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The plug-and-play device features 4K Ultra HD performance and an impressive 123° field of view. Konftel Product Manager, Torbjörn Karlsson confirmed the camera has been fully tested as a Zoom Rooms USB-connected device. 

“The Konftel Cam20 is the second in our product range to be certified to work with Zoom services and helps deliver a natural and fluent meeting experience.” 

“Zoom Rooms is Zoom’s software-based conference room system that makes it easy to run or join video meetings with a tap of a button. The Konftel Cam20 represents a seamless and natural fit, combining exceptional picture performance with simple set-up. Certification was achieved following a rigorous testing process.” 

Compelling combination 

He added: “The synergy, reliability and high performance offered by Zoom and Konftel is a compelling combination, ideally suited to today’s growing hybrid work trends.” 

His positive comments were echoed by Jeff Fox, Zoom Senior Product Marketing Manager, who says user adoption continues to accelerate, as more organizations look to embrace and invest in flexible working. 

“Our Zoom Rooms service delivers a dedicated and seamless meeting experience leveraging certified hardware designed to perform to high standards. Certification of the Konftel Cam20 further adds to the appeal of our Zoom Rooms service at a time when more and more organizations are looking to combine office-based with remote flexibility, further elevating the importance of video meetings across a wider range of environments.” 

Presenting auto framing 

In addition to Zoom certification the Konftel Cam20 has been boosted by auto framing functionality, as Karlsson explained: 

“With the addition of auto framing, room participants will always be ideally fitted within the picture. This removes the need to manually crop the image with the digital zoom. If someone leaves the room, the framing cleverly readjusts. The feature can be disengaged if required.” 

In addition, Konftel is a Climate Neutral certified company, meaning all greenhouse gas emissions have been offset across its entire product range. This ensures organizations can conference with a clear climate conscience from the very first meeting.

Each year Konftel highlights its key distributors around the world with a special accolade, spanning best partners and largest growth, across different territories. The company says 2021 saw a continuing expansion and strengthening of relationships, as part of a dedicated ‘channel only’ route to market.

Director of Global Sales, Tommy Edlund, believes Konftel is ideally placed to help resellers and their customers in the continuing transition to hybrid working between offices and homes.

“In many ways 2021 was a roller coaster year, shaped by the pandemic and concerns over global warming. Video conferencing is now at the heart of more flexible and environmentally friendly ways of working. Konftel continues to evolve, backed by a loyal and dedicated distributor and reseller base, with no direct sales.”

Edlund continued: “Our strong partner network, combined with an expanding and innovative product portfolio, catapults Konftel further forward and helps organisations across the globe successfully transition to more hybrid ways of working. We expect these trends to continue for the long term, based on sustainability, agility and high performance visual and audio technologies.”

Rising to the challenge

"When the majority of office workers around the world suddenly needed effective distance meeting solutions to continue to perform, our partners and their reseller networks rose to the challenge and played a frontline role to help them transition," says Edlund. “Now a new phase is emerging based on a permanent blend of office and home employment.”

High-quality video kits such as the Konftel C2070 and Konftel C50800 Hybrid continue to grow in popularity in line with today’s dispersed workforce trends, where more video meetings take place across more locations. The Konftel Personal Video Kit – featuring a business class webcam and speakerphone – is another solution in demand, delivering professional quality personal video meetings wherever work takes place.

"We are living in different times and a different world, especially around distance working. As people return to the office in bigger numbers, expectations around flexible and agile working have changed forever. We won’t go back to before," Edlund emphasized.

Konftel believe more online meetings will take place across more locations, as not everyone will return to the office in the way they did before. The workplace of the future is being reshaped based on a mix of in-office and remote working. 

There’s no going back! The pandemic speeded-up pre-existing trends of working in new ways from different locations. A new era is dawning. Are you ready?

Backed by independent analysis and Konftel's front line expertise – as a leading collaboration device manufacturer – Konftel predicts a continuing increase in hybrid working, with a workplace revolution inspiring growing demand for higher quality endpoints.

So just what are the secrets to success?

In the future many companies will create a new ecosystem, with a central office used to host clients, foster inspiration and facilitate collaborative sessions – complemented by virtual interaction via flexible working and meeting options.

The most successful companies...

