The brand immediately evokes laptops and computers, but the giant company Lenovo doesn’t stop there: participation at ISE 2023 proves it, with the launch of the new Team Smart View Plus collaboration solution
Sara Puppis, Smart Collaboration Business Development Manager of Lenovo, whom we met at ISE 2023, introduces us to the famous brand with a tripartite soul: “Obviously we are known above all for PCs and laptops, since 1984. However, the corporate souls are three: the IDG (Intelligent Device Group) part, which includes my division, Smart Collaboration; the part of Infrastructure Solutions (Data Center and infrastructure management); and a third part specifically dedicated to services and consultancy. In Smart Collaboration, therefore in the world of video conferencing, Lenovo entered with the launch, in 2018, of Think Smart Hub. With the pandemic, collaboration technologies have grown exponentially, even in previously unsuspected groups of users (schools, elderly people, etc.).”
Indeed, Think Smart Hub was born to optimize meeting rooms and content sharing. Device equipped with four array microphones, 12” screen for Microsoft Teams and integrated speakers, easy to assemble and use and with intelligently reduced wiring to a minimum, Think Smart Hub allows you to start a meeting by pressing a simple button. In addition, the same solution is also available in a modular version, with specially designed Think Smart Cam and Think Smart Bar peripherals. In short, Lenovo aims to offer smart technology solutions suitable for meeting rooms of all sizes, and a cloud management system is also available.
The company mission, as far as the world of collaboration is concerned, consists in promoting fairness in meetings, a very important concept today, and the main tool are cameras with a 180° field of view and automatic tracking, able to follow the speaker and to give all participants the opportunity to speak and be seen, as well as to see and hear other people.
The novelty of ISE 2023 is called Think Smart View Plus, a solution developed to enhance the capabilities of Microsoft Teams in video calls. This is how Sara Puppis presents it to us: “Think Smart View Plus is an extension of the possibilities of the video meeting, it allows you to keep the gallery of the participants and the chat visible even if you are sharing content. It’s a home office product that can be used in conjunction with a PC. The camera can be set according to use, with a field of view from 65° upwards, depending on the needs. In a huddle room, for example, the width of the field can be opened up a lot, making the environment literally ‘explode’. Furthermore, with a registration in Microsoft Teams, the equipment becomes ‘bookable’: the single workstation, that is, can be booked as if it were a participant of the meeting. Finally, the product mounts the software of an IP telephone, can also work as if it were a VoIP telephone switchboard, with functions that belong to the voice category, and has the classic voice command with Cortana.”
In conclusion, Sara Puppis points out that all Lenovo solutions are sold with a three-year warranty and Premium support, and that Think Smart View Plus is a multipurpose and multitouch solution, and marks “a new dynamic in the evolution of this type of solution. It goes beyond the room computer and the sound or video bar. For us” – concluded Sara – “investment in communication and collaboration is an important trend, also by virtue of the fact that places dedicated to meetings and collaboration are increasingly being developed, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world. Companies tend to rent these spaces when needed, so as to invest less without renouncing the best technology and hybrid meetings, which have now become established almost everywhere. Especially following the pandemic, people have become accustomed to seeing and hearing clearly. So, even if Lenovo is new to this market, it has entered it decisively and bringing its enormous experience in computational systems for meeting rooms.”
