OPINION

Compared to a monitor or television, an interactive touchscreen can save a lot of space. After all, not every working environment has access to multiple meeting rooms, while the need to hold regular team meetings, for example, is there.

With a touchscreen, you can work anywhere in your office. You can share the screen of your phone or directly open a web browser or other applications that allow you to bring your colleagues or customers into your story or message in an instant. This also brings cost benefits because you can start using workplaces multi functionally without the need for unmanned meeting rooms and empty furniture. So, you are also doing something sustainable!

5. A touch screen encourages spontaneous results and freedom

Freedom? Ok, this may sound a bit strange. Let us explain. A touchscreen does not only offer advantages for scheduled (video) meetings. In fact, often the best ideas arise spontaneously.

So how great is it to have a tool at your disposal with which you can make your brilliant ideas come to life ad hoc, on-the-spot, instantaneously and immediately? And also share them with others. And how nice is it to be able to put a schedule on the whiteboard dur- ing a short conversation and be able to set priorities? A touchscreen gives you the ultimate freedom to start a conversation at any time of day. And to seek interaction to share knowledge.

6. Your organisation becomes more attractive to employees.

A nice salary and a pleasant working atmosphere are no longer the only important factors when choosing for an employer. More and more employees and job seekers indicate that the way of working is an important factor. And the use of modern technology is also decisive.

Certainly, millennials and younger generations are already used to digitalisation! They expect their employers to help them to keep developing their knowledge and skills in the best possible way. An interactive screen contributes to this tremendously.

Social interaction is and remains need (and motivator) number one. And that is precisely where the added value of an interactive touch screen lies. Your hybrid working environment? That’s where touch belongs!

A new name has officially entered the UK video conferencing market in partnership with international distributor Westcoast – with big plans and big ideas to ‘Boom’ during 2024. Boom Collaboration was formed in 2020 by founders Fredrik Hörnkvist and Holli Hulett, in a bid to disrupt the sector and stand out from the crowd – creating high performance, high value advanced products.

The ambitious Texas-based business has quickly developed an extensive conferencing portfolio and operates in 30 countries, with plans to extend to 20 more, having added 12 new markets in 2023. Its operation is underpinned by the creation of four logistics centres covering all corners of the globe.

The fast-growing manufacture recently appointed Westcoast as its official UK distributor to act as a catalyst for further international sales success. Westcoast will supply the complete Boom Collaboration range, including 4K PTZ conferencing cameras, video bars, personal devices and audio speakers – to more than 5,000 active resellers across the country and beyond. “Westcoast provides us with the perfect platform to officially launch the brand into the UK and open the door to sustained sales success - for all parties and most importantly their resellers. We want to offer something a little different both in terms of our products and how we do business. We are not another ‘me-too’ brand,” Hörnkvist highlights.

“The UK is a very important market to us with huge potential. We want to work closely together with Westcoast and their resellers to maximise the many opportunities this new partnership creates. So far our prod- ucts have been very well received and 2024 will see the brand penetrate much deeper across the country, as well as into parts of Europe too via Westcoast’s extensive logistics network.”

The Boom UNO vertical video bar, MAGNA 4K PTZ camera and GEMINI expandable audio innovation are some of the many devices available through Westcoast, along with the GOJO multi-camera controller. “Boom Collaboration might be a relatively new conferencing name but the company has quickly built an impressive reputation and a very comprehensive product portfolio, which covers everything from personal workspaces to huddle rooms and large boardrooms,” says Westcoast’s UC Business Manager, Sam Armstrong. He added: “There’s lots of innovation too such as intelligent video bars, expandable wireless audio and even a user friendly multi-camera controller to facilitate live events.”

“Boom Collaboration can offer our resellers something different and it is a very welcome addition to our high calibre UC collaboration division across the UK and also France and Germany. We are confident this new partnership will be a big success.” Boom’s co-founder Hulett agrees with the importance of building long term relationships. “We are young and fresh with new ideas, backed by years of personal experience that already makes us experts in this field. We are not afraid to stand out, be bold, brave and loud and do things a little differently. A disrupter to take on the field.”

She continues: “It’s about offering the highest levels of support to resellers through the distribution channel and going the extra mile with Westcoast. We don’t want to just stay in the middle lane. We recognise resellers have the relationship with customers. Together we can help them transition to the new world we live in. They can lean on us. We are happy to help.”

“Our vision is based on creating better meetings. Simply. We offer future proof solutions with solid compo- nents and technology to stand the test of time. We cover all user and room size environments. Equally we want to show personality, fun and passion. We are young with lots of ambition to grow. Joining forces with a huge industry powerhouse like Westcoast will add further fuel to the fire and enable us to penetrate deep into the UK and wider international markets. This is a major step forward in our growth strategy. Boom is beginning to boom.”

Hörnkvist added: “Through these interesting, challenging and evolving times, from lockdowns to hybrid working, conferencing has been at the fulcrum of dramatic changes in daily and working life; how people interact and communicate, almost from anywhere. We might still be a relatively new kid on the block but we’ve already made big strides forward with much more to come. Over the last few years we’ve been laying strong foundations for sustained growth so that Boom can really start to boom in the UK and beyond!”

Boom Collaboration aims to help plug a knowledge gap in certain areas of the market, from audio and video technology to meeting etiquette. “We work across all sectors of the industry from AV integrators to traditional telephony resellers and accredited partners such as Zoom and Barco. We’re completely agnostic though and sales continue to rise by around 45% year-on-year. There’s definitely a knowledge gap due to the fast tran- sition of people working from home and an explosion in software-based solutions such as Teams and Zoom. We aim to be the piece that’s missing in the sector.”

Hulett points out: “Our goal is to emphasise the vital role hardware plays to improve the meeting experience. We are a trusted advisor about the best end points to drive the end user experience. It’s about matching the right equipment to the right rooms and helping organisations to transition at whatever stage of the journey they are on. Our portfolio is built with tomorrow’s meetings in mind. We offer future proof solutions with solid components and technology to stand the test of time. From all-in-one-solutions to multiple video camera mixing controllers and full room solutions. We cover all bases. Our partners and customers are at the centre of everything we do. We offer a true partnership through the entire lifecycle.”

“We are young with lots of ambition to grow. We have agility, like to be different and the future is bright. We want to bring in dedicated in-house R&D and product teams and continue to build our distribution network all over the world. I’d say we are at a tipping point to accelerate much further forward, based on sustained, controlled growth. 2024 will be a big and exciting year for us in the UK and around the world.”