The shift towards hybrid work has presented a variety of challenges, particularly when it comes to remote communication. One of the main challenges that organizations must overcome is selecting the right collaboration solutions to ensure remote and onsite employees communicate effectively.
While traditional front-of-room cameras may have been suitable in the past, they fall short in hybrid collaboration meetings, especially when it comes to remote participant engagement. This is where AI-powered center-of-table meeting room solutions like the Kandao Meeting Ultra shine.
In this article, we'll explore the common challenges that remote and onsite attendees face with front-of-room cameras and how the Kandao Meeting Ultra can solve them. Get ready to revolutionize your video meetings!
The Challenges of Traditional Webcams in Hybrid Work
As we navigate the world of hybrid work, the challenges of traditional webcams have become increasingly apparent. Let's take a closer look at some of the most common issues that arise when using these outdated devices for remote collaboration.
1.Audio Issues
Poor audio quality: Traditional webcams generally have one or two microphones that can only capture audio at a limited distance. This can make it difficult for remote attendees to hear what’s being said in the meeting room, particularly if the speaker is not sitting near the camera or speaks in a low voice.
Noise & Echo: The presence of external or background noise and audio echoes can disrupt the flow of the conversation and can easily distract attendees, causing them to miss important information, and ultimately resulting in a less-than-optimal meeting experience. It's particularly important to address these issues in formal or critical meetings to ensure that everyone is fully engaged and able to communicate effectively.
2.Video Issues
Missing visual clues: Limited field of view is a major issue with traditional webcams, as they only capture a small area of the conference room, leaving remote attendees with a partial understanding of the meeting. This can create a communication and collaboration gap, causing remote participants to feel left out and excluded. Additionally, the fixed camera angle can make it difficult to identify who's speaking and when it's appropriate to jump into the conversation.
Fixed views: The fixed nature of traditional webcams can also be a major interruption, requiring in-person attendees to constantly adjust the camera angle or shift their position to stay in the frame. These interruptions can pull people out of the moment and make it harder to focus on the meeting at hand.
Poor zooming features: Depending on the front-of-room camera used, oftentimes the zooming feature poorly picks up on people on the far side of the room. Participants closer to the camera will look very large, while those far away from the camera will look very small.
3.Setup Issues
Traditional meeting room setups can be a hassle and time-consuming to prepare, especially for those who are not tech-savvy. It involves setting up multiple devices, such as a monitor, speakers, mics and a video conferencing camera, along with all the necessary cables or Wi-Fi instructions. If a single device malfunctions, it can derail the entire meeting. This complexity and unpredictability may discourage some people from joining online meetings, leading to a lack of participation and reduced productivity. Additionally, last-minute or impromptu meetings can be challenging to start quickly with traditional setups, causing delays and frustrations.
Kandao Meeting Ultra: A Solution for Hybrid Collaboration
Organizations need to adopt a more effective and efficient collaboration solution to overcome these challenges. The Kandao Meeting Ultra is an AI-powered center-of-table meeting room solution that can help.
1.Cutting-edge Audio System
With its upgraded audio system, the Kandao Meeting Ultra offers a superior meeting experience compared to traditional webcams. Its advanced full-duplex audio system consisting of eight omnidirectional microphones and a powerful 10 Watt Hi-Fi speaker ensures that every participant in the meeting room, as well as remote attendees, can hear and be heard clearly.
The Meeting Ultra can accurately identify the speaker's direction and amplify their voice based on the advanced AI algorithm, providing crystal-clear audio quality. In addition, the brand-new AI noise reduction technology can eliminate any distracting background noise, including even the slightest keyboard taps, door slams, or other device noises. This ensures that remote attendees are not distracted by external noises and can fully participate in the meeting without interruption, enhancing their overall meeting experience.
As a microphone and speaker system that sits in the center of a conference room, Meeting Ultra audio capture and output reach everyone in the meeting.
2.360-degree View
Imagine being able to see everything that's happening in a meeting room, no matter where you are.
Kandao Meeting Ultra has two 195-degree fisheye lenses that can capture every corner of your conference room, covering a horizontal range of 360 degrees and a vertical range of 90 degrees. With its 360-degree view capabilities, remote attendees have a better understanding of the context and visual cues that may be missed with traditional webcams. And don't worry about losing image quality - the camera captures a centered view without distortion.
Kandao Meeting Ultra creates split-screen video feeds, giving everyone in the meeting room equal visibility with a panoramic 360 view and improved meeting equity for active speakers. No more feeling left out or missing facial expressions. Remote participants can feel like they are in the room with you, and be more engaged and productive during meetings.
3.AI face tracking
Kandao Meeting Ultra takes face tracking to a whole new level with its upgraded 4.0 algorithm, which can accurately identify faces based on sound and facial cues, allowing it to track speakers in real time. You don't have to sit still or stay in one place to deliver your presentation - the Meeting Ultra will keep up with you as you move around the room. Plus, it presents clear and complete frontal images of participants, so you can always look your best without worrying about the camera angle.
To enable this next-generation AI face tracking, Kandao Meeting Ultra is equipped with an 8-nanometer 8-core processing chip that supports three types of processors: an 8-core CPU, a 4-core GPU, and a 6-Tops NPU, allowing for lightning-fast and precise facial recognition capabilities. By reducing tracking latency, everyone can stay on the same page and enjoy a seamless and more immersive meeting experience.
4.All-in-one Conference Host with Dual-touchscreens
Kandao Meeting Ultra is truly an all-in-one conference system that makes remote meetings easier than ever. With its two FHD multi-touch displays that can be used as a control panel, you can easily start a video conference right from the device. You do not need additional displays. Just click on the video conferencing software on the screens and you're good to go! Whether you're having an impromptu meeting or facing an unexpected emergency that requires immediate collaboration, the Kandao Meeting Ultra can handle it all.
It also allows for true face-to-face communication. With the camera positioned directly above the displays, the Meeting Ultra enables a more natural conference meeting where you are facing your remote colleagues, allowing remote participants to better see your facial expressions and emotions and strengthen your working relationships.
In summary, the limitations of traditional webcams are no longer sufficient when it comes to the future of hybrid conference meetings. Kandao Meeting Ultra offers a unique and innovative solution to overcome these challenges and improve the overall meeting experience. With the adoption of advanced collaboration solutions, organizations can further improve effective communication and seamless collaboration between remote and onsite employees.