Secure Hybrid Meetings Using Video Conference Devices

Using video technology to keep hybrid meetings secure

Last Edited: June 1, 2023

Rebekah Carter

Hybrid work has become the norm for countless businesses around the world today. Offering companies the opportunity to combine all the benefits of remote working opportunities with in-office staff members, hybrid solutions provide businesses with the best of both worlds.

Organisations can reduce overhead costs, improve engagement, and boost work/life balance by giving teams the freedom to work from anywhere while still empowering their on-site employees. However, while hybrid work has a host of benefits to offer, including increased productivity, it can also come with a host of complex challenges to overcome.

Specifically, one of the main concerns many businesses face when implementing hybrid work strategies involves figuring out how to keep conversations between staff members secure. When employees can connect to the office from anywhere, a company's threat landscape will naturally increase. When employees start embracing tools for collaboration and communication, such as video conferencing services, the risks can become more complex.

Fortunately, there are ways to secure hybrid meetings with the right devices.

Hybrid meetings are designed to bring external and internal employees together in the most productive way possible, enhancing the sharing of knowledge and insights. Video conferencing tools, with their ability to replicate the contextual components and human elements of face-to-face meetings, have quickly become the norm for these meeting strategies.

However, video can quickly create a host of security problems for businesses. For instance, built-in video cameras on laptops and smartphones can easily be hacked by malicious individuals, making it simpler for criminals to collect and use private information. Complex technology can prompt employees to use unsecured alternatives in meetings, opening the door to attacks.

In some cases, even video software can have security issues, allowing unapproved attendees to jump into a meeting without an invite. Some solutions even provide companies with limited options on how to store, manage, and transmit data through the cloud, making data breaches more of a concern.

According to Simo Miniya, Global Sales Director of Coolpo, by implementing secure video conferencing devices, companies can lower the risk of data breaches and ensure that their teams can collaborate safely and effectively, regardless of where they are located. As businesses navigate an increasingly complex security landscape of hybrid meetings, it's important to remember that the right technology can make all the difference.

Securing hybrid meetings and preserving compliance in the business landscape starts with making simple changes to employee processes. Asking teams to use secured technology and making sure they’re trained on how to keep data safe is crucial. However, it's also possible for businesses to reduce the security issues facing their teams by leveraging the right video conferencing devices.

Today's leading video conferencing devices, from meeting bars and webcams to speakerphones and microphones, are becoming increasingly intelligent. Innovators in the AV world are embedding their technologies with solutions which automatically encrypt conversations, secure discussions with artificial intelligence and more.

Plus, as the demand for hybrid work continues, many vendors are beginning to think about how they can implement security into the design of cameras and microphones, allowing teams to instantly block visual information and audio from being shared online.

To ensure devices aren't contributing to security issues in hybrid meetings, business leaders need to search for tools that offer the following solutions:

While wireless video cameras and built-in webcams on laptops and smartphones can seem convenient at first, they come with a host of security issues. Integrated cameras in devices can easily be hacked by external parties when the right protections aren't in place. Additionally, wireless devices transmit information through signals which can be intercepted by criminals.

USB webcams and video conferencing tools provide the crucial plug-and-play simplicity employees need to launch meetings quickly and effectively without the same security risks. They preserve the safety of video and audio streams and allow teams rapidly remove access to their hardware from connected laptops and computers in seconds.

To maintain security in the hybrid meeting world, users of video conferencing devices need to be able to maintain control over the content they’re sharing. Most camera solutions on the market today come with features which allow organisations to control various settings, cropping out parts of pictures, blurring backgrounds, and eliminating background noise.

However, some intelligent solutions can also allow employees to actively choose parts of their video stream they want to block from view. This can be extremely useful to businesses that want to ensure important information isn't being leaked through a video stream.

While ease of use might not seem like a crucial security feature for video conferencing at first, it can help to eliminate a lot of common problems caused by human error. When team members struggle to use video conferencing equipment, they’re more likely to leverage alternative solutions, like smartphone cameras and unapproved technology, to connect with colleagues.

This makes it harder for businesses to implement comprehensive security strategies which minimise the risk of lost data. An easy-to-use solution with built-in technologies such as auto-framing, gesture recognition, and full duplex audio not only improves the quality of each meeting but also helps to ensure every member of staff follows the right precautions when hosting meetings.

AI has become a commonplace tool in the video conferencing world, used for everything from simplifying meeting management with gesture and audio controls to instantly transcribing conversations. AI algorithms can also help to frame participants and keep them in the shot when they move around a meeting space and improve the quality of each conversation.

Artificial Intelligence can also be a powerful tool for security purposes. The right solutions can track participants and alert individuals if new people try to enter a call. Solutions can also instantly recognise speakers and make hosts and participants aware if someone is listening in on a meeting. There are even AI tools that can be used with biometric algorithms to help identify individuals.

Finally, keeping hybrid meetings secure depends on companies using the right combination of hardware and software. Many of the collaboration platforms and meeting tools used throughout the world today have their own security features already built in. Solutions like Microsoft Teams and Zoom allow users to set up password-protected meetings and locked conversations.

Some tools will also come with features which automatically encrypt video and audio content and keep recordings stored in secure environments for later analysis. The right video conferencing hardware needs to be able to rapidly and conveniently integrate with these platforms, so companies can continue to use secure security software for every hybrid meeting.