BenQ are leaders in collaboration technology, bringing the finest in UCC to customers worldwide. With the introduction of the DuoBoard and InstaShow S, BenQ further solidifies its position in the market.

The DuoBoard

The pièce de résistance from BenQ, the CP6501K, or DuoBoard, is the ultimate collaboration tool. It’s an all-in-one display product that has a plethora of applications.

It’s the hub of the modern meeting room and comes with an arsenal of features. It comes right out of the box with an inbuilt full HD wide-area camera, six noise reduction long-range microphones, a wall mount, wireless WiFi adaptors and a slot in Windows PC.

It’s an interactive flat panel screen that is the be-all and end-all for collaboration in meeting rooms, shared offices, huddle rooms, open plan spaces in large enterprise, corporate, government settings, health offices or tertiary education.

“With the DuoBoard, customers can use this device for everything they may need in a corporate meeting room environment,” BenQ ANZ business manager Sanjay Handa says.

“That includes video conferencing with inbuilt camera and microphones, as a screen to cast from your BYOD device to present something, to collaborate and brainstorm simultaneously or even to watch video content.”

On the software side, the DuoBoard comes with inbuilt Zoom and Blizz video conferencing systems, a two-way sharing app InstaShare and the BenQ white boarding app EZWrite which lets multiple users write and collaborate simultaneously with 20-point touch capabilities.

Alongside the Android operating system, the slot in Windows environment opens up endless software opportunities.

The EZWrite also boasts a cloud feature, letting users invite an external guest to the session to simultaneously brainstorm on a particular session, project and application without a need of being in same room and on same network.

There are three main modes and features in the DuoBoard, Duo Board mode, Duo OS and Duo Windows.

• The Duo Board extends the panel by placing two boards next to each another in either portrait or landscape mode with the 65” variant. Using IR sensors on three sides of the panels, they detect one another and automatically sync up.
  “This mode also lets users access their cloud drives using NFC single sign on and transfer files across boards if required,” Sanjay says.
  “In this mode, users can also use one remote for multiple panels and utilise the spotlight and pointer functions which are inbuilt into the panel remote.”
• The Duo OS feature enables picture in picture (PIP) mode to view two sources simultaneously. For example, if the user is in a whiteboard app and wants to view the connected PC or Windows source, they can do so at the same time.
  “This mode is great for brainstorming and working with multiple people on a particular project. Essentially anything that requires you to visit different devices simultaneously, while working on projects like developing apps, marketing projects, graphic design, financial reviews and so on,” Sanjay outlines.
• Duo Windows splits the single DuoBoard into two screens which can run simultaneously with multiple users using the device as if it were just one for seamless results. The size of this screen can be adjusted to however is needed, so if there’s a video call on one side of the screen, the other can be used taking notes on a whiteboard app.
  “This feature increases the efficiency and productivity for the user as they can view and work on more than one app when in the Duo Windows feature,” Sanjay says.

On top of this, it has an intelligent NFC login feature which lets users walk up, log in with a commonly-used NFC-enabled card that may be used for printers/photocopiers or doors, and you’re up and running.

“This lets users sign in to the panel and have access to all their cloud drives like OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox or a network drives,” Sanjay explains.

“So the logic is that the user can come in without the need of an external device and simply tap to sign on, transforming a public device to a personal device and giving them access material saved in their cloud drives. After the session they can log out or utilise the auto log out settings on their profile and walk to another room and repeat the same process.”

Monash University pro vice-chancellor Kris Ryan spoke at the AETM 2019 conference, he found that for every second teachers or lecturers can’t get the room technology to work, the students lose a tangible amount of trust or confidence in the session.

While this is fair enough, there are some people that struggle with technology and that’ll always be the case. This NFC technology not only makes life easier for those people, but is a boost for those technically minded who want a fast, easy and most importantly, a secure way to access their content.

“Also, the back end portal, our device management system, provides an option for IT teams to select what drive option they want their users to have access to when signing in. For example, if the company is Office365 or G Suite they can  select their users to only use that particular drive when signing in with NFC, avoiding material being saved outside their preferred operating platform,” Sanjay says.

On the health and safety side of things the DuoBoard has an anti-microbial layer to protect the touch screen (and its users) from germs. Unlike most touch screens or panels in Australia, the DuoBoard also has a silver-ion coating with further details on its protection found here.

Buying a DuoBoard doesn’t lock your company or institution into that device for years to come. BenQ has made all their devices future-proof with constant updates on top of its bug fixes and improvements.

“Currently our R&D and product teams are in the process of developing new updates on the current BenQ EZWrite 5.0 which in future will be upgraded to a new generation of EZWrite. All of our new and existing clients will be able to update the panel to the new software once connected to internet,” Sanjay says.

The InstaShow S

The latest instalment in the BenQ wireless presentation line is the InstaShow S, a solution that lets users almost immediately share content from any device.

It’s built upon its predecessor in many ways including upping the transmission distance to 15m instead of eight, enabling 32 simultaneous connections above the prior 16 as well as including mobile device compatibility.

With multiple transmitters, users can channel their inner Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64, splitting the source screen up into four quadrants, displaying four separate sources which could be from IFPs, PCs, smart mobiles or tablets.

“The current BYOD trend can bring a major issue when an outside guest intends to present their content from their own device,” BenQ projector product manager Bejoy Babu says.

“Usually they would be given network access to make this happen which poses a significant risk to data security but with the InstaShow S, these risks are mitigated to a great extent.”

The InstaShow S is plug-and-play and leaves it at that. Users connect their device through the HDMI port and they can immediately start streaming up to 4K UHD video at 30Hz and 16-bit stereo audio.

What really separates the InstaShow S from the rest of its competitors is the security of the system. BenQ published this security white paper alongside the collaboration solution’s release. It shows the focus BenQ has on the vulnerabilities of wireless and IoT solutions.

“In a corporate environment, installing third party software has proven to be arduous. InstaShow S becomes a game changer as it functions without the help of any software,” Bejoy explains.

“Most competitors in the market install an executable file as soon as the transmitter is plugged into your device. This executable file can act as a potential threat to the corporate security network.”

The white paper outlines all security architecture in the solution including the HDMI module, wireless protocol encryption, WAN/LAN module design, EMI/ESD, internal/external streaming flow protection and much more. The main advantage of the white paper and security details is that it’s peace of mind. Pairing devices to the main source is simple and only takes one button with a connected laptop and it’s just as easy for Android or iOS devices through the InstaShare app.

As we look to the future after a time of unprecedented disruption, BenQ’s suite of collaborative tools offers certainty in a world that may be very uncertain for some time to come.

BenQ can be found on their website here or contacted on [email protected].