The Future of Office Technology

Who would have thought nine months ago that 42% of Americans would be working from home, which is not likely to change in the near term. The kitchen and bath showroom industry certainly has adapted. Virtual initial meetings are now par for the course for many. Initial and other virtual meetings help to save time, improve efficiency and eliminate tire kickers.

Advances in virtual technology will continue to redefine the future of work and, in many cases, improve productivity and professional accomplishment. New platforms such as Remesh enable showrooms and manufacturers to research markets and collect and summarize anonymized views of up to 1,000 people on a topic or new product. This platform and others allow marketing specialists and showroom owners to react to focus group comments in real-time.

Digital tools such as sticky notes, shared digital whiteboards and co-editing tools help bring team members together if they are working from home.

Advances in technology will help make working and connecting with customers remotely more efficient and easier. Affordable home smart boards and large multi-monitor displays will make it possible for showrooms to project proposed designs from laptops or even smartphones. Advances in 3-D printing will allow showrooms to showcase products from around the world to their customers' home offices.

Ten years from now, the crackly Zoom calls will be a distant memory as remote work technology will be the next best thing to being there.