Zoom, HP and Room are bringing high-tech video conferencing office pods to the Irish market.
Zoom and HP are teaming up with workspace design company Room to give Irish workers a new way to take video calls and collaborate from afar.
Room for Zoom provides office pods designed by Room especially for video conferencing, which workers can use to collaborate with their remote and hybrid colleagues.
The companies are introducing the product to the Irish market as the return to workplaces continues.
“Architecture and location can be a source of stress during video calls: lighting, background noise and the chance someone could walk into the room during a conversation,” said Phil Perry, head of UK and Ireland at Zoom.
“Room worked with us to put together a product that removes those pain points while helping people in workplaces in Ireland work more closely together, regardless of their location,” he added. The product will roll out here over the next few months, according to Perry.
The office pods are soundproof and fitted with a 27-inch HP Collaboration G6 all-in-one touchscreen, with built-in lighting, webcam, skylights, connected power sources and ventilation. Users can also adjust the height of their desks and there is an option to have HEPA filters fitted for clean air.
Room for Zoom will set workplaces back €16,495. The companies are hoping to tap into the rise of workers switching to hybrid working arrangements.
A recent report from Slack research consortium Future Forum found that most employees in the US, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the UK prefer hybrid working, while recent research from Indeed suggested that 56pc of Irish adults surveyed would only apply for a job if it offered flexible working options.
“The return to office working is a much-debated topic among businesses and workers globally, but one thing that everyone agrees on is video communications are very much here to stay,” said Room co-founder Morten Meisner-Jensen.
“Our aim is not just about changing spaces – we want to rethink and redesign our relationship with work. Improving life for employees at work is now on the radar of CEOs and CFOs globally.” Meisner-Jensen added that the pods could grow with a company due to their transportable nature.
Rooms was launched in 2018 by Meisner-Jensen and Brian Chen. It has showrooms in locations around the world, including New York, Berlin, London, Copenhagen, Paris, Los Angeles and Melbourne, and its customers include Nike, JP Morgan, Google and Salesforce.
Zoom and HP’s collaboration news came as the two companies revealed their most recent earnings reports.
Zoom saw year-on-year revenue growth of 55pc in its last financial year as it shifted focus to hybrid work.
HP’s president and CEO, Enrique Lores, said his company was also rewarded for its focus on hybrid. “We once again delivered strong top and bottom-line results with record revenue driven by strong demand and our leadership in hybrid,” he said of HP’s Q1 earnings for the 2022 financial year.
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