What Is Meeting Parity and How Can Organizations Achieve It?

Kjesbu refers to meeting parity as “Distance Zero,” meaning the act of rendering physical distance irrelevant. Technology is the critical bridge in helping organizations create this experience for their workers: “It’s about ensuring everyone is empowered with the connected devices and software needed to ensure seamless collaboration experiences.”

“Meeting parity is intended to drive inclusivity,” says Joe Mukherjee, director of technical consulting at HP Poly, in a video interview with CDW. “Everyone should be heard and seen and be able to share their thoughts. Regardless of whether they’re working from a coffeehouse, their kitchen, or from their garage, collaboration is key.”

How to Evaluate Meeting Parity

One way to measure how well an organization is achieving parity is to conduct experience polls to see how included employees feel in meetings, suggests Jitesh Gera, research manager for Unified Communications & Collaboration at IDC.

“AI can also be of help here as it can track meeting participation parameters such as who spoke for how long and who had their questions answered and who didn’t,” Gera says.

Analytics allows enterprises to measure parity by evaluating network performance, audio and video streaming quality, device usage and participant engagement, Kjesbu says. Cisco Control Hub and Spaces offer device management tools and workplace analytics capabilities that allow users to spot and address issues that create friction and interfere with meeting parity, Kjesbu says. Control Hub also lets companies gather user feedback from participants on meeting parity.

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AI, Virtual Meeting Zones Enable Meeting Parity

AI allows meeting platforms to highlight who is speaking, and participants can block out ambient noise to make sure all speakers can hear the meeting sufficiently. AI features that manage how speakers are shown avoids a “bowling alley view” in which ceiling tiles are visible and speakers are at the back of the room, Mukherjee says. Instead, the technology can zoom in on participants as they speak.

“You’re getting a focus in terms of who’s in the room,” Mukherjee says. HP Poly’s multifocus feature can place two participants in equal space on the screen, whether they are together in the room or not. That allows viewers to see other participants’ nonverbal cues, Mukherjee says. This capability involves “zooming in on participants sitting at the far end of a table to give them better screen share,” Gera says. “These are typically multicamera and microphone systems that cover participants from every angle.”

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Microphones with artificial intelligence built in can eliminate nonverbal communication such as clapping, a dog barking or cars honking across the street. Other features that help enhance parity include dynamic participant tiles, which AI can automatically change based on who is more active in a meeting, Gera says.

Also consider virtual meeting zones that can block out sound and video from outside a meeting area, which could prove to be useful with transparent glass meeting rooms and open huddle spaces, Gera said. In fact, 25% of organizations worldwide said AI videoconferencing features such as speaker framing, multiple camera layouts and virtual meeting zones comprised the top three factors when considering a unified communication and collaboration platform, according to IDC's Cloud Communications and Datacenter Services Survey, August 2024.

When implementing AI to achieve parity, the technology should function as a “supporting act,” according to Kjesbu. “It should not be a clunky or confusing experience. It should be intuitive and unnoticed. It’s also essential to ensure that collaboration solutions can be managed and deployed at scale.”

Hardware Supports All Meeting Platforms

Another aspect of meeting parity is that mobile phones, tablets, and laptops support use of multiple collaboration platforms, including Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Cameras, microphones and headsets should be set up and certified to work with multiple collaboration services.

“With customer expectations for flexible collaboration at an all-time high, organizations must provide interoperable solutions that allow users and organizations alike to leverage the tools they’ve already invested in, that feel familiar and useful,” Kjesbu says.

Some organizations are also experimenting with allowing workers to join conferences using QR codes, Mukherjee says. Some participants may opt out of parity by keeping their cameras off during meetings, Gera notes. However, with all of the features available in collaboration platforms, organizations can work to make meetings as equitable as possible.