Genevieve: I’m glad you asked this question. Even years after the pandemic, many companies, they’re still trying to get the balance right between remote, in office, how to support it. But even if a company has a strict return to office in-person policy, the reality is that work still isn’t going away for that company. They may have teams across cities or countries, clients and external stakeholders will have their own office preferences that they have to adapt to. Supporting hybrid work is actually becoming more important, not less. And our research shows that companies are leaning into, not away from, hybrid setups. About one third of companies are now redesigning or resizing office spaces every single year. For large organizations with multiple sites, staggered leases, that’s a moving target. It’s really important that they have audio solutions that can work before, during, after all of those changes that they’re constantly making. And so that’s where flexibility becomes really important. Companies need to buy not just for right now, but for the future.
And so here’s IDC’s kind of pro-tip, which is make sure as a company that you go with a provider that offers top-notch audio quality and also has strong partnerships and certifications with the big players and communications technology because that will save you money in the long run. Your systems will stay compatible, your investments will last longer, and you won’t be scrambling when that next shift happens.
Megan: Of course. And speaking of building for the future, as companies begin to include sustainability in their company goals, Chris, I wonder how can audio play a role in those sustainability efforts and how might that play into perhaps the return on investment in building out a high-quality audio ecosystem?
Chris: Well, I totally agree with what Genevieve just said in terms of hybrid work is not going anywhere. You get all of those big headlines that talk about XYZ company telling people to get back into the office. And I saw a fantastic piece of data just last week that showed the percent of in-office hours of the American workers versus out-of-office remote kind of work. It has basically been flatlined since 2022. This is our new way of working. And of course, like Genevieve mentioned, you have people in all these different locations. And in a strange way, living through the pandemic did teach us that we can do some things by not having to hop on an airplane and travel to go somewhere. Certainly that helps with a more sustainable strategy over time, and you’re saving on travel and able to get things done much more quickly.
And then from a product offering perspective, I’ll go back to the vision I was painting earlier where we and others in our industry see that we can create great solid hardware platforms. We’ve done it for decades, and now that advancements around AI and all of our software that enables products and everything else that has happened in the last probably decade, we can get enhancements and additions and new functionality to people in simpler ways on existing hardware. I think we’re all careening down this path of having a much more sustainable ecosystem for all collaboration. It’s really quite an exciting time, and that pays off with any company implementing a system, their ROI is going to be much better in the long run.
Megan: Absolutely. And Genevieve, what trends around sustainability are you seeing? What opportunities do you see for audio to play into those sustainability efforts going forward?
Genevieve: Yeah, similar to Chris. In some industries, there’s still a belief that the best work happens when everyone’s in the same room. And yes, face-to-face time is really important for building relationships, for brainstorming, for closing big deals, but it does come at a cost. The carbon footprint of daily commutes, the sales visits, the constant business travel. And then there’s the basic consideration, as we’ve talked about, of just pure practicality. The good news is with the right AV setup, especially high-quality audio, many of those interactions can happen virtually without losing effectiveness, as Chris said it, but our research shows it.
Our research shows that virtual meetings can be just as productive as in-person ones, and every commute or flight you avoid, of course makes a measurable sustainability impact. I don’t think, personally, that the takeaway is replace all in-person meetings, but instead it’s to be intentional. Use technology to make hybrid meetings seamless, and then be clear on which conversations truly require being in the same physical space. If you can strike that balance, you’re not just making work more efficient, you’re making it more sustainable, you’re also making it more inclusive, and you’re making it more resilient.