Corporate users embracing interactive whiteboards
Oct 27, 2004 3:31 PM
Interactive whiteboards might have found their most enthusiastic early adopters among universities and school systems, but the corporate community is catching on quickly.
“Corporate America in some ways is technologically behind,” says David St. John, general sales manager at Cleveland Corporate Services in Cleveland. In fact, many corporate managers have been hearing from their children and employees about the new technologies common in educational settings, and a growing number are deciding they want similar capabilities in their offices.
In addition to hearing from their college student children, many companies are deeply involved in cooperative programs with local educational institutions. “Working with the colleges and universities is where they really get exposed to these tools,” St. John says. “It’s like a whole new market that has opened up vertically. “Once they see it, they can get on the bandwagon.” St. John reports that sales of interactive whiteboards have grown by 300 percent in the last 20 months.
At Smart Technologies, vice president of marketing Scott Tallman sees a similar phenomenon. “The education market has led the way,” he says, “but the corporate market is catching up.” He partially credits declining prices and expanding capabilities for the trend, but also says it reflects the fact that “more people are using computers for everything they do, and they need to use the same tools in the conference room.”
Price was part of the picture when Biogen Idec of Cambridge, Mass., installed interactive whiteboards in two training rooms last year, says IT training coordinator Tammy Wilber. “Cost-wise, it wasn’t that much more than a projector, to get all that added functionality,” she says. “It was an easy choice.”
Biogen uses its two rooms chiefly for software training, and the ability to do demonstrations and visual annotations on a whiteboard was very appealing, Wilber says.
Biogen’s systems integrator, Groupcomm Systems in Newton, Mass., is also seeing a surge in sales of interactive whiteboards, says co-CEO Amy Holt. “The majority of the rooms we install now include Smartboards,” she says, noting the technology started from zero only five years ago. “It’s still growing significantly every year.”
For most clients accustomed to projectors and screens, she adds, the move to the boards has been easy. “The Smartboard gives all the same functionality plus interactive features,” she says. “Training departments are very excited about it. In a smaller, more intimate environment, it really works well.”
For larger rooms and audiences, Holt adds, many clients are using Smart’s Sympodium system, which links a 15in. LCD lectern display with a conventional projector.
“Quality installations include Smartboards in the design right from the beginning,” says Tallman. “A good AV integrator will let the client know what’s best for a room.”
Front projection boards are still the most popular choice, Tallman says, but overlays for plasma displays are becoming a significant option, he adds. Many users like plasma displays for their appearance and cachet, but also want the interactivity of the interactive whiteboard.
Tallman predicts the rapid spread of web-based collaboration will also accelerate adoption of interactive whiteboards. Currently, he says, the biggest users of the technology are companies with extensive design workloads, including software design and CAD applications that are often used collaboratively in small workgroups. But Tallman also sees a future for interactive whiteboards as a sales tool.
“It makes for very impressive sales presentations,” he explains. “It gives the effect that you really understand technology and know what you’re talking about.”
Perhaps a little further down the road, he adds, is fully interactive digital signage based on the whiteboards.
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