Many companies want to improve their meetings. Research shows that 25% of meetings are perceived unproductive, 23% of them need IT interventions, and 63% of people want to share content from their mobile devices – but can’t. Now Barco, a Belgium-based technology leader that develops networked visualization solutions, claims to have the solution, in the form of ClickShare.

ClickShare is a wireless presentation and collaboration solution. By simply plugging a USB-device (the ClickShare Button) into your PC or Mac, and clicking the button, you can share what’s on your laptop on the meeting’s presentation screen. No cables, no set-up, no waiting to join in. Using the free ClickShare app, you can even share the content from your mobile devices – including iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.

The easiest way to share big ideas and watch them grow
ClickShare was launched in 2012, and has been installed in many meeting rooms around the world. An end user survey has shown the following results:

• 86% confirm they save time during meetings
• 93% confirm increased meeting efficiency
• 98% have a highly positive attitude towards ClickShare when asked to what extent they would recommend ClickShare to their peers on a scale of 0 to 10, the average score is 9.8
• 69% confirm time savings, the return on investment is big on meeting productivity, and time saving for the IT-department

Although ClickShare is a high-tech solution, it is remarkably easy to use. Connect, click and share: that’s all there is to it. This not only means that everybody can use it, but also that user assistance by the IT-department is almost never needed. Furthermore, the stability of the system ensures that the technical issues are down to a minimum.

Easy to use – and to install
ClickShare was clearly designed to be easily installed and ready for use right out of the box – with settings that apply to most typical installations. More powerful settings – including advanced security and the possibility to integrate ClickShare into the company’s wireless network – are available as well and can be easily unleashed. What’s more, the networked versions of ClickShare (CSE-200 and CSC-1) can be fully remotely serviced. This means that firmware updates, status monitoring, and even wallpaper control for all ClickShare units in the company worldwide can be done from a central location – the IT staff does not even have to leave their desk!

Three different models
Barco offers three different ClickShare versions: the CS-100, the CSE-200 and the CSC-1. The first (CS-100) is designed to be a standalone solution, for small meeting rooms and huddle rooms. It’s used for simple sharing, with only one person able to share content on the presentation screen. For the CSE-200, up to 2 persons can share simultaneously from laptop or mobile device. With enhanced security features, wider range of connectivity options and central management, the CSE-200 was designed for enterprises that want to boost collaboration. The fully featured CSC-1, aiming at larger meeting rooms, allows up to 4 people to share content, on 1 or 2 screens.

The main features of ClickShare

Button
Connect the Button to the USB-port of your PC or Mac, push the button and share!

No installation
ClickShare is a zero footprint application, leaving no software on the client PC or Mac

Mobile
iPad, iPhone or Android users can share by using the App

No wires
No cables, no fuzz. With ClickShare, that clumsy video cable can retire at last

Video and audio
Play video at 30 fps, with perfectly lip-synched audio

Advantages for the AV/IT manager
Lets IT people focus on their jobs. There will be less calls to the helpdesk and one of the best features of ClickShare is that no formal training is required.

Future proof
Brings an answer to the BYOD-trend. New functionality is added through software updates every quarter, making the system perfectly secure and reliable.

Conclusion
Barco’s ClickShare works very well and it delivers the actual performance it claims. The product certainly can be recommended for a try by all those organizations that want their collaborative meetings to be really productive and keep away the logistic nuisance of struggling with the VGA & DVI cables of the projector and LCD-screens.

Tags : ClickShare