Yesterday, we were joined in our Zoom Webinar by some of our technology partners to discuss how to create more engaging Zoom meetings:

• Jason Moss, Isabelle Coste, and Alan Smith from Logitech for Business
• Nick Timmons from Personify
• Marcus Rosenthal and Jeff Goldsmith from Revolve Robotics

This was a lively webinar where each company demoed their products that work with your Zoom video meetings. Here’s the recording of the webinar:

And here are links to the webinar’s presentation and recording.

If you don’t have time to watch the webinar, here are some of the key take-aways:

1. Logitech and Zoom are great companion products because of their versatility.

• For on-the-go, Logitech’s team demonstrated their P710e speakerphone, which is also a iPad/iPhone stand. We saw the Isabelle Coste from Logitech on camera both with and without the stand, and needless to say, it was much less shaky and more natural when the device was in it’s stand. The sound was also incredibly clear.
• For at your desk, Alan Smith from Logitech showed us his wireless headset, which works up to 100 meters from it’s base and provides 15 hours of speaking time on a single charge.
• For the meeting room, Jason Moss and his team joined from the Logitech CC3000e, which includes a speakerphone and powerful PTZ camera.

2. Personify brings virtual presence into webinars and meetings.

Nick Timmons from Personify said what we all know to be true: when your audience can’t see you, they’re more likely to minimize your presentation and move on to more important things, like sports highlights or their Facebook feed. But, by using Personify, the speaker can insert them self into the presentation to super charge their presence. By using Personify, you also remove all of the cognitive load of your background, whether it be your home or office, to let the audience just see you and your presentation.

The most obvious use cases for Personify are inside sales and marketing webinars, but we also learned that it is useful for such diverse situations as HR trainings and town hall meetings.

3. KUBI is next-gen remote camera control.

KUBI increases engagement by placing you in the far-end room as a robot: your face is the screen of an iPad and your neck is the KUBI. You remote control the neck with the KUBI interface on your local smartphone or computer. KUBI works with any tablet that has bluetooth 4.0. We learned about various KUBI use cases, including telemedicine, out-of-office presence, and distance learning. Bruce Long, a KUBI/Zoom customer from Dallas Christian College, described how he will use our combined products to bring remote adjunct professors into classrooms.

4. Zoom sneak preview.

Nick Chong, Zoom’s head of product marketing, announced in conjunction with Jason Moss from Logitech, that we will soon introduce Zoom’s far-end Logitech camera control. We expect to start offering this in the next couple weeks to PC and Mac users with Logitech PTZ cameras. Nick also announced that Zoom will soon introduce cloud-based recording, in addition to our current locally-saved MP4 and M4A recordings

5. A collaboration inflection point.

Two of our speakers mentioned that we are at an inflection point. Logitech discussed the inflection point in terms of the comprehensive combined solution of Logitech and Zoom, which allows you to meet from anywhere at a highly affordable price point. Specifically, Jason Moss discussed how you can outfit an entire conference room for less than $1,000. Personify echoed the inflection point in that 3-D cameras are becoming increasingly common as imbedded cameras in laptops and desktops. With the proliferation of 3-D cameras, Personify will soon be able to reach more customers with the cameras they already have.

Where to go from here?

If we’ve whet your appetite for meeting technology, we suggest:

• Checking out this complete recording of the webinar for more information.
• Trying Zoom for yourself by signing up for a free account today.
• Registering for our next Zoom webinar: New Year, New You on January 14, 2015 at 11 am to noon PT. This webinar focuses on how you can make 2015 your healthiest year yet. Hear from health coaches and health technology experts on topics such as wearable tracking technology and jump starting a healthy lifestyle. Confirmed speakers to date:
  • Jay Jacobs – Wellness Coach, Motivational Speaker, and Biggest Loser Season 11 Finalist
  • Dr. Steven Feyrer-Melk, Ph.D. – Chief Science Officer of Nudge (the healthy lifestyle hub)