Without the need to talk about the new normal, the new office, the post corona era or redefining the huddle room, there is a significant trend visible towards flexibility. The decoration of the home office is clear and well-defined, but ‘the back in the office’ still raises eyebrows.

One of the most complex factors today is the huddle room. Until the beginning of 2020, huddle rooms were paramount for every organisation but in today’s world, the definition of huddling itself already brings a certain danger. So not knowing what to do, companies are reinventing their available real estate and allocating room and space to individuals and small groups, but with a better division of available space per person.

When building conference rooms or designing rooms with meeting capacity or collaboration purposes, it is now difficult to measure size related to capacity. When making a huddle room, typically equipped for an average of 3 to 5 people, it is obvious that a 55″ display will do, wireless presentation should be added and some form of unified conferencing should finish it and the space is filled to meet maximum meeting capacity.

In today’s world, coming back to the office brings some unknown variables and that is where the bundled video conferencing cart comes in. The flexibility is now essential, so not having a fixed location and exact dimensions is the preferred way to go. There are 5 key reasons why bundled video conferencing solutions are so popular, but it must be clear that the bundle must be consistent and uniform.

1. Location and flexibility
   The most important factor is that the place is not 100% defined. The need for the meeting room is there, but the exact location is yet questionable. With the cart, the designated location in the building is not a fixed thing. People can place the configuration somewhere and move it around when needed, to the desired location.
2. Uniformity
   Another important factor is the uniformity of equipment, across the various locations of the company. The cart brings the possibility to have the exact same configuration across locations, even across continents.
3. Price
   Believe it or not, but even price is factored in. The cost price of a video conferencing cart is often lower than a (fixed) wall mounted installation. Not only because less components are used, but also because the installation is more efficient and there are no intrusive works.
4. Only what is needed
   The cart brings only what is needed and has no extra capacities or things you would never need. Many (fixed) wall mounted installations are full of additional components that are hardly ever used. Examples are switches, splitters, volume buttons, etc. The cart doesn’t allow much extra. Typically, a cart is composed of the cart itself, a display and a video conferencing system.
5. Ease of use
   Much related to the above, but essentially very important is the user satisfaction. And user satisfaction derives from the ease of use. The typical cart based solution is designed to fit the purpose, to have no more options than needed and to be a single wire solution, leaving no doubts on how to connect something.

The ideal cart based configuration is a sub-$5.000 solution. The ideal display size is 55″, the video conferencing system should be uniform (or Bring Your Own Meeting – alike) and the cart should be sturdy, avoiding a wiggle of the display. When standing in front, it should not be a toe stepping contest as in one’s first dance classes. Heckler has its legs aside from the person standing directly in front of the cart, whereas most carts have their legs exactly where you would stand.

Bundling video conferencing in a single packaged solution is now completely back, because many video conferencing systems are so versatile. The cart, the display (touch or non touch) and a video conferencing system make one coherent system that is easily implemented, simple to maintain and utterly useful for any size of room and there is no need to attach a capital investment towards a specific designated room, which is probably the biggest win.