Augmenting Efficiency with Conference Room Equipment
February 1st, 2008How many meetings have you been to where there was a scrabbling for the lights at the beginning and end of a slideshow? One new addition to the meeting room technology market is interactive room-control systems. A room control system will allow you to control most of the Audio Visual Systems in the boardroom from a single centralized location.
A room control system ends all that hurrying to switch on the lights, complaints that the thermostat has to be turned down, and questions about who is nearest the projector (and who knows where the button is to turn it on).
Another more fundamental addition to Audio Visual Systemstechnology in meeting rooms is a devoted computer. This is especially necessary for those that tend to spend a lot of time presiding over meetings. Instead of needing to unplug and haul a computer into the conference room (or, worse, calling the tech branch to set one up in there for you), all you must do is bring a CD of your presentation, or use the presentation via the web. This makes setting up for meetings rapid and unproblematic, and also helps with Audio Visual Systems, as everything is already in its place.
With the cost of travel ever-increasing, video conferencing is becoming more and more significant, especially in larger companies with nationwide (or world-wide) offices. While the old-fashioned teleconference still has its place in a meeting, and probably always will, being able to see and speak normally to your coworkers or clients can be very precious.
Another standard in Audio Visual Systems for conference rooms is a digital projector. For those that have to use PowerPoint presentations as a meeting tool, a projector is an utter necessity. A digital projector will exhibit any computer application on a white board or screen (or even a light-colored wall), helping you to impart information, presentations, even digital films or satellite tv. Though digital projectors used to be prohibitively expensive, especially for smaller companies, their price of Audio Visual Systems is falling as technology advances, making them an easily obtainable addition to the meeting audio visual system of any corporation.
A new edition of the electronic white board is the PDP, or Plasma Display Panel. A plasma display panel is in essence a huge, but much slimmer, flat-screen television or computer monitor. PDPs are generally 42″ to 50″, and have a very clear, vivid screen, making them great for video conferencing. As PDPs are a relatively new addition to the Audio Visual Systems market, they’re also very pricey, ranging from about $8,000 to $20,000. For around $4,000 more, companies can invest in an interactive overlay for the PDP. This is a comparatively small investment when compared to the price of the PDP and when allowing for the many practical uses of a PDP with an interactive overlay. An interactive overlay will put in touch sensibility and annotation abilities, letting you to use your PDP just like an interactive whiteboard.
