Electronic Briefings at a Distance

Presented to the ABPM Conference by

David MartinChairman & CEO

SMART Technologies Inc.

Electronic Briefings at a Distance

Presented to the ABPM Conference by

David MartinChairman & CEO

SMART Technologies Inc.

April 4th, 2002

OutlineOutline

• Introduction

• Briefing Effectively at a Distance

• Problems & Solutions

• Tools to Consider

• Summary

• Questions

SMART’s Vision

To develop and sell products that help people collaborate, whether they are in the

same room or located around the world.

• Effective Virtual Team workshops since 1997

• Developer of Collaboration Products since 1990

Briefing Effectively at a DistanceBriefing Effectively at a Distance

Questions for you

• Who has used conferencing technologies in their Executive Briefing Program?

• Has this been to connect with:

– Internal presenters?

– External customers?

• Who has been happy with this experience?

Briefing Effectively at a DistanceBriefing Effectively at a Distance

9/11 impact on Travel

• Safety

• Security

• Restrictions

• Hassles

Briefing Effectively at a DistanceBriefing Effectively at a Distance

Why so important?• Travel costs

• Access to busy people where they are

• Need to do things faster

• People are growing more aware of technology, becoming more accepting and better trained

• Infrastructure is improving

• Experience in using this approach is growing

• Technology components for idea capture can actually be helpful in recording comments of briefing participants

Briefing ConsiderationsBriefing Considerations

• Is this the first meeting with these people?

• Do we need to connect to external parties only?

• Is there a need to connect internal and external parties?

Briefing issuesBriefing issues

Telling your story

=> One-way presentation

Capturing the dialogue

=> Two-way dialogue

=> Capture decisions, tasks

People, Process and TechnologyPeople, Process and Technology

Solutions for Effective Briefings are a blend of People, Process, and Technology

People

Technology

Process

EffectiveBriefings

Transitioning to Electronic WorkTransitioning to Electronic Work

• Make infrastructure investments

• Get top management buy-in

• Find a product champion -- the higher up, the better

• Get everyone comfortable with the new paradigm

• Roll out with an extensive, ongoing training program

Transitioning to Electronic WorkTransitioning to Electronic Work

Paper Age PowerPointAge

Electronic WorkAge

Transitioning to Electronic WorkTransitioning to Electronic Work

Change management techniques

• Best practices

• Senior management buy-in

• Look for win-win situations (pilots with more technically-oriented individuals)

It’s all about managing Change…

Why Remote Briefing is more difficult than Face to Face Briefing

Why Remote Briefing is more difficult than Face to Face Briefing

• More difficult to determine customer level of interest

• Maintaining interest more difficult because remote participants will time-share

• Remote briefing will be more formal

• Informal chats more difficult

– (Can we solve this?)

Problems & Solutions in Electronic BriefingsProblems & Solutions in Electronic Briefings

• Audio – The quiet talker

– Audio delay

• Video– Video image quality

– Lighting

– Following the moving presenter

– Can we make the electronic briefing work without needing a production crew?

• Data– Paper documents

– Remote gestures

– The carry-in guest notebook

– Firewalls

– Security

• General– Capturing minutes

– The multi-tasker

– Getting agreement

Tools to considerTools to consider

• Audio conferencing

• Data conferencing

• Videoconferencing

• Peripherals

Tools to Consider

AudioAudio

• Great audio needed

– Ability to interrupt in near real time

– Think about using 14 Khz. audio over separate telephone or VOIP

• Microphones need to be placed in correct locations

• Use wireless mics so that remote participants hear clearly

• Beware the quiet talker

• Training

Tools to Consider

Audio ConferencingAudio Conferencing

• Multi-point audio conferencing calls represent a $3 billion a year industry

• No-reservation conference calling is fastest growing segment

• About two-thirds of all remote meetings are audio only

• Audio quality is a challenge

• English as second language makes for less than satisfactory experience

Tools to Consider

Audio ConferencingAudio Conferencing

• Audio bridging

• Microphones

• Mixers

• Local amplification

• Telephone quality or better

Tools to Consider

Data ConferencingData Conferencing

• Integrated with audio?

• Browser or client?

