IT leads the way to successful hybrid meetings

The team that keeps Yale connected is at it again. Yale IT staff are steadily assessing and developing recommendations to enhance the technology in meeting rooms across Yale’s campuses. Ensuring that meetings can be held successfully from any location is one of the many ways Yale IT has been preparing for the community’s return to campus.

Over the summer, A/V Designers, A/V Support Specialists, Distributed Support Providers, and external contractors began assessing 650 spaces (within centrally-supported departments) listed in FAMIS, Yale’s Facilities Asset Management Information System. Thus far, 440 of these rooms have been analyzed and documented. Armed with a baseline understanding of meeting room technologies, they standardized and posted A/V instructions in over 140 meeting spaces to date. Electronic versions of these instructions will also be available on the IT website, sometime this fall.

Concurrently, IT is actively preparing to conduct a pilot in late September/early October to identify best-in-class meeting room technologies. After testing multiple systems, Zoom Room technology has emerged as a frontrunner. When the pilot concludes, individual departments will be provided choices of hardware to purchase, to provide their teams with optimal hybrid meeting spaces. Zoom Rooms are available in variable hardware configurations, including a touch screen (to initiate Zoom meetings), installed cameras, and a high-quality microphone and speaker. To support departments in making the best choice for their needs, before purchasing a system, test spaces have been set up at 25 Science Park, 2 Whitney Grove, and 221 Whitney Avenue. As staff road-test these spaces, IT will use their feedback to refine community-wide technology recommendations. Additional communications describing how to schedule and experience this technology firsthand will be sent shortly.

Finally, to ensure that community members have real-time support during their return to Yale, as they adapt to hosting and attending hybrid meetings, IT has established a Rapid Response team, accessible via the Help Desk. All calls related to immediate hybrid meeting support will be triaged to a member of this team during the hours 8:30 am to 5 pm. Please review the Campus IT Support page to access the appropriate IT support contact for your unit.

For more information about testing a Zoom Room, contact your Distributed Support Provider. Additional information about Hybrid Technology Resources can also be found on the IT website.