Hybrid working styles are here to stay, with most industries – by and large – acknowledging that certain roles and projects do not require a constant physical presence at company offices. Innovative technology has caught up with the needs of modern workers enabling them to have a choice in their interactions (such as where to work from) while still satisfying the needs of their employers.

According to Forrester research, 70% of companies in the US and Europe will operate a flexible working model going forward, and a whopping 93% of business leaders believe that at least a quarter of current employees will be working from home by 2022, as per Frost & Sullivan.

Data indicates that more than half of the 92 million professional jobs in the US are compatible with the move to remote working, with heightened productivity gains of 4.6% recorded by remote workers. This upswing in performance is thanks, in part, to slashed commuting times – a prized outcome in many Asia Pacific (APAC) territories, where staff are often plagued by heavy traffic congestion when commuting to the office, causing marked productivity downtimes and taking a toll on employee mental and physical wellness.

The radical shift in meeting culture has ushered in a new dawn for corporate collaboration. Naturally, such gigantic changes also raise questions and concerns. Like how should companies reconfigure their office space to better suit the way their workforce operates today? How can they do this in the most cost-effective manner? There’s also debate around company culture and employee wellbeing. Is it possible to nurture these things when everyone works remotely? A survey by PWC concluded that most company leaders – and their employees – believe a balance between remote and onsite working will be the optimum way forward.

“47% of executives prefer staff to attend the workplace at least three days a week.”

The devices a company uses also have a significant impact on the success of a blended working model. How do we know? Because we’ve used devices throughout our working careers and have witnessed first-hand how Neat’s more life-like video meeting experience has supported growth. New, next-generation video meetings help close the gap between the remote and onsite experience and better connect teammates distributed around the globe.

Video meetings reinvented: Overcoming barriers for distributed teams.

Today the adoption of innovative, far-sighted video conferencing technology like Neat removes the barriers associated with remote working. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway – the so-called ‘Video Valley of the World’ also home to other video software companies like Cisco, Tandberg, and Acano – Neat has developed simple, intuitive innovations that have “pushed the boundaries of the video industry,” says Martijn Blokland – Neat’s VP of Sales, APAC and EMEA. Neat’s mission is a worthy one and right on time for businesses still deliberating how to respond to the ‘new normal’ – and this is it: make devices that are the glue between distributed teams, helping teammates to feel more authentically engaged with each other, and immersed once again in the meeting experience.

Unlike other video conferencing solutions, Neat has a broad stable of devices that are purpose-built to address meeting needs across the whole gamut of locations where coworking can occur. Each solution in the portfolio, including options for personal mobile devices, is designed to enable ‘pick up and go’ collaboration on the move. The tools exhibit deep, rich functionality designed to enhance the meeting experience wherever participants may be – in the home or remote office, in open spaces, or in conference rooms.

Introducing Neat Board

An elegant all-around meeting solution, the Neat Board features a 65″ multitouch screen, powerful audio system, and versatile wide-angle camera to deliver the best ‘in the room’ collaboration experience. There are extra operational elements, too, designed to facilitate more discursive and creative sessions, such as integrated annotation features and whiteboard note-taking, with outputs that can be shared wirelessly with different users.

Neat Bar & Neat Bar Pro

The Neat Bar is a compact and elegant video bar that is perfect for smaller meetings and huddles of less than ten people. Working with one or two monitors as well as the dynamic touch screen Neat Pad, the Neat Bar can be configured as a controller or scheduler but still functions as a meeting unit with superior audio and video quality – enabling teammates to catch every little facial expression, ‘mmm’ and ‘aha.’

Taking things to the next level, the Neat Bar Pro is capable of powering the ultimate immersive video experience on up to three large monitors. The setup includes two extreme resolution cameras and an advanced image depth sensor, which in combination deliver 16x zoom, providing easy viewing of both people and content for everyone in the audience, regardless of the room size.

Neat Pad

The Neat Pad is a touch screen companion to both the Neat Bar and Neat Bar Pro and comes bundled as part of each package. But the unit can also be acquired separately for use as a controller or scheduling display, again operating wirelessly across all manner of meeting spaces.

Award-winning Neat Frame

Last but not least, there is the Neat Frame – a unique portrait-oriented video conferencing device with an eye-level camera that allows for more ‘natural’ conversations between meeting participants. This particular form factor lends itself to a more practical application of present-day collaboration technology, delivering an improved user experience through advanced onscreen arrangement of people and content and sophisticated sound technology with background noise cancellation.

A Red Dot Best of the Best award winner for 2022, the Neat Frame has an intuitive user interface where people in the meeting are automatically tracked and framed onscreen, even as they move about freely during brainstorming sessions. And – like all Neat devices – the Neat Frame has a sleek aesthetic with its shaped cover glass and use of natural materials to give an inviting, accessible feel. Minimal details on the device point towards the unit’s Scandinavian design heritage, emphasizing operating efficiency and making the product easy to deploy across multiple environments while still providing a consistent user experience.

In fact, the inviting aesthetic of all Neat devices makes them feel part of the room, any room – enabling meeting experiences to feel that much more unified and seamless, notes Blokland (Neat’s VP of Sales, APAC and EMEA). Expanding on this, he says his company “designs and builds devices that not only work great in meeting rooms but are also aesthetically-pleasing – looking as good from the back as they do from the front.”

Highly compatible and capable in the best conversations via video

Neat devices offer the best virtual meeting possibilities with leading video collaboration software providers, including Zoom and Microsoft Teams, syncing up ably with these established video conferencing powerhouses. What’s more, the portfolio is backed by key technologies that truly elevate the video conferencing experience.

Design features include:

• Neat Symmetry promotes user presence and engagement, combining advanced AI with a high-resolution sensor to auto frame each person in the room equally, whether they are positioned in front of the device or in the background – instinctively following them around as participants move positions.
• Neat Bubble supplies dynamic noise cancellation to manage unwanted background sounds outside of camera view, enabling distraction-free audio that is focused on the speaker and the others in the session within camera range.
• Neat Boundary gives the user control over who the camera sees, tracks, and auto frames – blocking out any distracting background images and making Neat devices ideal for open-floor locations where those who are not involved in the meeting are not even seen or heard.
• Neat Sense smart sensor technology which – thanks to built-in sensors enabling real-time monitoring of air quality, humidity, CO2, VOC, temperature, and occupancy rates – helps focus on attendee wellbeing and optimal room usage.

The game-changing video range of Neat devices and solutions for enterprise, education, and broadcast media sectors will be on full display at these regional trade shows in Asia Pacific:

• Integrate Expo in Sydney, Australia, 17-19 August 2022, Booth B55. Register for a free pass here.
• DXPO Japan in Tokyo, 23-24 August 2022, Booth 1-17. Learn more here.
• InfoComm India in Mumbai, 5-7 September 2022, Booth G11. Pre-register to attend the onsite exhibition. Interested parties can also visit the Neat booth virtually.
• InfoComm Southeast Asia, 2-4 November 2022, Booth G09. Register for a free pass here.