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The Importance of Collaboration Post-2020

Jan 29, 2021
By:
Constant Technologies

It goes without saying that 2020 was a challenging year for just about every industry. Now that it’s over, experts are analyzing how it changed the way we work, and what might lie ahead for 2021.

Commercial Integrator and the NSCA conducted a survey of technology integrators to determine how last year affected the audiovisual integration industry in particular, and what 2021 might hold.

A few key trends emerged last year that are expected to continue: remote monitoring and management, and unified communications and collaboration. More organizations than ever before are relying on collaborative technologies, making the need for a capable integrator more important than ever.

Operations centers in 2020

While a lot of the workforce worldwide shifted to working from home, it was a bit of a different story for operations centers. As vital 24/7 spaces, many operations centers remained fully operational throughout COVID-19, with partially remote workforces coordinating “in person” days.

Collaboration was more important than ever before, with multiple departments working together to maintain operations while also assessing the risk of the pandemic. It also remained important for operations centers across state and even national lines to have strong collaborative tools in place.

Both before and during 2020, facilitating collaboration within and between operations centers was critically important, a trend we expect to continue into 2021 and beyond.

Operations Centers for Collaboration 

24/7 operations centers serve to unify collaborative communication across an organization. As vital nerve centers in an organization, command centers often bring together multiple departments or specializations that must work together to monitor and respond to the tasks at hand. Effective operation often includes a coordinated approach; thus the duty of control room designers is to enable efficiency and promote collaboration through strategic design decisions.

While many workers across industries rely on collaboration tools while working from home, there are also operators in command centers reporting to work every day. These operators use breakout spaces such as situation rooms and huddle spaces to increase collaboration. Specialized tasks teams can use these situation rooms to address a particular issue while still being plugged into all the relevant information being shared in an operations center.

Most command and control environments have a collaboration space such as a conference or situation room within – or close to – the main operations center. Often, they share technology and clear sight-lines to the video wall.

In many cases, sources from within the operations center are routed to the conference room or to remote workers so that the team collaborating has all necessary information at hand.

Constant Technologies Designs for Your Needs

In addition to creating an ideal layout that works well for the number of users in the allotted dimensions, Constant’s designers also aim to create a space design that complements the workflow of the environment and facilitates teamwork. Command center furniture arranged in open pods can promote collaboration, integration, and streamlined communication among operators. Our workstations can be designed and installed in tri-desk or quad desk configurations, and plexiglass partitions are available to facilitate proper social distancing while COVID persists. The space design and furniture arrangements within a mission critical space should also ensure that each operator has a clear view of the video display wall, which is another key component of command center collaboration.

One of the most crucial elements of collaboration is the operations center video wall. A large scale video wall installation allows important data to be displayed simultaneously to everyone within a room. With one wall to manage disparate information and sources, information can be quickly aggregated, analyzed, and shared to make vital decisions. In certain cases, remote technology can be linked with the main video wall so that the sources can be shared and utilized by support teams in the event of an incident. Customized AV integration ensures that the technology in your command center is optimized for collaboration so your team works as efficiently as possible.

To receive a free design and budget consultation from Constant, contact us today.

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About Constant:

Constant Technologies, Inc. provides AV integration for 24/7 video walls and custom operation center furniture. With 30+ years of experience, we can work with sensitive environments in the public and private sectors. Constant designs and installs projects of all scopes and sizes around the world. We also offer long-term service and support. We create solutions with the highest levels of security, aesthetics and functionality in mind.