How the Market for A/V Equipment Is Changing in Australia–New Zealand

Remote and hybrid work models have forever altered business operations, and many organizations recognize there’s no returning to the pre-pandemic status quo. Employees want the flexibility to work anywhere. They need a reason to come into the office. This is having a dramatic effect on the A/V equipment market in Australia, New Zealand and beyond.

Before the pandemic, the market for A/V equipment had somewhat stagnated. However, few organizations were prepared for the sudden shift to work-from-home models. This brought a surge in demand for conferencing and collaboration solutions, with Zoom becoming the standout platform for many organizations. Zoom stepped in to help people communicate.

Today, the demand for A/V equipment continues in Australia–New Zealand despite fear of a global recession. Organizations are still making adjustments to their conferencing and collaboration technologies to accommodate new, scaled-down office space and changing employee expectations.

The Role of A/V in the New Workspace

Employees view the office as a place to collaborate with peers, and A/V technology is very much at the center of that. In many cases, employees have better equipment at home than they have at the office. Organizations need to invest in new technology that makes the employee’s job easier and more effective.

A key feature in this new environment is simplicity. A/V equipment must be simple, scalable and easy to maintain. All the controls should be available on one screen. The less components the better, all they do is add potential points of failure. The solution should be able to support growing numbers of users across the enterprise.

Most importantly, it must be easy to use, enabling workers to communicate and collaborate with each other and their overseas partners whether in the office or at home. Meeting spaces should be frictionless environments that provide an exceptional experience.

Easy-to-Use Technology from Neat

In this context, A/V technology from Neat has come to the forefront. Neat offers an array of meeting room devices that provide simple setup and high-quality audio and video experiences for meeting rooms and huddle rooms. It’s an appliance-based approach that conceals the inherent complexity of the technology’s advanced audio processing and video capabilities.

One example is the Neat Frame. An 8.8” x 17.5” tablet-like device designed for people working from home or at a “hot desk” at the office. The patented Neat Symmetry solution uses artificial intelligence to identify all participants in a video conference and give them equal screen space. This creates the same experience for users working in the office and those working remotely.

Zoom has teamed up with Neat to help drive innovation in the modern workspace. Just as Zoom brought cloud-based simplicity to video communications, Neat makes meeting room technology simple.

Rahi’s Collaboration with Zoom and Neat

Rahi has a longstanding relationship with Zoom and has extended that relationship to Neat. This has been vital in the Australia–New Zealand market, enabling Rahi to build on its global success in A/V technologies. Rahi’s A/V team has extensive experience in the design, implementation and support of meeting room solutions. Rahi has worked closely with Neat and Zoom in bringing those capabilities to the Asia-Pacific region.

Together, the three companies are delivering the full spectrum of meeting technologies, from all-hands spaces and training rooms to focus rooms and “phone booths.” Neat presents a high-quality and aesthetic product range, Zoom and their Professional Services team confidently design solutions around those products in a repeatable fashion and Rahi manages the procurement and logistics for this partnership throughout the APAC and EMEA regions. This collaboration brings global reach, a deep level of experience and a rich set of capabilities, offering customers a proven team to deliver a consistent high quality result.