In the hybrid world, experience matters – it’s everything to employees. Traffic is a nightmare. Employees don’t want to sit in traffic just to have an in-office experience that is the same or less than at their homes. Why should they bother – workspaces need to provide a compelling reason that encourages a return to office. Offices need to be redesigned to inspire and give employees a reason to come in – technology is key to this!
What purpose do conference rooms serve without video when 98% of meetings will have a remote participant? A video-enabled conference room isn’t enough. Organizations also need the additional tools in place to make it worth going in – brainstorming rooms, hotdesking, huddle spaces, and more! Perks like free food will bring people in, but how do you get your people to stay longer than the lunch hour?
Five things to consider in your return to office strategy to make the office a magnet!
1. Conference rooms require video!
Every conference room should have a video device that creates a great experience. Meetings demand perfection and customers expect nothing less. Customers are struggling to get employees to return to the office! The office needs to provide an experience you can’t get at home. Workspaces need to be reimagined as a collaboration center to offer employees ideation spaces, jump rooms for quick ad-hoc meetings, and video-enabled conference rooms to support flexible workstyles. Cisco Devices offer an unparalleled experience that makes work flexible and fun!
Cisco offers devices that support any worker, workstyle, and location! Built and developed with intelligent capabilities, Cisco Devices have features such as Frames, Digital Whiteboarding, extensive audio and video intelligence, and more that create an inclusive environment. Everyone feels seen and heard regardless of whether they are sitting at the same table. Organizations need to create an amazing, engaging experience for their employees that makes it worth coming into the office!
Reminder: Webex Suite EA customers can save up to 50% on Cisco Devices with the Webex Device Cloud Promotion. Customers receive all the tools they need to thrive in the hybrid workplace when combining the Webex Suite with Cisco Devices, offered together at an exceptional price.
2. AI-Powered collaboration software
The right collaboration solution is vital to a seamless return to office strategy. Many organizations are mandating around 2-3 days in the office and your collaboration solution should feel familiar across all locations. With Webex, hybrid work is simple! Start your meeting at home, continue it on your mobile device during your commute, and seamlessly transition to a video device with ease once in the office! Sounds easy right?
That’s not all! It’s more than just video for people in the office, everyone needs an equal experience including those working from home! Webex provides a feature-rich collaboration solution tailored to increase employee engagement and productivity. You heard a bit above, Webex has intelligent, integrated capabilities and features that span across our devices and Webex platform. Check out the demos hyperlinked. With audio intelligence features such as noise removal technology, People Focus/Frames in devices, polling via Slido, Events capabilities through Socio and so much more, users have everything they need to feel a part of the conversation! We are constantly innovating to ensure our customers collaborate effectively and securely!
Reminder: Customers can enjoy all the amazingness Webex has to offer through the Webex Suite, starting at $11.95 CSRP (Cisco Suggested Resell Price) through a Webex Suite EA agreement. Through this single collaboration solution, we deliver an end-to-end suite of secure collaboration products that equip employees with the tools to support the hybrid workplace. Webex Suite is the best collaboration solution at the best price, this should make Webex an easy decision for your hybrid workplace solution.
3. From dedicated to shared spaces – Hotdesking
Real estate is a major question for organizations on how best to use it going forward. Employees are no longer coming in consistently every day, more likely around 2-3 days a week, creating a need for flexible seating. Offices need to scale and adapt for hybrid work. Hotdesking is the answer providing flexibility for the modern workspace.
Cisco hotdesking makes it easy to navigate the office helping employees instantly transform shared desks into their own personalized workspace. It’s as simple as finding an open desk or space, scanning a QR code and users are ready to go! People can quickly get to work with access to their directory, schedule meetings, and join with the single push of a button on any Cisco Desk Device!
4. Interoperability
Today’s world is multiplatform. More than 85% of customers state that they support two or more meeting platforms across their organizations. And we don’t expect this to change any time soon. Customers will continue to use several meeting services for different types of meetings with different people! That is why Cisco has created world-class collaboration devices that have the best video interoperability with Webex of course, but also with Microsoft, Zoom, and Google!
With Cisco devices, users have increased choice and flexibility in how they work, while also creating simplicity for IT management across various meeting platforms and devices through Control Hub. Customers shouldn’t have to think about whether their devices support their meeting platform. Simply hot desk into a device and seamlessly interchange between meeting platforms without disrupting business continuity – it’s as simple as pushing one button to join any meetings platform (Webex, Zoom, Google, Microsoft)!
For Microsoft Teams heavy customers, Cisco devices offer the best experience possible. The Cisco Board Pro (55” & 75”) is the first Cisco Room device to be officially Certified for Microsoft Teams and includes support for our AI-enabled audio and video intelligence technologies. This includes some of our most advanced features such as Meeting Zones and Cinematic Meetings recently announced and now enabled in Microsoft Teams meetings. Unlike our competitors, Cisco devices on Microsoft Teams Rooms allow users to instantly switch between native Microsoft and native Webex meetings for an optimal experience enabled by Cisco video devices. Stay tuned as more devices become Microsoft certified.
5. Sustainability
Creating a sustainable environment is a core piece of Cisco’s mission to “power an inclusive future for all”. Sustainability has become critical to how organizations work, make business decisions, innovate, grow, and contribute to protecting the planet. Cisco is focused on incorporating sustainable initiatives in Webex in several ways:
- Smart Buildings such as Penn 1 – Take a look at the Penn 1 Sustainability Case Study
- Cisco Devices have built-in sensors and AI delivering real-time data for people counting, room temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, noise, and more
- Collaboration Devices embrace a circular design through material choice, number of components, and disposal (Cisco Takeback and Reuse Program)
- Save energy with Office Hours: Turn off ‘always on’ digital signage and automatic wake-ups to save on energy
- Coming soon – Carbon Emissions Insights through Control Hub that show visibility on energy use
- Learn more about Cisco’s sustainability initiatives and how we make an impact in our annual sustainability report, Cisco Purpose Report.
Let us help you use Cisco technology to reimagine your hybrid workspace! When we redesigned our Penn 1 office, we ensured there were no dedicated spaces and implemented a variety of collaboration devices, and created different rooms to support everything from hotdesking and brainstorming sessions to large conference and training rooms – all while keeping sustainability in mind.
Check out the Penn 1 Look Book to see how Cisco designed the office for the hybrid world.
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