Standardisation, Intelligence and the Next Phase of Collaboration

For much of the last decade, workplace collaboration was defined by flexibility. Bring your own device. Join from anywhere. Use whichever platform makes sense at the time.

That flexibility isn’t disappearing. But as organisations move into the next phase of hybrid work, a counter-trend is becoming increasingly clear: standardisation is back on the agenda.

Not as a return to rigid, AV-led meeting rooms, but as a pragmatic response to scale, complexity and support burden. Futuresource research shows that collaboration environments are becoming broader and more fragmented — and that reality is reshaping how enterprises, vendors and integrators think about meeting technology.

From BYOD to room systems… and back again

One of the clearest expressions of this tension is the relationship between BYOD and native room systems such as Microsoft Teams Rooms and Zoom Rooms.

In smaller organisations and informal spaces, BYOD remains deeply embedded. Futuresource’s employee and decision-maker research shows that a large proportion of collaboration now happens outside traditional meeting rooms, often using personal devices in open areas, offices and ad-hoc spaces. In fact, according to Futuresource research, 70% of organisations say employees regularly meet outside traditional meeting rooms.

At the enterprise level, however, a different pattern is emerging. Larger organisations increasingly favour native room systems in more formal spaces, not because they are more flexible, but because they are more predictable. One-touch join, consistent user interfaces, tighter security controls and centralised management matter when organisations are supporting hundreds or thousands of rooms.

For most organisations, this isn’t a binary choice. Futuresource data points to a mixed estate: room systems in larger or higher-value spaces, BYOD in smaller rooms and informal environments, and growing demand for solutions that can support both without friction.

For vendors and integrators, the implication is clear. Designing purely for BYOD or purely for room systems increasingly limits relevance. The strongest strategies recognise that standardisation and flexibility now have to coexist.

Platform gravity is increasing

Another important trend is the growing gravitational pull of collaboration platforms themselves.

Microsoft Teams and Zoom are no longer just applications; they are strategic platforms shaping expectations around user experience, device certification, management and security. Futuresource research shows that platform alignment is now a key consideration in enterprise AV decisions, particularly as IT teams take greater ownership of collaboration technology.

This doesn’t mean organisations operate in a single-platform world. Employees still meet customers, partners and suppliers across different ecosystems. But it does mean that room technology is increasingly evaluated through the lens of how well it integrates into an organisation’s chosen collaboration stack.

For integrators, this places greater emphasis on platform-aware design rather than platform-agnostic installs. For vendors, it reinforces the importance of certification, interoperability and long-term platform alignment.

AI moves from novelty to expectation

AI is another area where the market has matured quickly. After several years of experimentation, AI in meeting rooms is settling into a more practical role. Rather than headline features, buyers are increasingly focused on quiet intelligence, those capabilities that improve meetings without drawing attention to themselves.

Futuresource research highlights growing interest in features such as automatic camera framing, intelligent noise reduction and voice enhancement, particularly as organisations deploy more rooms without on-site AV support. These capabilities reduce meeting friction and improve consistency across spaces that vary widely in size, layout and usage.

Importantly, AI is no longer viewed as a premium add-on. In many buying conversations, it is becoming part of the expected baseline, especially in environments where ease of use and reliability matter more than custom tuning.

IT ownership is reshaping buying priorities

Underlying all of these trends is a structural shift: collaboration is now firmly an IT concern.

Futuresource data shows that 63% of organisations place AV budgets within IT, with internal IT teams most likely to manage collaboration equipment across room types. This has a profound impact on purchasing decisions.

IT buyers prioritise standardisation, manageability, security and lifecycle clarity. They want devices that behave like enterprise IT assets, i.e., they are visible on the network, remotely manageable and predictable at scale. Ease of deployment and long-term support now matter as much as audio or video performance.

This is also why management, monitoring and analytics are rising in importance. As the number of collaboration spaces increases, including millions of ad-hoc and informal spaces globally, IT teams need visibility and control to maintain quality and reliability.

Looking ahead

Taken together, these trends point to a clear direction of travel. Collaboration is becoming more standardised, but not rigid; more intelligent, but less visible; more platform-led, but still multi-platform in practice.

For vendors and systems integrators, the opportunity lies in helping organisations navigate these tensions. The most successful players will be those who combine the reliability IT demands with the flexibility users expect, delivering collaboration environments that scale gracefully and adapt to how work actually happens.

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About Futuresource

Futuresource Consulting provides the insights that power the world’s leading technology and media companies. For more than 30 years the firm has combined rigorous data, sector expertise and a forward-looking view of market change. Its syndicated research, consulting services and industry partnerships span consumer electronics, entertainment, Pro AV, education and emerging technologies.

www.futuresource-consulting.com

Press Contact: Nicola Finn, Marketing Manager, Futuresource Consulting, nicola.finn@futuresource-hq.com