International Coworking Day is an annual event that takes place on August 9th. It was established to recognize and promote the coworking movement, which typically involves independent workers, freelancers, digital nomads, and small businesses sharing office space and resources.
The Rise of Coworking Spaces
By offering a range of amenities such as high-speed Internet, meeting rooms, and social events, coworking spaces have become an attractive option for those looking to escape the isolation of working from home or as an alternative to the traditional office setup.
But it’s much more than that. The benefits of coworking spaces extend beyond the physical environment. At its heart, the spirit of coworking is all about creating a flexible and collaborative environment that encourages networking, creativity, and productivity — it’s a global community connected through technology.
Coworking Industry Trends
Since 2020, the number of coworking spaces has jumped rapidly, more than doubling to over 41,000 spaces globally in 2024. This market is estimated to be valued at over USD22 billion and is expected to grow on average by nearly 16% annually to over USD40 billion by 2028.
Coworking spaces make sense even for larger corporations. The Covid-19 pandemic hindered the expansion of coworking spaces, but ironically, it may have also contributed to their renewed popularity as businesses of all sizes adapted to the new reality of hybrid workplaces.
Instead of creating satellite offices, many large enterprises have opted instead for ‘corporate coworking’. The flexibility of coworking spaces is a major draw for corporations. Since large companies often face fluctuations in their workforce due to project-based work, seasonal demands, or other factors, they need a solution that can adapt to their changing needs. Coworking spaces offer this scalability, allowing companies to easily adjust their space requirements, which is not typically possible with traditional office leases.
This is also why demand for private offices and meeting spaces in coworking venues is in top demand. Team members from around the globe can simultaneously contribute to a discussion or collaborate on a project without incurring the costs of expensive work trips or maintaining branch offices that are not fully occupied.
Video Conferencing Solution Guidelines in a Coworking Space
Audio visual technology setups in coworking spaces require a unique blend of flexibility and customization to cater to diverse teams and meeting styles. The conference room is a crucial aspect of member satisfaction that is frequently overlooked. Many conference rooms suffer from inadequate technological setups that either underperform or have complicated procedures that discourage new users. Moreover, the connecting process in one room may differ from another, leading to confusion.
Standardizing conference room technology with a scalable solution can significantly enhance member satisfaction and help retain clients who might otherwise seek alternatives. Investing in a few key technologies can provide a high-quality AV experience with the one-click convenience that modern users expect, thereby gaining a competitive edge.
Here are some key elements to consider when setting up video conferencing facilities in a coworking space:
Type of users and meetings
Understand the primary users of the space, whether they are mostly individual remote workers, large teams, or participants in brainstorming sessions, to determine the appropriate AV gear. This will inform the type of meetings that will take place, whether it’s mostly presentations, video conferences for lengthy discussions, or just quick huddles.
Flexibility is essential
Since various types of users will be using the meeting rooms, flexibility in terms of furniture setup (e.g., having modular, detachable tables) and catering to different types of equipment is essential. For seamless video calls, consider BYOD (bring your own device) conferencing systems that offer plug-and-play convenience by utilizing a centralized device to network all conferencing components, reducing the number of connections required.
Details matter
To ensure productive meetings, minimize distractions and ease user anxiety about the environment. For instance, provide charging stations for laptops and mobile devices, whiteboards for better interactions, and pay attention to the acoustics and lighting in the room.
A Symphony of Audio-Visual Collaboration
AVer’s video conferencing systems are holistic solutions that can be customized for any number of meeting scenarios and rooms of any size.
Video conference hardware
High-quality cameras enhance video conferencing by making virtual and in-person visualization almost indistinguishable. Cameras can come with advanced auto-zoom features, while others come with audio tracking functionality, allowing participants to concentrate on the person speaking. AVer’s cameras, for example, significantly improve the video conferencing experience by using Smart Framing AI algorithms to automatically frame each participant’s face or upper body perfectly.
But even the best video quality is of little value if paired with subpar audio. Poor audio quality is often due to haphazardly assembled DIY audio systems that either inadequately cover the entire room or are a disjointed assortment of audio components not engineered to function together.
For optimal audio quality, coworking spaces need customizable and scalable solutions for rooms of any size. Synchronized and optimized hardware audio endpoints provide advanced features such as audio fencing (blocks out background distractions and captures only the voices within the camera’s viewing area), acoustic echo cancellation (reduces or eliminates the echo that can occur when a microphone picks up sound from a loudspeaker in the same space), and automatic gain control (maintains a consistent level of audio signal).
These features can be found in AVer’s various speakerphones, which can be used individually for smaller rooms or daisy-chained together to create an audio system with a wider coverage area for larger meeting spaces. Furthermore, AVer’s video bars and ceiling speakerphone system also offer advanced audio features in various forms.
The Future of Coworking, Powered by Community
Coworking spaces have proven to be viable go-to places for independent workers and large corporations with a distributed workforce. As the coworking industry continues to expand, investing in high-quality video conferencing solutions will better serve the demands of their diverse members. By standardizing conference room technology, coworking spaces can provide a seamless and effective video conferencing experience, ultimately giving them a competitive edge in the market and advancing the true spirit of coworking — a global collaborative community. Happy International Coworking Day!
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