Tuesday 4 April 2017

Making BYOD happen effectively in your venue

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What is BYOD?
It is becoming essential that hospitality conferencing venues and meeting rooms are compatible with the growing trend of BYOD (bring your own device).  At CGA Integration we are being approached by more and more venues to ensure that their meeting,conference and huddle rooms are able to operate in a flexible way; allowing delegates to connect and collaborate seamlessly wirelessly from any device as part of an event, without the need for dedicated hardware or a lengthy setup process.  This added functionality and ease of use of equipment will make your meeting rooms more attractive generating more bookings and more repeat bookings from delegates.

The ability to collaborate & present
As we all become more dependent on our mobile devices, tablets and phones, the dynamic and requirements placed on meeting and presentation rooms is changing quickly.  

Firstly, with delegates regularly working in the cloud and not actually having a device that stores all their information, the need for a good or preferably impressive internet connection is essential.  

Secondly it is now normal to touch a screen.  Even at a very young age, children are already familiar with the pinching and finger movements required to zoom into and resize images on a screen.  The next step is to deliver this into your meeting rooms.  It will be intuitive for your clients to move from their touch screen device to a touch screen wall display with the same functionality; allowing them to show all the delegates in a room what is on their device. This is now possible with wall mounted screens and even with projected systems.

Thirdly, we are all working more disparately; in different locations and on our own devices, but often we all still need to show our take or interpretation on the same problem, challenge, or data in question. The next generation of presentation devices allows you to connect and display multiple devices on screen at one time.  This gives you for example, the ability to show the actual sales figures from the salesperson’s device next to the accounts department forecasts, without the need for individuals to meet first to share all the information and collate it onto one PowerPoint slide.

Remote Participants
Modern technology also allows people to participate actively in meetings whilst being in another venue or even country.  If a key delegate is unable to travel but wants to attend a meeting and actively participate in discussions, it is possible to use services such as Skype to bring remote delegates up onto the screen and hear them clearly through speakers.  In addition, they can share their desktop computer on the meeting room screen enabling them to make a presentation and discuss this with the other meeting delegates as if they were in the same room. In a more advanced or larger conference suite it is possible to bring remote delegates up on a separate screen to the data, so that you can see more of the individual, including their body language and hand gestures.

Branding
Most of the modern display technology and certainly the screen sharing products all offer the ability to personalise the display of the system.  This allows you to add your own Branding and personalise any login instructions for your delegates, making your systems clear and easy to use.  When delegates enter a room the screen can show your message, logo, room name and how the delegates can connect their device to work in this space.

How does it work?
BYOD connectivity works just like logging in to get internet access in a public space.  To ensure secure connection, your delegates will need to use the correct SSID (wireless access point) in the wi fi settings of their device, login and then enter a password to connect securely to the display in the room.

Support and keeping up with device changes
All the quality systems are now network ready. Devices sit on your hotel LAN and can be easily addressed and updated by your AV or IT team over the network, thus enabling you to be ready for the next IOS version or security patch. Some devices even have a management software suite which makes monitoring and support even easier.

How can I make this happen in my hotel?
For more information on how to make your meeting and conference rooms BYOD compatible please contact CGA Integration to discuss your specific requirements in more detail.  We look forward to working with you soon.