SecondScreen FAQ

Why is a SecondScreen important when working remotely?

Working from home, it is difficult for employees and teams to maintain the same sort of social connection and face-to-face contact that exists within a physical office. These visual, face-to-face interactions, which we take for granted in a physical office are conducive to creating a productive environment and building team culture.

Asynchronous, text based communications through email, social media or chat products like Slack can fill some of the void, but it is not a replacement for the human connection that can only exist through seeing someone’s face and hearing their voice.

SecondScreen is a solution for companies and teams to stay connected through a simple hub for video, voice and signage based communications.

SecondScreen allows end-users to enjoy the benefits of an easily accessible and visible workplace communications hub. At the same time, by consolidating these communication channels to an accessory second-screen, SecondScreen can also limit the potential distraction of workplace communications by physically and mentally separating those channels from an employee’s workstation or laptop.

How does the SecondScreen work? What is included?+

SecondScreen comes in two formats.

SecondScreen Tablet is a fully self-contained touchscreen unit that sits at the corner of your desk and automatically connects over WiFi or LTE. Turning a desk into a full-featured conference room is simply a matter of turning it on.

SecondScreen TV allows you to have the same full-featured communications hub experience on any HDMI-enabled TV, whether in a living room or mounted on the wall of your home office. It comes bundled with a webcam and remote for controlling it anywhere in the room.

Culture is really important to our company.
How does the SecondScreen help with our company culture?+

Company culture is ultimately built around social connections, community and a common set of values and expectations fostered among the members of a team. SecondScreen helps by facilitating casual face-to-face communications between team members (not just within scheduled meetings) and giving teams a channel for broadcasting updates and celebrating wins across a company and across departments.

Why can’t I just use traditional video conferencing?+

Traditional video conferencing products were singularly designed for scheduled meetings and one off events. They were not designed for keeping teams persistently connected or for maintaining social contact. Additionally, traditional video conferencing is either meant to be run as an app on your workstation or for running a large board room meeting system.

SecondScreen employs a combination of video conferencing, VOIP, signage and interactive touch features to create a comprehensive communications hub on a compact, dedicated device. SecondScreen is designed for the needs of the permanent home office.

I see you are integrated with Hoopla. What extra functionality does that give me?+

Hoopla is a complete system to manage and motivate sales teams to perform their best. It combines data intelligence, motivational psychology, and game mechanics to celebrate success and inspire performance. Hoopla pulls data metrics from systems like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics and displays live sales team performance data across the company.

What does it mean for the SecondScreen to be default on?+

Traditional video conferencing was built for one-off and scheduled meetings and events. When the meeting ends, the contact channel closes. In a real office, I remain continually in contact with my colleagues. SecondScreen seeks to mimic that by being default on. That means they are either in a hangout and/or viewing real-time feeds of information from the rest of the company.

When employees are on the clock and “in the office”, they remain connected and engaged with all of the real-time activity going on within the company.

Is it distracting to have the SecondScreen on my desk?+

Not at all. The point of a SecondScreen is that it allows a user to physically and mentally separate their dedicated, internal communications channel from their workstation (the “First Screen”).

In the old days, employees used to have a PC or typewriter in the center of their desk with a phone on the side as the communications hub for internal and outbound calls. While mobile phones are great for personal, private calls on the go, SecondScreen is the true modern replacement for the company desk phone.

How many SecondScreens can be connected to a team?+

Each video conference room or hangout is limited to 100 simultaneous participants, depending on the choice of video conference platform.

Do I need anything special to make the SecondScreen work?+

All you need is a SecondScreen TV or Tablet device. Software and service can all be pre configured by the fleet operator/employer.

How do I use the SecondScreen?+

Turn it on. It just works.

How should I use the SecondScreen if I work in multiple locations throughout the day?+

With SecondScreen Tablet and its WiFi and LTE support, employees can easily take their office communications hub with them, whether they are working from home, overlooking the beach or working remotely from the mountains.

Can I mute my SecondScreen or turn off the video?+

Absolutely. We’ve designed SecondScreen to be respectful to the end user’s need for privacy and desire to avoid distraction when necessary. In the same way you can close the door to your office, SecondScreen allows users to mute their video and audio or go into standby whenever they desire.

Can I use my current Zoom or Bluejeans account with the SecondScreen?+

SecondScreen will work with existing Zoom or Bluejeans accounts. However, you may also purchase these together as part of a bundle with SecondScreen.