (Crestron's director of product marketing) points out: "Smart facial framing recognizes each of the participants in the room and provides a single image of each person, so that, regardless of where they are, they have the same meeting 'space' as the people in the room."
Cybersecurity threats on the rise
The "work from home (WFH)" revolution created a wealth of opportunities for those with bad digital intentions. (Commitment to network security is absolutely vital for anyone in the field of integration, of course.) But it is increasingly evident that the weak link is not so much technology as "wetware", that is, the human brains that use all those devices. Phishing attacks are on the rise, according to a recent study from the Mimecast Threat Center:
Email threats increased by 64% in 2020.
Employees have clicked on three times more malicious emails since the start of the pandemic.
More than 60% of businesses have experienced some kind of ransomware attack attempt.
Beyond the possibility of an employee opening a nasty file .exe, access to the device is another problem: Who uses the work laptop after hours? Is mom or dad's device out of reach of children? The solution is ultimately a mix of training and zero-trust networks, as Crestron's director of product, interface and application management, Robert Bach, explains in an article recently published in AV Nation.
The definition of "well-being" has been broadened
With a new global focus on indoor health, the wellness segment remained at the top of the mind in these pandemic years – in both commercial and residential markets. Crestron has partnered with Delos to offer solutions in terms of lighting and air and water quality: this is the Delos® Wellness platform.
Lighting is an important part of this. As Phillip Pini, Director of Residential Sales at Crestron (UK), wrote in a Crestron blog post: "Our body needs UV-B rays to be able to produce vitamin D. In addition, research shows that daylight helps establish a healthy circadian rhythm." Biocentric lighting is the key here, and shading is an integral part of both proper lighting and climate control.
Beyond the intuitive aspects of wellness, however, solutions like density sensors that can help understand (and control) room occupancy and contactless technology gained a lot of traction during the pandemic. In May 2020, Delix Alex, senior director of enterprise application products at Crestron, envisioned what would become a common experience: "You walk into the office and it's time for your first collaborative meeting after COVID19. You enter the conference room.
Instantly, the room "knows" you're there and the screen wakes up automatically. You confirm that you are in the correct meeting room, as the room screen clearly shows the meeting name, organizer, and time slot. ... The participants in the meeting have already arrived in person... or remotely through Microsoft Teams® conferencing software or Zoom Rooms™, or similar. It's time to start. A few clicks and swipes on your personal device and you're already sharing your presentation."
Text published by the Mexican integrator company Multimedia.
