What Will the Future of Collaboration Look Like?

Video conferencing and screen sharing solutions, for the most part, have reached a standard of excellence where a number of worthy solutions are available. You almost can’t go wrong because so many companies have worked on a solution. Now that many companies are comfortable with their out-of-office solutions, they are beginning to work on in-office solutions. We can expect the in-office solutions to reach the same standard-of-excellence, and once that happens it will become about integrating all the technologies together into one solution. That includes, of course, mobility.

“I don’t think that your mobile device and social interaction have to be mutually exclusive,” says Balgley. “I think we’re going to see over the next five to eight years a move to, ‘I’m not staring at my phone, we’re staring at my phone, but we’re not staring at my screen, we’re staring at a bigger screen and we’re interacting.’ So I think there’s some very primordial changes going on here, and I think it’s because mobility and meeting room collaboration, the interface between them is not terribly optimal.”

Employees are utilizing personal devices for work purposes and as a result need to be able to plug in and share content. That will mean, first, companies tailoring solutions to work with the vast array of devices and operating systems correctly. These solutions will allow for mobile device screens to be broadcast over a display, and for other mobile devices to take over or show up at the same time alongside them. In addition, solutions that allow mobile devices to broadcast their screen to other mobile devices, so that not even a singular display is needed, will become more prevalent for quick meetings.

The Workplace of the Future

After learning that, eventually, unified communication and collaboration will be integrated together, it’s not tough to imagine the workplace of the future will be no workplace at all, rather a digital space where employees log in from all over the globe. But that’s probably not going to be the case.

“I think it’s the opposite,” says DiBella. “Because of [remote capabilities] you have a greater need for meeting spaces. If you have a department that’s decentralized you’re going to need to bring them together, and you’re going to do that in the huddle space. That’s already proven itself – there’s a reason why the huddle space is the number one driver within our space today. What I think is going to change in the office is the way it looks and feels.”

In city environments there has been a large movement toward open floor plans, with huddle spaces and meeting rooms available for impromptu meetings. Desks might not even be assigned, rather employees that happen to be in office that day can choose an open desk, plug in and begin working at their leisure. As more employees gain the comfort of working from home, they are asking for that same comfort in the workplace. They don’t want the traditional cube farm, white walls and cheap art. They want dynamic spaces that are easy and comfortable to work in, and many companies, especially those building out new offices, are answering with just that. So while the office isn’t going anywhere, the layout is due for massive changes that will reflect the integration of UCC technologies.

It’s a lot to think about, but let’s really break down what collaboration is going to look like in the future.

You’re in the office in Boston. So is Joe and Cindy. Mary is working from home and Steve and Mark are working in the Ontario office. After plugging in to a desk to answer some emails, you meet Joe and Cindy in a huddle room to collaborate over a recent project. Steve and Mark have the same system in a huddle room in the Ontario office and the screen is mirrored there. Mary is viewing everything that comes across the display on her laptop, and using her smartphone to interact with pieces of content. Everyone can be seen and heard through video conferencing equipment installed in every device. The technology behind it is extremely complex, while the application of it is extremely simple. They’re all working together, they’re all working on content.

That’s the future of collaboration.