Meeting Owls are flying over to our friends in the UK and will be available for purchase on Amazon UK starting immediately.

Timing couldn't be better. A recent OnePulse study of over 1,000 UK employees discovered that 80% of workers have a hard time staying engaged when joining meetings remotely. A further 53% feel their companies aren’t doing enough to meet the needs of modern day and remote flexible working.

It makes sense -- have you ever joined a video call? Think back to your own experience. What was it like? Perhaps it was unnatural, difficult to see, hear, or follow the discussion.

Perhaps it was awkward, as if you were watching a bad TV show version of a meeting vs. actually interacting with the group. To start, this is generally due to the angle or positioning of the camera itself, whether it be at the far end of the room or above the TV giving a "fly-on-the-wall" perspective. 

Given the growth of remote and distributed work, we need to step back and consider what makes collaboration truly effective.

The mission of the Meeting Owl is to give remote attendees joining a video conferencing call an experience that feels like sitting in the room with the team. As one of the first IoT devices for the company conference room, its improves collaboration and productivity in quite a new way.

So how does it work? First, the Meeting Owl combines a 360° camera, mic and speaker into a single USB device that connects to your laptop or in-room computer. Then, you can go ahead and start a video call in your software of choice, whether that be Skype, Zoom, Webex, or others.

Once the meeting starts, the remote participants see a full 360° panoramic view of the room. However, the real magic begins when the Meeting Owl automatically highlights different people, switching the focus to show different individuals when they speak. So if Jane and John get into a great debate across the conference room table, the person logging in will see a split screen of the two people as if he or she is sitting right there at the table.

The introduction of the Meeting Owl to the UK also brings new wifi-connected technology to the business world. It works alongside a free mobile app that includes a number of features such as access to meeting room usage data and manual focus for the camera.

Given that remote and distributed work is evolving from a "nice-to-have" to a company standard, experiences like the Meeting Owl are required to enable maximum productivity across remote and in-office workers alike. Without it, companies are at a loss.

Max Makeev, CEO of Owl Labs, said: “In an era of remote and flexible work, the need for an effective working process, for those in and out of the office, is crucial. However, UK companies are so far failing to meet the needs of the modern workplace. The Meeting Owl delivers a more inclusive experience that aims to salvage those previously wasted hours spent in unproductive meetings.”

When you're ready, our new UK customers can purchase their new Owls from Amazon UK.