A lot of people know about video conferencing, the idea of video conferencing is that you can see someone at the other end; you've got all the body language and all the information they're trying to impart to you but that's as far as it goes. If you now think of yourself as being in a meeting and you've got flip charts all round the room but you've also got offices in Tokyo and New York, you need to get those people involved. They could fly across but this can be expensive and time consuming, or you could have an audio or video conference, but the can't really share on the information. New AV technology means that you have electronic flipcharts that you'd have around your meeting room, and those people in Tokyo or New York can access those electronic flip charts. They can feel and can see exactly what's going on and they're just as involved as the people who are physically sat round the table.



Now that technology has come down in price, and has grown in it's capability, it's more accessible to most organisations. A blue chip corporate with a huge boardroom is going to have a different value to a small organisation. Audiovisual can still help out everybody. As long as people understand the whole concept of what audiovisual is about, which is to impart communication. A portable solution might be more suitable as apposed to a fixed solution. With technology like portable projectors, or a portable interactive white board that you can take around with you, because the technology has become more accessible even the one-man band, who has to communicate to anybody, can do it properly and professionally.

When you think about just how vital space is in company buildings these days, it is of a premium, if you've got meeting rooms you want them to be used productively. Hoping that the meeting room will be free when you need it isn't always going to be practical, neither is a simple note on the door requesting the space. Pieces of paper can get lost, but technology can now compensate for this. A booking system can be integrated into existing systems like Microsoft Outlook, which are all stored electronically. You don't even have to walk down to the meeting room to see if it's free, you can check from the comfort of your own desk and book it too. That way, it's generally more productive for everybody, people are more disciplined, and you've just got the dedicated heads (i.e. the IT manager) just looking after one system which means you're saving money as it improves your productivity

A control system can help you manage this technology. In your home, you may have several pieces of media technology each with their own remote control, leaving you trying to turn the television volume down with the remote control for the CD player, In the early days, control systems were high end and state of the art, but like most technology, as it's evolved and become more sophisticated. If you're in a board room you may have a projector and a display, you could also have air conditioning and blinds all with different remotes, control systems take all that away, and you have one system which does it all for you. You can control everything in you room at the touch of a button.