In the meeting technology space, it’s our job to help your business thrive in a hybrid work world. We keep your employees connected across cities, time zones and even countries.

But as much as we enjoy working within walking distance of our fridge as the next person, we’d be lying if we said there weren’t some aspects of in-person meetings we missed – in particular, big events such as Cisco Live and Microsoft Ignite. They were one of the first causalities of the pandemic, keeping us from connecting with colleagues, exchanging ideas and geeking out over the newest innovations.

So of course we were excited to hear both of these events were back in person this year – and neither company disappointed with their new technology. Keeping reading to see what cool new AV tech trended at two of this year’s top conferences:

Trending at Cisco Live: See Clearly

During this summer’s Cisco Live, the manufacturer brought into focus – literally – some of the upgrades it has made to speaker tracking technology. Previously, Cisco’s people-focus technology could pull out speakers in a crowded conference room and focus on their face. Of course, that still leaves room for error, or distractions around the person that are still caught in the camera. People Focus can now separate the speaker into his/her own box in Webex, or group speakers together into a single box if they’re near each other. Meeting participants can also whiteboard together in real time.

Cisco also covered technologies that will make work easier for hybrid employees. Improved noise reduction will help workers, say those who work from a crowded café, block out distractions for other participants in their meetings. And when they do want to come to the office, Cisco Spaces allows them to see a 3D map of the office and select a room. They can even scan into a workspace once they arrive and access all their meetings – even non-Webex meetings – from the shared computer.

Trending at Microsoft Ignite: Collaborate Your Way

Not to be outdone, Microsoft introduced a 360-degree camera solution specifically built for Teams: the Yealink SmartVision 60, available in early 2023. The camera will also be able to give multiple participants in the same room their own box on Teams and will offer people-tracking technology for better visibility of the speaker at any given time. And to strengthen collaboration for all participants, users will be able to collaborate in Excel and Word within Teams, while PowerPoint’s new Cameo functionality will allow presenters to share their video and slides simultaneously in the same window.

Microsoft also offered a preview of its upgraded Teams Premium solution, which will give users a more personalized meeting room experience. Users will be able to brand meeting lobbies and control security settings around how people can record sensitive information shared on screen. Individual users will be able to translate captions in real-time, as well as access intelligent recap. This AI-enhanced offering will generate to-do lists based on its understanding of the meeting and offer chapters in the meeting recording so that the user can go back to the timestamps at which they were mentioned.

But wait, there’s more!

Cisco and Microsoft weren’t the only meeting room tech players gathering in person again in 2022. RoomReady’s partners also got back in the game, with events such as Trace3 Evolve and Presidio Exchange inviting meeting experts back to the show floor.

So, if like us you’d like an excuse to get away from leftovers for a few days, innovators are gathering again – and we’d love to see you at a show!