The “next normal” is hybrid working— versatile working across various areas, new workflows, immersive workspaces and constant experiences. “It’s about creating productive environments that accommodate the workstyle of every employee,” says Ankur Goel, managing director, Poly India & Saarc, as he discusses with Sudhir Chowdhary the workplace of future (hybrid/remote working) and upcoming collaboration trends. Excerpts:
What is your view on the future of work? Will remote working develop whilst classic offices as we know it disappear?
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our day-to-day lives and the way we live, work, play or interact with every other. Remote working is broadly accepted now, personnel are more accustomed to working from household and are obtaining that they have far better work-life balance. So, there is a significant segment of working population that favor to continue with remote working.
On the other hand, there is a different segment of workers that are obtaining it hard to continue with the work from household arrangement—they miss the human interaction and obtain that they are more productive in workplace.
So, we see that the future of work will be hybrid working wherein personnel will be working from household two or 3 days a week and meeting in workplace for the remainder period. This is advantageous not only for organisations as it has a lot of positive aspects like expense savings and effective utilisation of sources but also to personnel as it gives a incredibly fantastic work-life balance.
What really should consumers preserve in thoughts ahead of investing in collaboration options?
Some of the leading considerations that consumers require to preserve in thoughts are:
Solutions that provide astounding user knowledge: Video and audio conferencing have now gone mainstream and investing in these collaboration devices which have capabilities like embedded Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) supplies an astounding user knowledge. At Poly (formerly Plantronics and Polycom), we are applying advancements in AI, ML and new technologies to provide the finest camera angles, regularly provide superior audio good quality and even act as area sensors regardless of what calling platform is employed. All this is performed without the need of the require to touch any device.
Choosing options that are platform agnostic and provide investment protection: No matter which UC platform an organisation chooses for its internal communications, several consumers will obtain that customers most likely require to connect to numerous diverse platforms due to the demands of a client, companion or prospect. That indicates consumers really should preserve in thoughts the multi-cloud aspect and pick an audio and visual technologies provider which offers the flexibility to work equally effectively with any platform.
Providers that present complete portfolio of options exactly where services play a major function: Customers really should look at deciding upon a vendor that gives a complete variety of portfolio of collaboration options (be it for a remote worker or a significant conference area) that present wealthy monitoring and insight capabilities, so that they can preserve a pulse on device status, meeting overall performance, and finish-user knowledge.
Could you elaborate on the significance of deciding upon a collaboration vendor that is platform agnostic? How does Poly work with diverse cloud vendors?
We are seeing that when it comes to collaboration technologies, the sector is shifting from implementing pure AV options to implementing a extensive IT and collaboration method that can deal with uncertainties and cater to workforce with diverse profiles.
Many organizations are deploying multi-cloud and employee 1st method to cater to demands of personnel regardless of their work location—at household, in workplace or anyplace on the go. They are searching for sophisticated collaboration gear that is quick to use, functions with any cloud platform, offers finest-in-class knowledge supported by services capability to handle total deployment of devices—not just information capture and analytics, but actual help they can access and trust.
And on that front, Poly has an benefit. Our video, audio devices and headsets work natively with Microsoft Teams, Zoom and other important cloud platforms and also provide IT managers information and facts on how the collaboration devices are getting employed by the personnel. Poly is in the finest position to serve consumers who are implementing multi-cloud method.
What is Poly’s concentrate for 2021? Which sector do you see the maximum development?
For 2021, our concentrate will be to educate and aid our consumers navigate in the new world of work, that is, hybrid working. We want to provide finest-in-class conferencing knowledge for customers from all segments—whether they are working from household, in workplace or client place and have several solutions that we will announce in the next couple of months to meet this vision.
With respect to segments, we see a lot of possibilities in the healthcare and education sector in India—the way that these consumers are applying collaboration technologies is thrilling. The pandemic has propelled these consumers to disrupt the way they use technologies to serve consumers and there is a lot of chance for Poly to be the collaboration companion for them in their digital journey.