As we enter another year, Lockdowns may feel like a distant memory, but the Coronavirus pandemic has had a lasting global impact in many ways. Since 2019, many technologies have seen accelerated growth and development as a result of the changing ways of living and working during that time, and one of these that directly impacts the hospitality sector is the increase in working from home and the growing demand for BYOD, (bring your own device).
Before the Coronavirus pandemic, BYOD was the ‘buzzword’ for meetings. Hospitality venues wanted to ensure that their meeting and conference rooms allowed delegates to connect and collaborate on screen seamlessly and wirelessly from any device as part of an event, without the need for dedicated hardware, lots of messy cables or a lengthy setup process.
Then the pandemic hit, and with it came remote working, video conferencing and social distancing. BYOD seemed a thing of the past.
Fast forward to 2026, and the need for BYOD certainly hasn’t gone away; venues need to ensure that they can join up technologies as part of the new norm.
Working from home is now very much part of everyday life; some people are permanently based remotely, others are for a few days a week as part of hybrid working flexibility. This new, more mobile workforce travels with smaller and more portable devices; phones, tablets, compact laptops, and when they arrive at your meeting and event space, they need to be able to connect seamlessly with your installed technology and share screens in a meeting room, whatever technology format they are using.
In parallel with this, corporate security is also fighting to protect its data on all these mobile devices. Increasingly, we are seeing delegates travelling with laptops that have locked USB ports, which prevent the use of wired USB devices such as screen-sharing devices or Video conferencing. To mitigate this, venues need to ensure that they have a screen-sharing solution that does not require a USB socket or the installation of any software.
Some of the BYOD solutions available and installed by CGA include the ability to share your screen using MiraCast or AirPlay, using the preinstalled Windows and Apple/IOS functionality. Contact your CGA AV consultant to find out what will work best for your venue. Meeting rooms need to offer the right sockets to address this new technology shift, and or the ability for delegates to connect wirelessly to ensure that they remain a relevant and valid choice for this evolving workforce.