• provide employees with a choice of work location

• provision more video and audio devices for work from home

• are more likely to be deploying video to all or most meeting rooms

• are more likely to use video for most meetings and see it as critical business technology

• consider the ability of meeting rooms to support multiple meeting apps of high importance

• refresh meeting rooms every three years

Another important factor is being able to use flexible vendor agnostic hardware that works across multiple platforms - which is both easy to use and set-up too. These observations are endorsed by strategic advisory analysts Metrigy. Their latest 160-page report is based on almost 400 global companies with mean annual revenue of $1.4 billion.*

Of those a ‘success group’ was identified based on above average cost savings, revenue increase and productivity gains derived from their investments in collaboration technology. Easier collaboration, more efficient meetings, increased project capacity and reduced travel expenses are some of the many benefits achieved.

Measurable differences

Just over 70% of these ‘most successful companies‘ saw value in equipping employees with high quality endpoints. But it can be a bit of a jungle out there to find the right equipment for the right room. One size doesn’t fit all so Konftel has created an interactive Room Type Guide to optimize the decision-making process. 

Almost 60% of the success group use video for most meetings. In general 44.9% of all companies surveyed have seen an increase in video use over the latest three month period. Video and audio performance are viewed as the main meeting metrics. Successful companies are also less likely to view the office as a place just for work – but also a collaboration hub for meetings and face-to-face interaction.

In addition more employees can choose if they want to work from home, although location depends on their role. The research also highlights how increasing video use inspires greater success, with higher levels of video in all meeting rooms and wider levels of general deployment. The success group is using or planning to deploy greater numbers of webcams, compared to standard companies. 

Individual choice matters

Konftel recognize it’s completely natural for people to want to use their own laptop for the apps and collaborative tools they prefer or have been provided by their IT department. So we’ve developed a Bring Your Own Meeting blueprint for hassle-free conferencing. This ensures people have the same familiarity and confidence when sitting on their own or joining colleagues to link up for a wider video conference. Over 80% of the success group find multi-app access of moderate or high importance.

In addition to high quality technology, one of the most crucial factors is consulting with staff, keeping them engaged and planning ahead. As transition accelerates, it’s important to recognize what change means for individuals. Try and find the optimum way forward that works for all parties as part of a collective approach. A company’s success lies in its people. Understanding individual needs should be a key focus and balanced against general business goals.

Journey to success

Many successful companies from around the world are already embracing hybrid working based on greater use of video meetings, to reap long-term rewards. The time to act is now!

*The Unified Communications Management and Endpoints report 2021-22 has been produced by strategic advisory analysts Metrigy. The study highlights successful methods for supporting remote, in-office and hybrid collaboration.

The flagship Konftel 800 audio device, fully tested to work on Zoom Phone, features an award-winning design and high quality OmniSound with beamforming microphones and audio expansion capabilities.

“The Konftel 800 is the first in our product range to be certified to work with Zoom Phone, which when paired together deliver a natural and fluent meeting experience,” confirmed Konftel Product Manager, Torbjörn Karlsson.

“Zoom Phone includes traditional PBX features that enable users to talk and interact in new ways for businesses of all sizes. It’s also secure and reliable, delivering secure HD audio with enterprise-class reliability and quality of service. The Konftel 800 and Zoom Phone platform represents a seamless and natural fit, combining exceptional audio with flexibility, ease of use and quick set-up.”

Daisy-chain capabilities
The Konftel 800 is suitable for small to very large meeting rooms and has been certified to connect to Zoom Phone as a SIP device. It also features smart microphone and daisy-chain capabilities to extend the audio pickup as well as listening range.

Konftel’s Director of Global Sales, Tommy Edlund, says the new partnership further strengthens the appeal of the Konftel 800 and addresses growing customer demand, as Zoom Phone continues to enjoy a rapid rise in popularity.

“Zoom Phone now has over two million seats across 47 countries and territories, doubling from 1 million to 2 million paid seats in less than nine months alone. The Konftel 800 is a powerful flagship hybrid conference phone which when paired with Zoom Phone provides high quality audio communication across a multitude of room types. 

“There’s been a strong customer appetite for official certification and users will now be able to appreciate in ever greater numbers, the synergy, ease of use, reliability and high performance offered by Zoom Phone and the Konftel 800. It’s a compelling combination.”

