Video Window Remote Launches for iOS and Android

The office, home, or elsewhere are now all places where we do business – location matters less and less as it’s connectivity that’s key. With hybrid working the “new norm”, it’s imperative that businesses invest in technology and systems that foster connectivity, that safeguard company culture, create parity between the at-home and in-office workday and ensure ALL employees enjoy a seamless work experience no matter their location.

Video Window ensures colleagues maintain connection and businesses create equal experiences through the world’s first always-on immersive video conferencing portal, helping humans connect and companies of all sizes collaborate.   Launching Video Window Remote today for iOS and Android compliments the Video Window Office service that’s been adopted by organizations including Netflix, Intel, WeWork and Logitech, to link multiple offices together.  And now Video Window Remote for iOS and Android ensures that ALL remote workers have the same connection with their colleagues, whether on-the-go or in different locations, truly equalizing their status with their in-office colleagues.

Deloitte in its “Future of Work” paper predicted that: “65% of organisations view shifting functional hierarchies to team-centric & network-based work models as important or very important” and “74% of CFOs will move a portion of their workforce to permanently remote positions.”

With these predictions currently being realized globally, a recent Joblist survey studying visibility in the workplace for remote workers stated that 95% of employers believed remaining visible was important to career advancement and 93% of managers had a favorable impression of employees making an effort to stand out while working remotely. Yet only 38% of workers have gone out of their way to be noticed while working from home and a massive 64% of remote workers have no visibility strategy at all.

In addition, the mental health of remote workers has been extremely challenging over the last 18 months and those who feel invisible are more likely to feel burned out, lonely and have feelings of imposter syndrome.

Video Window Remote provides the answer to all of these issues.  The remote worker simply downloads the tablet or mobile app, logs in with their secure credentials and feels instantly connected to the common-areas of their offices and other remote workers.  Feeling together, connected, visible and equal.  They benefit hugely from continuing their productivity tasks and traditional meetings on their main computer and glancing over to the tablet or mobile device for instant, real collaboration with colleagues.  No scheduling, no drama just permanently ready for you when you need it – human connection solved.

Designed for office common areas, Video Window fosters those spontaneous conversations that lead to collaboration in a way that no other system can. Which also addresses current major concerns that hybrid working is in danger of creating a two-tier workforce – with remote workers becoming invisible and in-office employees becoming more valued. Video Window easily levels the playing field for ALL workers.

Having suffered from mental health challenges myself during COVID I was determined to address the major mental health difficulties cited by remote workers: like burnout, loneliness and depression.

Far beyond a traditional video conferencing tool, Video Window Remote allows meaningful human connection, supporting effortless collaboration and will be offered by us for FREE to remote workers in order to level the playing field between teams split between offices and working from home. It’s our way of giving back to the global remote working community. 

To protect the privacy of remote workers we’ve put many privacy and safeguarding features in place including….

• No guest access – Only registered, authenticated users and devices within their organization can access a Video Window group. No chance of “video bombing” here.
• Audio off default – Each device connected to the Video Window group has the local microphone and speaker muted by default meaning no accidental conversations can be heard. When they do join the audio, only the devices that have joined can hear each other, not the others in the group. And there’s also fail-safe “auto-off” timer
• Video off default and video toggle – Remote users have a video toggle, set to the off position the app starts, this means they can see the status of everyone connected to the system, but they can’t see the far side video feed, and far side devices can’t see them. When the remote user toggles the video on, this enables the webcam and starts the incoming video feed too. So, they always know when they are on camera and can toggle this feed off at any time.
• Remote users shown in small circles – Office devices are shown as squares and when no one is on the audio, we show one office device full screen to feel immersed with that physical space and rotate this every 30 minutes. However, the remote users are shown in small circles so not too overbearing and a remote user is only shown in the large part of the screen when they join audio, as soon as they leave the audio, they return to the small circle.
• Scheduled sleep mode – Outside of the hours they schedule, the individual’s device will automatically go into sleep mode turning off all media in all directions. 
• Reduced video fatigue – By having Video Window to the side of their computer – not directly face-on, so it doesn’t require remote workers full attention and means far less video fatigue. It’s there to glance over as and when they want to. 

It’s the informal and accessible nature of Video Window that gives it the edge over current tech’. Focusing on the social element of an office and those informal catch ups that are so important for teams really meets the needs of an organization looking to modernize its approach to working, while still ensuring that their team is working effectively and productively.

Fiona Young, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) member and employment lawyer at global law firm Ince said

“Video Window has been pivotal in keeping our team connected since we moved to hybrid working. Being able to quickly chat with a team member to bounce an idea off has allowed us to maintain the sponge outs creativity and idea generation we had in our office. By opting in and having the ability to turn video on and off, I never feel like my privacy is compromised. Video Window has made the work from home transition seamless for us.”

Michael Judeh, Senior Director at meeting, event and office space provider Convene commented

“We are excited to partner Video Window as it’s a pivotal product for the future of hybrid working for our enterprise clients”

And Tanya Seaton, Head of UC Hardware and distribution at global collaboration technology provider Intrado agrees

Using Video Window is exactly like looking through a window to see your colleagues.  It enables you to really be present with the people you work with – while successfully completing your projects and accomplishing your goals, making work better, more enjoyable, fun and levelling the playing field for all.

Ultimately creating a happy hybrid workplace.

At Collaboration Squared our main goal is to remove frustration and improve human connection and this is precisely what Video Window is for.