ISE 2019: Things We Learned

In what was a fast and furious week in Amsterdam, turned out to be a very informative and insightful trip for the Vyopta team.  While we got the exciting opportunity to meet with end users and prospective clients, nothing beat the exciting energy from the tradeshow floor as it centered around what’s to come.

While keynotes by speakers like Bart Kresa and Tupac Martir kept audiences captivated as they shared their experiences playing a role in some of the most visually stunning, creative experiences involving light, story and design, it was the items centered around collaboration that naturally, has us fired up with excitement.

Google Meet and Microsoft Come Out Swinging

Google has been hard at work and it seems they are finally ready to shout it from the rooftops. Google Meet came out quietly a little bit ago, but it appears the company is ready to showcase what it’s all about with a heavy presence at ISE 2019. With an exciting introduction into the world of collaboration hardware and all the respective things that come along with being a collaboration technology hardware powerhouse, Google seems they are ready to take on the responsibility.

While Google’s being quietly drumming up interest on the Google Meet front, heavy hitter Microsoft hasn’t been resting on its laurels. The company seems to be actively engaged in recruiting people to move over to the Teams collaboration software and with it being seen that a lot of endpoints are supporting the software, it seems Microsoft might have an easier time getting people over to the MS side sooner rather than later.

Collaboration Endpoints Gaining Ground

The proliferation of endpoints was evident at ISE 2019, but in a way that may surprise you. Instead of from powerhouses and other traditional vendors like Cisco and Polycom and continually increasing presence from vendors like Logitech and Huddly, we saw pushes  from non-traditional vendors like LG, Panasonic and Sharp leaving their mark on the expo floor.

Cisco Tackles the Huddle Space

The huddle space may appear small, but Cisco is ensuring that it’s not forgotten. With newly introduced devices like Cisco’s Webex Share Room Kit Mini, there’s a lot of excitement and activity around the huddle space and users are excited that there are actually tools and data dedicated to ensuring these collaboration spaces are utilized in the most efficient manner.

Smart Office Spaces

Seemingly, every attendee or vendor had a take on the smart room or smart office space, which is a surprising shift since it seems almost compartmentalized rather than thinking about smart office spaces from a holistic viewpoint especially pertaining to communication. Which begs the question, which is more important having a smart office or being able to effectively communicate with the right tools?

As we look back on ISE 2019, we’re met with the same excitement we had on Day 1 on the Expo floor. Collaboration is evolving, vendors old and new to the collaboration technology game are gaining speed and smart office spaces are beginning to leave their fire trail ala“Back to the Future” style on the traditional meeting rooms. If we learned one thing at ISE 2019, it’s that we can’t wait to see what ISE 2020 unveils.

Didn’t get a chance to connect with us at ISE 2019 and see Vyopta in action? Try our online demo today!