Glimpses Into the Meeting Solutions Mindset 

Despite having promised light reading, we’ll start with a heavy hitter. Lifesize’s August acquisition of digital collaboration pioneer Kaptivo led off a Wall Street Journal feature story about the explosion of remote work and enterprise technology M&A activity during the ongoing pandemic.

Further discussion of that industry consolidation trend happened when AV Magazine spoke with one of the leaders who joined Lifesize as a result of the Kaptivo acquisition, General Manager of Advanced Collaboration David Hsieh. David followed that up by offering observations on the importance of digital whiteboarding for both higher education learning environments (via EdTech Magazine) and virtual enterprise collaboration (via Reworked):

“Brainstorming, planning, visualizing and teaching are the four reasons that people need a digital whiteboard. A picture is worth a thousand words if you don’t have the words to describe. If an organization had a weak collaboration stack pre-COVID, they could survive, but these technologies have now proven to be absolutely critical. Being able to work across distributed teams effectively and productively is now a top priority.”

Lifesize General Manager of Meeting Solutions Bobby Beckmann explored similar concepts related to both remote work and an eventual, gradual return to the physical workplace, looking at all sides of the issues, considerations, tech advancements and implications.

• Read more on The Financial Brand: When Banking Staffers Videoconference from Home Who Else Watches?
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• Read more on Thrive Global: How will we return to the workplace?

Bobby also contributed his point-of-view on whether Slack and other messaging platforms are a productivity help or hindrance for a compelling read on TechRepublic.

Several enhancements to the Lifesize cloud video conferencing and collaboration platform that focus on enabling long-term remote work models – ranging from new meeting layouts to branded live streams and forthcoming waiting rooms to refreshed add-ons for Microsoft Outlook and Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite) – were highlighted by UC Today.

Many of those features and capabilities also received top billing when Lifesize was recognized as a Visionary in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Meeting Solutions, as well as in a Systems Contractor News (SCN) interview with Chief Operating Officer Michael Helmbrecht:

“The most pertinent videoconferencing trend we’ve witnessed this year—outside of the obvious skyrocketing of remote work—is that video is spreading far beyond remote meetings. Over the course of 2020, we’ve seen video extend into enabling telebanking, remote legal depositions, and online or distance learning. Integrators must understand that it’s not just about outfitting customers for conferencing and collaboration anymore. It’s about creating entirely new and competitive business models and revenue streams based on video.”

Communicating Contact Center Clarity 

On the contact center side of the business, Lifesize announced a strategic partnership with conversational AI wizards Omilia, as covered by Channelnomics and echoed by Call Center Scheduling. In that same vein, Andy Bird, director of product management for contact center solutions, was quoted by Call Centre Helper and Reworked as well as published by DM Magazine regarding the benefits that AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can bring to customer service and the agent experience.

Andy also emphasized the predicted role of video in the contact center and customer experience during an interview with Forbes and for a Call Centre Helper expert roundup:

“No other communication medium comes close in being able to provide the same level of personal connection, empathy, detail and customer service. Video enables agents to resolve calls more quickly and efficiently, positively impacting the customer experience, agent productivity and the brand’s bottom line.”

More recently, Lifesize bolstered the entire CxEngage cloud contact center platform by introducing a bevy of integrations and features. Speaking to No Jitter and Channel Partners Online, Andy called out several key additions across AI and automation, agent productivity in an omnichannel environment, and workforce optimization (WFO), quality management (QM) and reporting.

More to Come in 2021

Lifesize VP of Customer Success Jen Jackson starred in a lengthy Authority Magazine Q&A about “five things a business should do to create a ‘Wow!’ customer experience.” Consider her insights a smart starting point for your upcoming customer-facing workplace resolutions.

And although we hope everyone enjoys some relaxing and rejuvenating time away from work, we’ll leave you with some sage advice from CMO Josh Kivenko as part of a Forbes column on “4 Morning Habits For A Highly Productive Work Day.” Feel free to ignore that advice until the eggnog has worn off and you’re back to the workweek grind – full of regenerated vigor – in the New Year.

For more regular updates on everything going on at Lifesize as we head into 2021, visit our news center, What’s New page or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The post The Lifesize Story Persists Through the Pandemic: Recent News and Views appeared first on Lifesize.

The Good Design Awards, one of the preeminent international design awards programs, have been selected for the past 69 years. In 2019, the Icon 300 stood out in a record field of submissions from “the world’s leading manufacturers and industrial and graphic design firms representing the most important and critical mass of influential corporations in the design industry from over 47 countries.” The judges aim to underscore excellence in sustainability, superior design and unparalleled functionality for products ranging “from the spoon to the city” that have “chartered new directions and pushed the envelope.”

“This year’s Good Design program recognizes the work of thousands of designers and manufacturers worldwide who have successfully undertaken the design challenge to produce the best and most outstanding products across the globe,” said Christian Narkiewicz-Laine, museum president of the Chicago Athenaeum. “Since 1950, Good Design has become an internationally acknowledged benchmark and symbol of outstanding design that serves as a beacon for design-interested audiences in our global economy.”

Lifesize’s Icon 700™ won a Good Design Award the year prior, along with being recognized by the Red Dot Awards for Product Design in early 2019.

“With the bar set so high by the Icon 700, we knew the Icon 300 had to be something special,” said Chiara Menesatti, director of product management at Lifesize. “Ingenuity, functionality and sound design principles came together as our product, engineering and design teams created a sleek room system backed by Lifesize’s industry-leading quality and reliability. Using Icon 300s, customers can outfit meeting rooms for video collaboration with technology that both works and looks great.”

Part of the new generation of Lifesize 4K-enabled room systems, the Icon 300 is optimized for small meeting spaces like huddle rooms. It solves for tight quarters with its intentionally ultra-wide lens and field of view, for positioning through a design that enables simple mounting on a wall above or below in-room displays and for participant focus with a striking metallic ring around its lens. With plug-and-play setup, intuitive controls and a clear path to full-motion 4K content sharing, HD video conferencing and high-fidelity audio, the holistic user experience complements the Icon 300’s award-winning design.

Just a couple months back, industry analyst David Maldow of Let’s Do Video agreed with many of the Good Design Awards judging committee’s criteria as he reviewed the Lifesize Icon 300. Watch part 1 of his video review (covering admin, setup and management) here and part 2 (covering user experience) here.

Check out the complete list of Good Design Award 2019 winners for design inspiration from different product categories.

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