6 Tips for the Best Video Conference Room Setup

With hybrid work becoming more common across many industries, you’re probably used to meeting over video. But does your organization have a successful video conference room setup? 

With the growth of hybrid work, it’s now common for many businesses to have a more virtual meeting experience where some attendees are onsite in a conference room, and others are joining by video. Here, Robin outlines best practices for successful virtual meetings that encourage workplace efficiency.

What is Conference Room Booking Software?

Whether you have a standing staff meeting each week or need a spot to brainstorm with a few colleagues, conference rooms provide a dedicated space to meet.

Meeting room booking software is a convenient tool that lets employees view available spaces, sort rooms by location or amenity, and reserve a room in advance. This software simplifies the meeting room experience and booking process, eliminating manual reservation systems and annoying problems like double-booked rooms.

Many booking software solutions have a feature that lets you check in and out of the room, so other employees can see when a space will become available. Some even offer reporting and analytics so your leadership team can understand trends in room utilization and meeting frequency. The right room software should also integrate with your existing calendar tools to avoid miscommunication or duplicated scheduling efforts.

How to Set up Your Video Conference Rooms

Ideally, you want your workspaces to facilitate communication and creativity. Try these tips to achieve the best video conferencing setup:

1. Start with the Right Layout

Your conference room should accommodate both onsite and remote participants. Assess your current setup, including lighting, acoustics, sound quality, and layout.

Is there enough seating for everyone? Do you need a bigger meeting room table? Is the room well-lit so that attendees show up clearly on video? If you have too much background noise or reverberation, it will be hard for video participants to hear. Consider adding furnishings that help absorb sound, like carpeting or acoustic tiles.

To put virtual participants on a level playing field, you may want to use technology like a 360º video conferencing camera, such as the Meeting Owl Pro, that automatically rotates the camera to face the person speaking. This makes audio from the active speaker in your video meeting more engaging and eliminates the need to manually adjust equipment.

Many of these conference room equipment recommendations translate to your remote employees, as well. Make sure that team members working from home have the proper setup and equipment to fully participate, such as ample lighting, a headset microphone, and a high-quality webcam.

2. Use Interactive Tools

It’s great to see your colleagues’ faces during a meeting, but there are plenty of other ways your company can use video conferencing software. Digital whiteboard tools create a space for you to brainstorm ideas, take notes, and map out timelines and strategies.

Need to have video meetings to get input from participants, but don’t have time for everyone to speak? In large video meetings, using polling tools can help you collect and record helpful insights from attendees.

3. Try Huddle Rooms or Breakout Rooms

During an in-person meeting, it’s sometimes helpful to caucus in small groups and then come back together in larger rooms. Fortunately, you can do the same thing over a video conferencing system.

Many video conferencing tools like Zoom and Google Meet let the host create breakout rooms and assign attendees to specific rooms – or let attendees choose themselves. This facilitates more interaction and discussion. For hybrid meetings, the in-person participants can then form a group in the huddle room of their choice while virtual participants use their digital huddle rooms.

4. Add Digital Displays

Having trouble getting everyone to the right video camera or room on time? You might need to add better signage to your company’s video conference room setup.

Digital displays outside your virtual meeting rooms can assist with wayfinding and can be updated in real-time to show current and upcoming meetings. Plus, employees can check the sign and know when a conference room will be available if they want to hold an impromptu check-in.

5. Make Your Spaces Flexible

Try to set up your office so that you have multiple video meeting spaces to accommodate different needs. For example, if you’re meeting with a client via video conference, you might want a boardroom-style setup with chairs placed around a single conference table.

But if you’re hosting a webinar, a smaller video meeting room with great acoustics and lighting might be preferable.

And if you’re providing an onsite workshop with video components, you may want to set up your meeting space like a classroom. Modular furniture and a few different conference rooms will give you the flexibility to host any kind of meeting or event.

6. Choose the Right Meeting Room Booking System

Room scheduling software is a key component for a successful conference room setup. This software simplifies the entire meeting room scheduling process by creating one central system for managing desk, office, and meeting room reservations.

Employees can access the reservation system from their computer or mobile device, view available spaces, and book one in advance. This frees up administrative staff from having to manage reservations and send out calendar invites.

Meeting organizers can also filter conference rooms by specific amenities to find the space that best suits meeting attendees and their needs. A meeting room scheduling solution ensures you won’t be scrambling to find an appropriate space when a client or partner wants to meet over video.

Make Video Conferencing More Effective with Robin

Scheduling a meeting doesn’t have to be stressful. At Robin, we help companies manage conference rooms, desks, and offices from one user-friendly platform. Our solution encourages workplace efficiency with the following resources: 

• Booking tools: Set permissions to let users reserve desks, private offices, or meeting spaces.
• Maps: Quickly create drag-and-drop office maps to help people get where they need to go.
• Announcements: Send company-wide announcements to keep onsite, hybrid, and remote workers connected.
• Workplace Analytics: Drive better decision-making with data on how your spaces are being used, and easily share reports with your colleagues.

With Robin, you can even manage access and permissions if you want to limit who can reserve certain conference rooms or meeting spaces. 

For more information about how Robin can facilitate a great workplace experience, schedule a demo today.