• Security

– Authentication

– Encryption

– Getting through the firewall

Tools to Consider

Data ConferencingData Conferencing

• Data conferencing is fastest growing segment of the conferencing industry

• Frost & Sullivan is forecasting a growth of 80% a year

• Tool is easiest to grasp, easiest to implement

• Security is a challenge

• Displaying data is key for understanding

Tools to Consider

New Conferencing softwareNew Conferencing software

• Software only solutions

• Portable solutions

• Meeting process + Conferencing

Tools to Consider

VideoconferencingVideoconferencing

• Group videoconferencing unit sales have grown from 20,000 in 1996 to 80,000 annually in 2000

Tools to Consider

VideoconferencingVideoconferencing

• Industry ships $700 million annually

• Dissatisfaction

– Connecting

– Disconnects

– Quality of audio

• Improvements have been made

• Move from ISDN to IP will take time

Tools to Consider

VideoconferencingVideoconferencing

• Video can be a good adjunct for some meeting types

– Product review

– Exec to exec

– Indicator of who is there

• Select IP as the transport if internal

• Choose a minimum of 384 kbps over the digital switched network (ISDN)

• Restrict multiple point calls

Tools to Consider

Old tools => New toolsOld tools => New tools

• Flip Chart

• Whiteboard

• Electronic copy-board

• Television

• Paper report

• Fixed microphones

• Video document scanner

• ISDN video conferencing

• 3 KHz. Audio

• Floppy disk drive

• Camera

• Wired LAN

• Interactive whiteboard

• Optical whiteboard capture

• Interactive display

• Person-sized display

• Electronic documents

• Wireless microphone

• Hi-res document scanner

• IP based video conferencing

• 14 KHz. Audio

• USB memory key

• Hi-res digital camera

• Hi-speed Wireless LAN

Tools to Consider

PeripheralsPeripherals

• Displays

• Document cameras

• Scanners

• Cameras

• Whiteboards

• Podiums

Tools to Consider

View from the FrontView from the Front

DisplaysDisplays

• Large sized displays

• Two displays

– 1 for data

– 1 for people

Tools to Consider

PowerPoint + VideoPowerPoint + Video

Two DisplaysTwo Displays

Tools to Consider

Document ScannersDocument Scanners

• Two types

– Data

– Video

• Use to handle

– last minute documents that are paper

– objects

Tools to Consider

Document ScannersDocument Scanners

• Best for paper documents

• Make sure that software is installed

• Reconfirm before briefing

Tools to Consider

Accessing Electronic DocumentsAccessing Electronic Documents

Tools to Consider

Accessing Electronic DocumentsAccessing Electronic Documents

• Using USB memory keys

• ….from IBM web site

Tools to Consider

CamerasCameras

• Multiple cameras

– Quality, quality, quality

– Fixed or pan, tilt, zoom?

– Front of room or back?

– PC Camera for ad hoc capture

Tools to Consider

WhiteboardsWhiteboards

• Electronic copy-boards

– Paper capture

– Multiple surfaces

• Interactive whiteboards (non-projected)

– Portable

– Built-in

• Digital capture whiteboards

– Camera based

– Appliances versus PC peripheral+

Tools to Consider

Optical Whiteboard CaptureOptical Whiteboard Capture

Tools to Consider

Publishing Notes OnlinePublishing Notes Online

Tools to Consider

PodiumsPodiums

• Standard or electronic?

• Effect of standing behind

Tools to Consider

Mission Critical SupportMission Critical Support

• What happens when something goes wrong?

• Lessons learned

TrainingTraining

Getting comfortable with the technology

– Don’t forget the remote participants

– Change behavior to include remote folks

– Resolution

– Gesturing (remote pointer)

– Announce who is speaking

– Think of working with a disabled person (deaf, blind)

– Follow-me presentations

– Slide design

Electronic Briefing SummaryElectronic Briefing Summary

• Learn from others – some best practices can be found on www.EffectiveMeetings.com

• Look for a suitable pilot

• Make appropriate tools available

• Bring all team members together

• Teach the new processes as well as how to use the technology

Electronic Briefing summaryElectronic Briefing summary

• Teach when to use the tools

• Bias your solution set to Audio + Data

• Make infrastructure investments

• Get champions on-board early

• Move from Paper to PowerPoint to Electronic Work Age

Questions?Questions?

Electronic Briefings at a Distance

Presented to the ABPM Conference by

David MartinChairman & CEO

SMART Technologies Inc.

Electronic Briefings at a Distance

Presented to the ABPM Conference by

David MartinChairman & CEO

SMART Technologies Inc.

April 4th, 2002