Meeting Room Trends in 2026

Interview with Arthur Shakurov

Hybrid work has become firmly embedded in the day-to-day operations of companies, and meeting rooms are no longer seen as simply a screen, camera and microphones. In 2026, customer expectations are shifting towards simplicity, consistency and manageability: meetings should start without technical assistance, remote participants should be able to see and hear what is happening just as clearly as those in the room, and IT teams should be able to monitor system status and manage equipment centrally.

Arthur Shakurov, Brand Manager for Xilica, Pleneo, Sennheiser and ClickShare at Sound Creations, explains how requirements for corporate meeting rooms are changing and which technologies are becoming the new standard.

— What do customers consider the top priority when designing a meeting room today?

— Predictability. Users do not want to figure out which input to select, which cable to connect or where to switch on the microphone. They walk into the room and expect to be talking to their colleagues within a minute.

This is not just a matter of convenience. Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index reports that 60% of meetings are unscheduled or ad hoc. That is why a good project today starts not with a list of equipment, but with an understanding of how people will actually use the room.

This is also driving demand for simple laptop-based connectivity. ClickShare, for example, allows users to join a meeting through their familiar videoconferencing application and connect to the room camera, microphones and display without constantly changing cables or adapters.

— Does this mean complex audiovisual systems are becoming a thing of the past?

— No. The complexity simply needs to disappear from the user’s point of view. A medium or large meeting room still requires professional audio processing, multiple devices and precise configuration. But employees do not need to know what is happening behind the scenes.

This is why the market is moving towards pre-tested configurations and software-based automation. With Xilica solutions, for example, audio processing, echo cancellation, system control and automatic camera switching can be combined into a predefined room workflow.

— Why is there so much focus on audio in hybrid meetings?

— Because poor video is frustrating, but poor audio can ruin the conversation entirely. If a remote participant cannot understand what is being said, hears echo or constantly has to ask people to repeat themselves, they effectively drop out of the discussion.

This is why we are seeing a shift from tabletop microphones to ceiling microphone arrays that can automatically detect where the person speaking is located. The idea is that users should not have to lean towards a microphone, look for a button or think about the technology at all. They should be able to communicate as naturally as if they were speaking to someone sitting across the table.

In 2025, Australian premium coworking network GPT Space&Co deployed Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 and TeamConnect Ceiling M microphones in meeting rooms of different sizes. The goal was not only to improve audio quality, but also to preserve flexibility in furniture layouts so that each room could support different meeting formats without changing the user experience.

When paired with Xilica DSP processors, these microphones can also provide directional data about the person speaking, allowing the system to automatically select the appropriate camera view. From the user’s perspective, this happens seamlessly: once someone starts speaking, the camera switches to the relevant shot, making it easier for remote participants to understand who is addressing the meeting.

— How do modern meeting rooms create a stronger sense of presence for remote participants?

— This has already become one of the key measures of meeting room quality. In the past, a camera would often show a single wide shot, leaving remote participants looking at several small figures sitting around a long table. Today, customers expect appropriate close-up views, automatic framing, speaker tracking and clear content presentation.

Features like these are gradually moving from optional extras to standard functionality. For example, ClickShare video bars offer group framing and composition mode out of the box: the camera can automatically identify participants and display individual close-up views in a tiled layout. ClickShare Bar Pro also supports active speaker framing.

Following the same trend, in 2026 Pleneo is expanding its ecosystem with RoomVision cameras featuring automatic framing and speaker tracking. The principle is the same: the system should adapt to people rather than forcing people to adapt to the system.

— What is changing from the IT team’s perspective?

— The meeting room is becoming a fully fledged IT resource. Remote monitoring, software updates, consistent configuration and the ability to quickly identify why a particular room is unavailable are all becoming essential.

At the same time, security is moving to the forefront. Audio, video and corporate data pass through these systems, so information must be protected through encryption and access control. This is particularly important for organisations where confidential information is regularly discussed in meeting rooms.

In 2026, AVIXA, the international professional association for the audiovisual industry, highlighted another stage in this evolution: meeting rooms are becoming a source of data about how spaces are actually used. Room booking and workplace management systems can already take into account occupancy and room utilisation. This means that meeting room design is no longer only about audio and video quality, but also about what data the equipment can provide to corporate IT systems.

A centralised approach to meeting room management is therefore becoming increasingly important. Pleneo enables IT teams to monitor system status, manage equipment remotely and integrate room systems with the wider IT infrastructure. A similar principle applies within the Barco ecosystem: XMS Cloud allows IT teams to centrally monitor and manage ClickShare solutions, check their status and maintain devices remotely.

For large organisations operating dozens or even hundreds of meeting rooms, the ability to manage them through a single platform becomes particularly valuable.

— What is the most important advice you would give to a customer upgrading meeting rooms in 2026?

— Do not start with the equipment. Start by answering four questions: who will use the room, how will people join meetings, what should remote participants be able to see and hear, and who will support the system once it is deployed?

If a meeting room only makes sense to an engineer, the project is not finished. A good modern system should combine professional audio and video with the simplicity of an everyday office service: it should work consistently, require no special training and be scalable across dozens of rooms.

That is why individual equipment specifications matter less today than how well the entire system solves the user’s task. Automatic framing, ceiling microphones, wireless connectivity and centralised management can all be valuable, but none of these features delivers much on its own.

Ultimately, a good meeting room is one where the meeting starts on time, participants can see and hear each other clearly, and users do not have to think about how the technology works.