One of the more recent trends in office space design is the inclusion of huddle rooms.
What is a Huddle Room?
A huddle room is a dedicated space within an office building that is specifically designed to encourage collaboration among employees.
In recent years, corporations and other organizations have moved toward more open floor plans in their office space designs. The goal was to increase productivity by promoting a freer flow of ideas among employees by literally taking down walls. However, since embracing the open floor plan concept, many organizations have found that it is still necessary to have spaces free from noise and other distractions where employees can go to brainstorm, collaborate, and problem solve.
Huddle Rooms vs. Board Rooms
Corporate boardrooms are great for formally scheduled meetings where executives and employees sit and discuss ideas and make plans using an agenda, often for lengthy periods of time. A traditional boardroom features a large table with a conference call device in the center, surrounded by multiple chairs. The setup, while useful for formal meetings, does little to encourage creativity or encourage collaboration.
Huddle rooms, on the other hand, are designed for shorter, more informal meetings. They are typically smaller in size than a board room and have spaces for both standing and sitting. They are outfitted with technology that allows employees to easily share documents and other files, even with remote employees. A well-equipped huddle room will also feature equipment for video conferencing, a wall-mounted monitor, and multiple work stations with charging stations so huddle room participants can bring in their own devices to assist them in the meeting.
Products with Out-of-the-Box Functionality for Huddle Rooms
As corporate huddle rooms have become more popular throughout San Diego and Orange County, manufacturers are catching on to the trend and releasing products designed to easily convert a space into a huddle room. One example is the Crestron Mercury device. Crestron Mercury is an easy-to-install device that allows users to choose from any of the video conferencing services on the market (GoToMeeting, Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, etc.), and also to easily share documents simply by plugging their devices into the console. Crestron Mercury is a great entry-level product that requires no additional programming to begin using.
But what if you want customized functionality for your corporate huddle room?
Fully Customized, Crestron-Controlled Huddle Rooms
Fully customized huddle rooms are the next level in corporate huddle rooms. With custom programming using Crestron, your company can utilize the top AV technology and have it all work together seamlessly with other Crestron-controlled systems. For example, you can use the Cisco VTC touchpanel, but have it controlled by Crestron technology. The device can be programmed to feature customized user interfaces and displays that are tailored to your company’s specific needs.
A customized huddle room can also be integrated into the larger enterprise system using Crestron programming. This allows the touchpanel in your huddle room to control things like the room’s lights and shades and even set “scenes” like “video conference call mode” that will turn on all needed devices and set the lighting to an optimal level. This type of integration using Crestron programming is what really sets an out-of-the-box huddle room apart from a custom programmed huddle room.
While these rooms are equipped with the latest in communication technology and highly customized by experienced Crestron programmers, they can also be intuitive. They are programmed in such a way that the average employee is able to operate them without having to call in an AV technician to get them started.
Could Your San Diego or Orange County Office Building Benefit from Customized Huddle Rooms?
At AVPA, our Crestron programming experts know how to design high-functioning huddle rooms that are also easy to operate. We work with you to give you the exact functionality you require to make your organization more efficient and productive.
If you’d like to learn more about Crestron programming for huddle rooms in San Diego and Orange County, contact us at AVPA.
