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Jabra Introduces Dynamic Composition for PanaCast 50, Seamlessly Bridging Hybrid Workers in Microsoft Teams Rooms with Remote Meeting Participants

Written by Amy Ralls | May 6, 2022 4:00:00 AM
  • Dynamic Composition view provides in-video close-up view of participants in physical meeting rooms
  • The technology was co-developed with Microsoft to provide a more seamless and effective Microsoft Teams Rooms meeting experience for participants in hybrid work environments
LOWELL, MA - May 5, 2022 - Jabra, a leader in audio, video and collaboration solutions, today announces major enhancements to the Microsoft Teams Rooms user experience for businesses using the Jabra PanaCast 50 conference camera with the new, Dynamic Composition. This software-enabled experience leverages AI to automatically provide close-up views of participants in physical meeting rooms – mimicking the view of those joining from afar. The technology is born out of a collaboration between Jabra and Microsoft to improve virtual meeting rooms in response to hybrid workers' increased need for seamless meeting experiences, no matter where or how they are participating. Microsoft has been successfully piloting the technology in Executive Briefing Center at their campus in  Redmond, Washington. As companies worldwide navigate the changing nature of work, hybrid environments are becoming the norm. To adapt, businesses will need to ensure employees are able to collaborate and communicate with ease regardless of whether they're physically in the office or remote. Providing enhanced views of in-room participants will improve the ability to collaborate and increase employee engagement. In fact, 37% of employees globally say they often feel left out of the conversation in hybrid meetings according to Jabra's 2022 edition of the  Hybrid Ways of Working Global Report, highlighting a need for companies to make hybrid meetings more integrated and seamless. The PanaCast 50,  first introduced in  April 2021, pioneered a new standard in video collaboration technology with its unique 180° field-of-view that captures the entire room, as well as delivering a complete meeting room experience which provides a more impactful perception for remote participants joining meeting rooms. This includes Intelligent Zoom that automatically adjusts the video stream to follow the flow of the meeting and Virtual Director, which helps people follow and participate in the flow of conversation naturally. Its range of unique features are now made even more powerful with the addition of dynamic compositions. Engineered to create more collaborative and inclusive meeting experiences for Teams users, Dynamic Composition enables people joining meetings remotely to view up to four of the most recent speakers face-to-face, matching the view of front-facing personal video conferencing cameras. "Dynamic Composition is a completely reimagined meeting experience to meet the needs of today's workforce," said  Aurangzeb Khan, senior vice president of Intelligent Vision Systems at Jabra. "Hybrid environments are the new normal for workers across the globe, yet there are disparities between those in-person and those collaborating remotely. This important enhancement addresses these challenges, combining PanaCast 50's state-of-the-art system and Microsoft's command of the virtual meeting experience to bring more seamless hybrid work collaboration to life." "Hybrid meetings have evolved rapidly in the last two years to keep businesses of all sizes connected and collaborative," said Arash Ghanaie-Sichanie, Senior Director of Product Management for Teams AI Devices, at Microsoft. "The next phase, as companies embrace an increasingly hybrid working world, is to improve the meeting experience by enhancing collaboration and inclusion for in room as well as remote attendees. . Dynamic Composition from Jabra ushers us into an even newer normal in which all meeting participants have an increased ability to be seen and heard." For remote attendees, Dynamic Composition autonomously creates an equitable segmented view of the four most-recent active speakers, enabling a more immersive and collaborative experience. For those joining via physical meeting rooms, gone are the days of disappearing in the background of a large conference room view; they will have equitable on-screen real estate. It is a compelling addition to Microsoft's existing hybrid work solutions, such as Front Row, which enables an immersive meeting experience for those in-person by moving the video gallery to the bottom of the screen, placing remote attendees at eye level like they're in the same room. The Dynamic Composition view update will be available beginning June for PanaCast 50 users in a Microsoft Teams Rooms environment. For more information about the PanaCast 50 Dynamic Composition, please contact your Jabra representative. For more on PanaCast 50, please go to:  https://www.jabra.com/business/video-conferencing About Jabra Jabra is a world leading brand in audio, video, and collaboration solutions – engineered to empower consumers and businesses. Proudly part of the GN Group, we are committed to letting people hear more, do more, and be more than they ever thought possible. Jabra engineering excellence leads the way, building on 150 years of pioneering work within the GN Group. This allows us to create integrated tools for contact centers, offices, and collaboration that help professionals work more productively from anywhere; and true wireless headphones and earbuds that let consumers better enjoy calls, music, and media. The GN Group, founded in 1869, operates in 100 countries and delivers innovation, reliability, and ease of use. GN employs 6,500 people and in 2020 reported annual revenue of DKK 13.4bn. The Jabra brand accounts for approx. DKK 8.7bn and employs 1,900 people. GN makes life sound better and is Nasdaq Copenhagen listed. www.jabra.com