Some employers are announcing staffs can work from home permanently. Others have demanded all employees return to the office. A third group will embrace some form of compromise solution, meaning in-office employees will have to share square footage with space and equipment enabling video conferencing by home-based workers. Most offices will need to accommodate videoconferencing in multiple rooms at once.
Some believe these hybrid models will be the norm for years to come. Seamless means will have to be found to bring together in-office and remote workers. Companies creating workplace designs have rolled up their sleeves to forge solutions.
One of them is ROOM, which recently collaborated with Zoom and HP to produce a tech-enabled, modular system specifically designed for the hybrid office, and featuring heightened video conferencing capabilities and an optimized environment.
Turnkey space
The product, Room for Zoom, blends ROOM’s modular Focus Room with an HP Collaboration All-in-One PC embedded with Zoom Rooms software. Also incorporated in this solution is built-in lighting optimal for video conferencing. It’s billed as the first-to-market, turnkey video conferencing space purpose-built for the hybrid workplace. Room for Zoom also offers adjustable desk heights, built-in power sources, silent fans, fresh air ventilation and optional HEPA filtration.
The designers of Room for Zoom went so far as to include skylights, a white board and custom accessory rail for personal belongings, to ensure the room is a comfortable, amply lit and uncluttered workspace. In addition, it is a soundproof space, having been wrought from recycled plastic bottles and engineered to reduce noise by 27dB.
Room for Zoom is of course not the only product addressing office videoconferencing needs. Read on for other solutions that respond to the very special acoustic needs of videoconferencing spaces, helping make regular offices decidedly Zoom-able.
The Embossed Series of acoustic panels, designed by Woven Image and distributed by Kirei.
Kirei
Kirei’s EchoPanel Collection
For almost 20 years, Kirei has fostered productive and healthy interiors by delivering good-looking and sustainable products to address acoustic needs in commercial environments of all kinds. Its newest EchoPanel collection is an attractive, decorative and acoustically absorbent panel with a felt-like finish. The collection offers wall and ceiling panels, systems, tiles and partitions that are available in standard versions or can be customized to fit or transform to the aesthetic of any office. Featuring up to 60% post-consumer content, EchoPanel meets LEED and other green building certifications.
Framery Q and Framery 2Q
Framery is the maker of connected soundproof pods and private spaces, which deliver privacy and noise-combatting solutions in open offices of companies that include Microsoft, Puma, Tesla and approximately 40% of all Forbes 100 companies.
Framery recently unveiled enhancements to two of its popular products, Framery Q and Framery 2Q. Framery Q now lets two users sit side-by-side, turn the pod’s mounted display toward them and ensure both are visible on camera. Enhancements to the Framery Q2 design allow users to enter and exit the pod individually without disturbing other users. The improvements also cut visual distraction by situating the screen against a wall instead of glass.
Luxxbox Fuses Form, Function
Designed to reduce noise in an elegant way, the Luxxbox product portfolio increases productivity at offices around the world. It does so by “turning down the volume” to create happier and healthier workplaces. An example is the company’s most recent product introduction, a pendant that delivers both form and function by serving as an LED light fixture and a tool to effectively absorb noise. Soft outer gills harken back to a timeless art deco aesthetic, while a high surface area-to-volume ratio delivers excellent acoustic performance. The fixture, called illi, can be equipped with an optional Bluetooth feature that allows the lighting to be dimmed according to users’ needs.