Currently the corporate world is experiencing a mix of office bound employees and remote employees. It can be difficult, mentally, for some employees to get those personal interactions and water cooler chats when at home or working from another office. A survey done by Achievers in the UK have shown that at least a third of the workforce feels disconnected from company culture.
Video Window has created a software to combat the feeling of being disconnected. Stefan Mayer, Managing Director of Corporate AV Integration, explains that “we have too many scheduled video meetings, especially over the COVID period. We miss the office banter and social interactions and Video Window enables this and so much more”.
What is video window?
Video Window is a video conferencing software platform with a yearly subscription model. For the software to function at optimum capability, the system would require a video bar such as a Logitech Meetup with a 55 inch touch screen and a small form factor PC.
Ideally, the screen should be touchscreen as it allows for touch interaction such as knocking and white boarding. Whiteboarding allows two people in two locations to have a chat and then pull up a whiteboard in an opaque screen, allowing them to draw on the screen and still see themselves. It’s like drawing on see-through paper.
Should a touch screen not be available or too costly, then a mouse can be used to operate the software with a slightly less immersive input.
Depending on the requirements for the company, it is suggested that the screen be displayed in a common area and that it should be placed vertically to allow for a better human interaction. This allows the workforce to see more than just the heads and shoulders of their colleagues.
The software can also be used by remote employees on their tablets, where they can join in on the call during the office’s lunchbreak to be part of the conversation and to stay involved.
How does it work?
Video Window is ideal to be used between two offices, usually of the same company in common areas such as lunchrooms. It has a 24hour or a scheduled video stream. At anytime during the day an employee can walk up to the screen and knock on it to alert the person on the other side that they would like to have a chat.
The stream is automatically muted, but a knock from the first user will alert the second and give them the opportunity to unmute the screen to start the conversation.
The stream can also be between more than one office or even for use of remote employees. The remote employees can download the application on their tablets and also join in on the conversation.
How it combats Zoom fatigue?
Since the start of the pandemic and over the course of the last year, the workforce has experienced an increase in Zoom fatigue cases.
The digitisation of the workforce, accelerated by the pandemic, has made communication between offices at different locations much easier, except it still lacks human interaction.
With the Video Window, the feeling of human interaction can be recovered. Because of the orientation of the screen and the unscheduled calling, it makes the conversations that stem from these interactions more natural.
It takes away the Zoom fatigue since the interactions aren’t forced, they do not have to follow Zoom etiquette, and can disconnect from the call at any time. It creates the feeling of a more personal interaction, and it helps to combat the feeling of being remote or distant from your colleagues.
“I think we are all missing out on real social connections. We have online interaction with our colleagues, but they are all scheduled and mostly work related. Video Window takes the meeting aspect out of video conferencing and becomes a tool for spontaneous connection in the workplace. When a team has the ability to have these spontaneous interactions, it alleviates the feeling of being disconnected – helping teams grow and be more productive,” concludes Mayer.
