What Technology Should An Office Training Room Have?

Modern training rooms use AV technology to enhance training materials and drive collaboration. With more effective visuals and interactivity, AV solutions can help trainers deliver better learning content, in a way that engages as well as educates. Some critical AV technologies you might find in a modern office training room include:

• Interactive whiteboards or interactive flat panels
• Video conferencing systems
• High performance audio technology
• Digital displays
• Room scheduling solutions

With the help of an experienced AV integrator, companies can put together a custom solution that includes some or all of the above technologies.

Interactive Whiteboards and Flat Panels

Interactive whiteboards and flat panels are surging in popularity, in both the classroom and corporate training room. That’s because they work much better than traditional stand-and-deliver training. With interactive whiteboards and flat panels, trainers can leverage multisensory learning to help their students put their knowledge into action, and recall more as a result. There is a mountain of research to support this, and some research suggests that multisensory learning is most effective when several senses are engaged at once and there’s an instructor on hand to reinforce everything. Interactive AV technology is ideal for this approach, and there are many excellent interactive displays to choose from. Interactive whiteboards use a combination of an ultra-short throw projector and a flat, white surface to create an image, while interactive flat panels look and perform much like standard digital displays, except that they are interactive. Which one is the best choice for your training room? There isn’t a single best answer, as interactive whiteboards and flat panels each have their advantages. An AV integrator can help break them down for a business and make product recommendations that will provide the ideal solution.

Video Conferencing Systems

Video conferencing is already an important AV technology for U.S. businesses, according to research put together by IHS Markit. Their survey found that, as of February 2018, 86 percent of organizations had integrated video conferencing solutions into their unified communications strategy. Video conferencing is also effective for office training purposes, where it can be used to connect remote instructors and students for face-to-face communication. Video conferencing can also be used to connect several training rooms for a single training session, multiplying the value that an instructor brings to the organization. Every video conferencing system uses a combination of displays, cameras, microphones, speakers and a codec to deliver pristine video and audio. These components must work together perfectly to avoid issues with video quality or room acoustics, and integrators can also help their clients avoid these potential pitfalls.

Better Audio Technology

In larger training spaces, people in the back will have trouble hearing most instructors, and that leads to poor information retention and recall. This is an easily-avoided problem, as there are many audio amplification solutions on the market. The simplest solution is a microphone, which can be worn on the instructor, mounted to a surface or installed in the ceiling. A more advanced solution is a dynamic sound field, which uses a microphone and strategically placed speakers to maintain even volume through the entire training space. No one will struggle to hear and no one will be overwhelmed by the sound, which makes multisensory teaching methods more effective.

Digital Displays

Standard digital displays may not bring an interactive element, but they are still an essential piece of lesson-reinforcing technology. Digital displays are perfect for relaying visual information and keeping people engaged, no matter where the instructor is standing or where the students are sitting. Digital displays can be spread throughout the training room to ensure everyone can see, and they bring additional functionality. For example, digital displays can be paired with digital signage technology, so when the office training room isn’t in use, the display can still be used as a communication tool. Digital signage technology can also be used to display directories, maps and schedules, so people know when they have made it to the right training room.

Room Scheduling Solutions

Room scheduling solutions keep things organized, especially if your organization has many training or conference rooms to keep track of. With room scheduling software, managers can set up training sessions well in advance, pair them with a training room and assign employees to the session. Everyone involved in the meeting is alerted and any attempts to double book the room are rejected, so it keeps everything organized. It also ensures the organization’s departments get along, as there’s no need for people to compete on resources. Since there’s no double booking going on, there’s never the frustrating experience of starting a training session, then finding out someone else has already reserved the room, forcing everyone into another space. AV technology and modern office training rooms go hand in hand now, and for good reason. AV solutions can improve training quality, help students remember critical material and make the experience much more pleasant for everyone involved.