We're Virtually There

If there is one word that has come of age during the current COVID-19 crisis, then it is “virtual”. From the virtual backgrounds screening out our domestic chaos on our video calls, to the virtual dinner parties as we share increasingly larger amounts of alcohol with socially distant friends and family, we are all having to get used to our new “virtual reality”.

There is a huge amount of wild speculation about the “New Normal” in the post COVID-19 workplace right now. What we can be sure of, is that virtualization will play a big part in our new reality. So, here are five “virtual” predictions for the workplace for 2020 and beyond:

1.     The Celebration of Home Workers

Home workers will no longer be treated as the “unwanted stepchildren” of the corporate world. They will be afforded equal status with office workers and employees will be provided better tools, furniture, technology, security and support as if they are working in the office. Virtual backgrounds create a fascinating illusion, but also expect audio fencing to screen out lawn mowers, barking dogs and home-schooled dependents too. Expect the migration towards Microsoft Teams or Google G-Suite to accelerate as a result; remote workers need to access all of their data, applications and communications through a single interface, securely from the cloud and IT departments will not play fast and loose with security challenges on their edge of the “New LAN”.

2.     The Covid Customer Switch

Just as the “Negroponte Switch” in the 1980s predicted the flip from wireless to wired broadcasting and visa-versa with communications, we are going to see a fundamental switch in customer meetings and events post COVID-19. The default outbound activity of salespeople jumping on trains, planes, and automobiles for face-face meetings will shift to more virtual meetings on video, but then this has been happening for some time now. The real switch is going to be customers choosing to visit their supplier’s premises rather than receiving countless visits or attending large expos and conferences. The need to build and maintain immersive customer experience centers with high levels of hygiene and safety will become paramount.

3.     Welcome to the Virtual Lobby

Businesses will now view their building’s lobby and reception areas as their “first line of defense” screening and controlling access of their employees and visitors. Expect to see the emergence of virtual receptionists, greeting visitors via video from an interactive display with built-in thermographic sensors for fever detection together with facial recognition and voice control to avoid touching of surfaces. Vpod’s Vgreet solution is already getting traction with businesses needing to make urgent changes for their post-COVID-19 return to work plans.

4.     My Office in my Pocket

Smart buildings have been a hot topic for a number of years and although there have been some amazing exceptions such as The Edge in Amsterdam and now The Cube in Berlin, very few enterprises have enabled the complete integration of building management, security, people motion, service delivery and audiovisual technologies into a single platform and an app delivered to the user’s smartphone. With the urgent need to better manage resources, understand and control flow as well as compliance, expect to see significant growth in “My Work App” style of solutions. Everything from wayfinding to your parking space and meeting room, to gaining access and automatically starting video meetings without touch and locating vacant socially distant workspace. IOT sensors will need to integrate with existing technology systems and everything will need to be aggregated and viewed from a single pane of glass, whether in the user’s hand, or at the manager’s console.

5.     Our Reality will be Mixed Up

Fast forward 60 years from Morton Heilig’s “Sensorama’ mixing visuals, sounds, smells & vibrations in an analog machine, we now have a wide range of opportunities for VR, AR and Mixed Reality in the post COVID-19 digital world. Clearly, Telehealth will be liberated from the shackles of regulation and revenue erosion concerns, but also expect to see significantly more innovation in all industries that require physical presence along with digital tools, engineering, architecture, entertainment, sports, travel, and education. Expect to see the use of avatars and live holographic transplants into business meetings on the other side of the World too.

These are of course “smart predictions” in other words, there is already evidence that businesses have been already innovating and experimenting in each of these five areas; so, think more of acceleration rather than invention. One thing is for certain, our post COVID-19 workplace will be very different, and who knows, it might be for the better too.