5 Things to Consider When Looking for Wireless Presentation Solutions

Wireless presentation solutions are a new trend across meeting rooms and classrooms, with every employee, teacher, student, and visitor wanting freedom from cables and dongles. The Wireless Presentation solution not only enables more collaboration and better meeting experience, but also helps saving time when presenting and switching between presenters. Needless to say we all want to get rid of the traditional wired annoyances we all know and dislike (ie: missing cables, confusing dongles and cable clutter in general). Below  we’ll cover the five most important things toknow before shopping for a wireless presentation solution:

1. Is it easy to use for your day-to-day users?
   Does the solution require the users to install an application or plug in an USB before presentation? Installing an application or using an USB device on laptops can oftentimes be blocked by the IT department for security reasons, and it can be extremely inconvenient and frustrating, if even possible, to get IT’s support right before your big presentation. People can be confused if the solution requires different instructions for Mac and Windows users to start the wireless presentation, and it has been the #1 IT support request for many organizations. Pick a solution that offers consistent user experience without any confusing instructions that your users really enjoy using.
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2. Is it east to deploy and manage?
   Installing the A/V equipment in the professional environments can sometimes be costly and troublesome. Therefore, you should always check before you buy whether you need to hire professional installation services for the Wireless Presentation solution you choose. AeriCast, unlike many other systems, is very easy to deploy and supports various hardware. You can simply get an Amazon FireTV stick, download AeriCast Receiver app from the app store, plugin the stick to your TV and be done in minutes without any professional installation needed. You should also pick a solution that supports remote and centralized management platforms that will minimize support effort required by your IT team. This is a crucial key to a successful conference room and classroom project that many overlooked because you certainly want a stable and low maintenance system for your presentation.
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3. What devices does the solution support?
   Even if your primary users are using Windows or Mac laptops, make sure the solution you picked supports both systems, and better yet, the iOS and Android devices. It’s not uncommon having a visiting guest join the meeting on site, and it would be a pain if the solution doesn’t support the device he/she uses. Needless to say, supporting mobile devices, like iPad and Android phones, allow a more freely and convenient collaboration environment where teachers and students, and meeting participants can use these mobile devices to present more easily while getting others more engaged. Selecting such a solution, like AeriCast, would simply allow people to present from the devices they prefer.
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4. Cost, cost and cost!
   Wireless presentation solutions can get expensive if you are planning the upgrade for your whole organization. The cost may include the hardware, software, installation, maintenance, custom integration, and subscriptions. Make sure the solution you picked offers a clear pricing, support plan, upgrade options and reasonable cost of 5-year ownership. For small to medium businesses, you may want to consider the solutions with lower upfront costs to have more financial flexibility. Some solutions require proprietary hardware that may cost more than $1000 - $2000 per device. Considering a SaaS based solution may be a good idea to take the advantage of more frequent solution updates instead of investing significant amounts in a solution whose features are limited by the specific models purchased.
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5. Bonus values
   While the wireless presentation features may be the key objectives for your project, you may want to consider the other values the solution has to offer. For example, your marketing team may turn the screens into promotional tools to boost the sales, or the communication team may use the screens for a more effective communication channel while the screens are not being used for presentation. Displaying custom digital signage content or data from other platforms, such as KPI dashboards, project timeline, is trending in the professional space and the places where you can bring your customers in to discuss and demo your services/products.

“AeriCast is an easy-to-use and hardware agnostic wireless presentation platform. Get started in seconds with a $39 device and display digital signage and communication content when the screen is not be used for presentation.”

Creating a more collaborative work or a more engaging learning environment is an important task for many, but it doesn’t need to be a challenging one. Selecting an easy-to-use wireless presentation solution to a more cohesive meeting and/or classroom experience is a great start. Learn the feedback we collected from the real world users we’ve helped, and pick up the solution that works best for you.