During the lockdown months, our working habits changed significantly. It’s true, digitalization had always been within reach ; however, companies truly understood the benefits of technology during this phase. In fact, the isolation forced us to ensure business continuity, even remotely.
The ability to connect with colleagues and collaborators working remotely or in smart working has become the “new normal.” The beginning of a phase in which the physical space dedicated to the meeting room becomes a smart, functional, and comfortable place; a place equipped with technologies that make meetings a rewarding collaborative experience.
This is how the idea of a hybrid meeting room was born; here, participants—whether in person or remote—interact easily, increasing efficiency and productivity. In this article, we explain how to set up a meeting room; which technologies are best to use to make it a place where the most productive projects and discussions come to life.

1. Meeting room for meetings: guidelines

2. Meeting room for corporate meetings: types

After explaining how to set up a meeting room, let’s go into more detail. We distinguish between the three main types of meeting rooms based on the number of participants, company needs, and available space. These details are clarified during the on-site inspection and consultation phase with the client. The latter provides added value and makes us much more than simple providers of technological solutions.

2.1 Huddle room meeting room: small spaces for big ideas

Recently, the Huddle room trend has become widespread. It is a small, compact, and more informal meeting room. In multinational companies, a Huddle room is now used to create a private space away from co-working areas or open spaces; it is a reserved and soundproof space for quick meetings or videoconferences. Around a semicircular table, a maximum of three to four people meet in a Huddle Room; participants generally connect through their own PCs thanks to BYOD and BYOM devices that leverage wireless connectivity.

2.2 Medium-sized meeting room

A medium-sized meeting room is a space that can accommodate up to 10  participants. As the size of the meeting room increases, the technological setup also changes. For example, a camera with a wider field of view and a larger display will be required.

2.3 Large meeting room: the Boardroom

The Boardroom, on the other hand, is a large meeting room capable of accommodating up to 30–40 participants. Here, the audio-video system technology plays a fundamental role. The audio must reach all participants simultaneously and, in addition, the displayed content must be visible to everyone. It is therefore common to integrate smaller monitors, positioned midway in the room, to replicate and support the images shown by the video projector.

3. Meeting room: technological equipment

In a modern meeting room, the choice of technologies is essential for the success of a meeting, as all participants must be able to interact effectively.  By dividing technologies by category, we can find integrated solutions that will vary according to needs and available space.  The key word is simplicity, which is also the most common request from our clients. Here are some examples:

• audio technologies for meeting rooms: microphones, speakers, and amplifiers; in general, devices capable of ensuring high sound quality and eliminating background noise and echo;
• video technologies for meeting rooms: cameras with a sufficiently wide field of view to capture all participants; videowalls and interactive displays to visualize presentations or participants connected remotely to the meeting room; projectors and videoconferencing solutions;
• technologies for digital collaboration in the meeting room: Klick & Show wireless gateways and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) devices. These make meetings in the meeting room more agile; they simplify the sharing of information with other participants connected from their own devices; in-room computers, upon client request.

4. Setting up a meeting room: the Vitali S.p.A. case history

We met Vitali S.p.A., a company based in Peschiera Borromeo, when the project for the “White Room” and the “Black Room” was in its final stages.  This is an example where consultancy on integrated multimedia technologies generates value in both the design and execution of the project. A process that leads us to build a strong and lasting relationship with the client. We are not just suppliers: we are highly experienced consultants. We identify the client’s needs and, after a site inspection and review of the floor plans, develop a proposal. Our technological solutions are designed to be integrated with existing systems or created from scratch, tailored to specific requirements.  

For both rooms, AGMultivision carried out the design, installation, and testing of the systems.

4.1 The “White Room” of Vitali S.p.A.: a smart and secure meeting room

For the “White Room,” a meeting room mainly used for conference-style meetings, we designed a technological setup that is essential and easy for everyone to use. Based on the client’s requirements, we selected technologies from the brands Kindermann and Vaddio.

• The 75’’ Kindermann touch monitor; an interactive display perfectly suited to the needs expressed by the client company. It offers the possibility to create digital notes on flipchart pages, which can be saved and shared;
• The Kindermann Klick & Show wireless gateway; a wireless solution to easily share content by accessing directly from your own devices, without configurations or cables. We talked about Klick & Show K-FX on our YouTube channel in a dedicated video;
• The all-in-one camera with integrated audio and ultra-wide field of view; the selected table microphones are instead from Vaddio.

4.2 La “Sala Nera” di Vitali S.p.A.: una sala riunione strutturata

The “Black Room” of Vitali S.p.A., on the other hand, is used for more structured meetings and presentations with a speaker; a scenario in which the technological solutions required by the client can be more advanced. The client asked us to implement a conference system preferably “wireless” and a high-impact audio system. For this meeting room, we selected technologies from the brands iiyama, Kindermann, Vaddio, and Yamaha, specifically:

• 98’’ iiyama touch display wall-mounted at a carefully considered height; it allows interaction for the presenter while remaining visible to the entire audience;
• Kindermann Klick & Show wireless gateway; it is useful for the presenter to connect their device and for anyone who needs to contribute by sharing content or presentations;
• Vaddio ceiling cameras and microphones with EasyIP system; an audio/video mixer and a PoE network switch managed and optimized for the distribution of audio/video signals; all controlled by a touch controller designed for easy system access;
• Yamaha speakers, subwoofer, and amplifier for high-quality sound.

We asked Giuseppe Bonacina, Marketing Director of Vitali S.p.A., to tell us about the company’s experience with AGMultivision. Regarding the implementation of the meeting room project, we report his testimonial here:

“Our encounter with AGMultivision was fortuitous and took place when negotiations on the project were already at an advanced stage. We decided to transform two of the spaces at our disposal into conference and meeting rooms, also for remote use. The added value of our collaboration with AGMultivision can be summarized as follows: in addition to targeted consultancy and a complete package with all the solutions we needed, the expertise and availability of the team certainly made the difference.  Having the opportunity to test the proposed solutions through demos allowed us to discover new brands that are less known in the consumer market; brands with more professional features and the high technological value of the professional devices selected by AGMultivision.  Now we have two efficient, high-quality meeting rooms. We use them daily and with satisfaction for our corporate meetings.”
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5. How to set up a meeting room by putting people at the center

Setting up a meeting room means focusing on the concept of collaboration; placing at the center of the design the people who experience that space, even virtually, and their needs. The meeting room is a “smart collaboration room” that transforms the participants’ experience. It makes corporate meetings simple and functional, because the true focus is teamwork. The meeting room is a flexible and technology-driven space, designed to easily exchange ideas and stay aligned with colleagues, clients, and partners.

Do you need to design the technology and set up a your company’s meeting room? Don’t know who to turn to? Contact us. We will be happy to guide you through all the stages of creating a meeting room. From from site inspection to consultancy, design, implementation, and testing. AGMultivision is the innovation partner you are looking for; we look forward to creating your new smart working environment.