The global pandemic has left organizations scrambling to figure out what their communications needs will look like now and well into the future. Plus, there’s still overwhelming uncertainty and anticipation about exactly when and how we will return to an in-person workplace, and what that workplace will even look like.
And yet, we know that people need to continue to connect and collaborate internally and conduct business with the outside world. Many organizations have already begun implementing hybrid work models that will require extraordinary flexibility with the technology we all use and the ways that we employ it at work. To get more specific:
- Internal meetings will continue to consist of a blend of participants in traditional meeting rooms, home offices, other workspaces and on mobile devices.
- Engaging with the outside world – including customers, partners and vendors – will require our meeting room systems to accommodate different types of communications and collaboration software without interruption or loss of productivity.
- Different industry use cases have started to emerge that will call on communications platforms to meet the unique needs of virtual healthcare, retail, financial and professional services.
As these varied scenarios converge, workers will almost universally be switching between multiple cloud platforms and applications when meeting with customers or other counterparts outside their organization throughout any given workday. However, many of those services and applications unfortunately lack true interoperability with the room system hardware that we will once again come to rely on in the workplace.
Today, Lifesize introduces a capability that in many ways is much more than a simple standalone feature. It’s called Lifesize Connect.
Lifesize Connect allows you to continue to capitalize on the investment you’ve made in leading Lifesize meeting room systems, while using any popular cloud video conferencing service, including Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Cisco Webex, Google Meet, BlueJeans, GoToMeeting and more. Take your pick.
Of course, if you’d like to use purpose-built 4K Lifesize room devices unified with the scalable Lifesize cloud video conferencing service, be our guest. We will continue to offer a premium, reliable end-to-end hardware and software package that makes hybrid meetings easy to join, participate in and manage across all types of meeting spaces, devices and browsers.
On the other hand, if you’ve made your selection for another cloud video conferencing service but still want to guarantee a seamless, immersive meeting experience from spaces outfitted with Lifesize’s industry-leading, 4K-capable Icon 700, Icon 500 or Icon 300 systems, Lifesize Connect is the ideal bridge.
Your choice of cloud service, your choice of connection
The BYOD phenomenon has long pervaded the enterprise, but now it’s being extended to the meeting room in earnest. Lifesize Connect offers a convenient path to full interoperability and seamlessly connecting Lifesize meeting room systems with your cloud conferencing platform of choice.
With our most recent update, customers’ Icon 700, Icon 500 and Icon 300 room systems are now capable of connecting to a user’s laptop (and thus their third-party cloud meeting). Setup is simple and flexible, generally accomplished through a lightweight app or a compatible HDMI-to-USB capture device, which you can purchase from Lifesize, buy from a third-party retailer or may already have on-hand. Whichever way you connect, be up and running to host or join a meeting on your preferred cloud video conferencing service from your Lifesize room system in a matter of minutes.
Bottom line: Lifesize Connect makes your Lifesize hardware investment more versatile for present environments, while also equipping your organization and meeting spaces for the hybrid, multi-application future of work.
For more detail on Lifesize Connect’s benefits and steps to deployment, visit www.lifesize.com/connect.
