The original whiteboard was made publicly available in the mid-1960s. You know, back before the Internet, smartphones, and around the time that the closest thing to a computer as we know it was a $3,200 calculator. And, no, that price doesn’t account for inflation.
Interactive whiteboards are the technological evolution of the old classroom and workplace staple. Their existence isn’t necessarily new, but their value as a significant benefit to meetings and presentations has just recently come to the forefront of modern business.
Here are five ways interactive whiteboards can improve your workflow:
1. Turn Meetings into Collaborative Productions
Instead of spending 30 minutes on one-way presentations being scribbled across a whiteboard or slid across a PowerPoint, an interactive whiteboard enables meeting participants to engage with the information being discussed.
Files can be easily shared, accessed, edited, and saved all on the interactive whiteboard. You can iterate in real-time, making changes to whatever topic is at hand as you receive feedback from your colleagues.
2. Communication
Not only can you share files with those at the meeting, but an interactive whiteboard allows you to easily share the screen with remote attendees.
Everyone’s dealing with exactly the same information, making sure that all collaborators are on the same track. At the end of the meeting or presentation, you can email, print, and share everything that was discussed.
3. Annotate Documents
When I say annotate I don’t mean scribbling a note in a different colored marker, I mean making effective and persistent changes to your documents.
ARC’s SmartScreens, for instance, can be used to interact and annotate on top of BIM 3D models, hyperlinked drawing sets, estimating software, videos, and any other applications used in the construction industry to further improve your communications and document workflow.
Try doing that with your high school math teacher’s whiteboard.
4. Mobile Connectivity
If you’re using the right hardware, you should be able to connect your interactive whiteboard to all your iOS and Android smart devices with a single app. This means an even greater range of data sharing and interconnectivity.
Best part is you no longer need to decipher someone’s cryptic marker scrawl or scramble to jot down fast moving slides.
5. No Dry Erase Markers Needed (Touch Technology)
Forget the mouse and finicky pointers. All your presentation information is at your fingertips — literally — as you can use from one to five fingers to gesture and interact with touch-screen whiteboards. Increased efficiency with the added bonus of no marker stains on your hand.