Audio centrepiece
His positive comments were echoed by Jeff Fox, Zoom Senior Product Marketing Manager, who says user adoption continues to accelerate. “Surpassing two million licenses is a testament to the growing need for a rich cloud telephony solution like Zoom Phone. Organizations around the world no longer have to settle for a phone solution; they can choose one that strategically scales with their business.

“Over the past two and a half years, we’ve focused on creating a phone solution that’s easy enough for small and midsize businesses to use and deploy and has all the advanced capabilities large multinational organizations require to support global users. Certification of the Konftel 800 further adds to the appeal of our Zoom Phone service.” 

The Konftel 800 is the audio centrepiece of the Konftel C20800 Hybrid and C50800 Hybrid video solutions. In addition Konftel offers a wide range of video and audio solutions which are all Climate Neutral certified, meaning all greenhouse gas emissions have been offset, across every aspect of the business. This ensures organizations can conference with a clear climate conscience.

Konftel has achieved a Customer Value Leadership award from global consultation experts Frost & Sullivan. It reflects ‘excellence in best practices’ with Konftel praised for ‘world class performance’ following a rigorous analytical process.

Align with customer demands
Frost and Sullivan’s Senior Industry Analyst, Vaishno Srinivasan, paid tribute to the company’s high value and high performance product range. “Konftel’s success mantra revolves around flexibility, usability, and value that align with customer demands.”

She continued: “It is critical for vendors to provide a range of flexible, plug-and-play A/V options as enterprises face several challenges, including meeting room reconfiguration as well as uncertainty about the number of workers in the office and meeting room occupancy in the new-normal office environments.

“Konftel’s wide portfolio enables customers to effectively match endpoints with meeting room configurations, sizes, connectivity requirements and budgets. Konftel’s A/V kits provide the best value for the investment with its high quality, functionally robust enterprise-class devices backed by a two-year warranty, Ultra HD/Full HD resolution, beamforming microphones, and renowned OmniSound audio technology. These specifically set Konftel A/V kits apart from the competition at similar price points.”

A rigorous evaluation
Delighted Konftel Director of Global Sales, Tommy Edlund, says the latest success is testament to the company’s pursuit of product and service excellence – creating a wide range of flexible options for different room environments.

“Frost & Sullivan applies a rigorous analytical process to evaluate multiple nominees for each award category before determining the final award recipient. Konftel excelled in many of the criteria.

“Our comprehensive portfolio, including table top audio conferencing endpoints and high quality USB conference cameras, allows customers to pick and choose the right endpoint—either standalone or A/V kits— according to their needs. To be endorsed by Frost & Sullivan is a tremendous achievement of which we are all rightly proud.”

Konftel was the first to create a dedicated conference phone over 30 years ago. Its evolving product portfolio features the new C2070 video kit, combining pristine picture performance with beamforming microphone audio.

Also protecting the planet

In addition Konftel has recently produced an innovative 3D interactive room guide which identifies the most appropriate products and connectivity set-up, from personal workspaces, focus and huddle rooms to large multipurpose rooms. It’s based on an overall objective of video enabled meetings, always and everywhere, at home or in the office. Konftel also holds Climate Neutral certification meaning users can conference with a clear climate conscience.

The awards committee concluded: “At Konftel, success is measured not only based on product sales but also across customer satisfaction and loyalty. Creating a better collaboration culture across businesses and protecting the planet with sustainable and environmentally-friendly initiatives are ingrained into Konftel’s DNA. 

“For its strong overall performance, Konftel is recognized with Frost & Sullivan’s 2021 European Customer Value Leadership Award in the professional audio/video conferencing devices market.”

Online video meetings have become part of everyday life fuelled by a huge rise in software-based applications such as Zoom and Teams. The next exciting phase is hybrid working, from home as well as in the office, as the popularity of video calls continues to grow.

But with so many locations and room types it's important to match the right technology to the right conditions. One size definitely doesn't fit all. It's why Konftel has produced a special interactive room type guide - spanning 15 different locations - to pinpoint the most appropriate solutions and connectivity to optimise the quality and consistency of every video meeting. It’s designed to unravel any conferencing conundrums and quickly identify the right solution and installation for the right room.

• Limiting capacity of office spaces to ensure adequate social distancing
• Converting existing meeting rooms into video enabled conferencing
• Installation of touchless device technologies such as ‘contactless conferencing’
• Adding more enclosed work zones
• Increased general cleaning and sanitation