Tag Archives: Zoom

Learn How BEINCOURT, Carahsoft and Zoom Work Together to Make Hybrid Legal Proceedings a Permanent Reality

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In 2020, a global shift occurred that prompted many industries to embrace new technology. Legal proceedings that previously followed strict in-person protocols suddenly shifted to a virtual environment and turned to platforms like Zoom for solutions.

While in-person hearings have now resumed in most jurisdictions, hybrid court proceedings are here to stay. This new reality is the driving force behind a new partnership between Zoom, BEINCOURT and Carahsoft, who share the mutual goal of supporting a seamless transition from the virtual courtroom to a hybrid one in jurisdictions across the country.

The Benefits of Hybrid Proceedings

Carahsoft BIENCOURT Zoom Court Room Announcement Blog Embedded Image 2023

While the main benefit of virtual legal proceedings initially was continuity, other benefits quickly became apparent. Courtrooms using Zoom were able to expand access to a broader audience and make proceedings easier, more accessible and less financially burdensome for the parties involved.

Additionally, regarding court proceedings involving domestic violence or emotional abuse, the use of video technology provided victims peace-of-mind by allowing them to pursue justice through the legal system without having to share a room with their alleged abusers.

In essence, a hybrid model allows governments to reap the benefits of in-person proceedings and virtual ones. Even so, many courts need help choosing and procuring the right technology to enable this transition.

“Jurisdictions are at different stages of their technology journeys,” said Matt Mandrgoc, Head of U.S. Public Sector at Zoom. “With physical proceedings back underway, many courts are struggling to integrate video conferencing technology with traditional proceedings. That’s why this partnership and Carahsoft’s support is so important.”

Technology in the Hybrid Courtroom

As leaders in their respective spaces, BEINCOURT and Zoom are particularly well positioned to offer federal, state, and local governments a scalable, seamless way to support hybrid hearings. It is crucial for those physically in the courtroom to be able to interact with those joining virtually — just as it is crucial for the judge to remain in control of the proceedings.

By using BEINCOURT and Zoom together, the following features enable a seamless hybrid courtroom experience:

  • High-quality speakers and microphones
  • Multiple camera shots of the courtroom
  • Mechanisms for digital evidence presentation
  • Support for simultaneous language interpretation
  • Complete audiovisual control, including the option to stop screen or video sharing, and mute audio
  • Annotation and ASL capabilities for improved accessibility
  • The ability to play white noise to prevent attendees and jury members from hearing sidebar discussions

See a Mock Hybrid Courtroom Today

While Zoom and BEINCOURT offer the technology to power a hybrid courtroom, Carahsoft simplifies the procurement process for potential customers. Carahsoft will distribute the offering through relevant channels, tapping into their diverse public sector partner ecosystem.

Additionally, Carahsoft has built a mock hybrid courtroom simulation at its Reston, Virginia office that is also accessible virtually to remote customers and includes a bench, witness stand, counsel tables, two TVs (for screen-sharing and hybrid meetings), cameras, and miscellaneous hardware.

Sign up for a demo today to learn more about why hybrid courtrooms are here to stay.

Adapting with Evolving Higher Education Challenges

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For many colleges and universities, the global pandemic served as a wake-up call for more innovative teaching models. They quickly discovered that remote learning is no longer an occasional tool for specific situations. Instead, a mix of in-person and online platforms has become an imperative to ensure digital equity and educational excellence. Even before the pandemic, researchers cited the importance of course design and the need for a pedagogical shift to ensure success in blended learning. Now, many believe that as faculty and students become more proficient with the technology and adapt to online education, outcomes will improve. Close collaboration between faculty and technology teams is also important as both groups adapt to new teaching models. To ensure clear communication, many institutions will need to invest in cameras, microphones and speaker systems, and many classes may benefit from a technology assistant who keeps track of the messages students post and resolves any technical issues. Incorporating such modern tools alongside institutions’ legacy solutions presents a diverse set of challenges. In the Campus Technology survey, staying within budget constraints (44%) was the top challenge cited by respondents, and it goes hand in hand with choosing the right products, services and solutions (41%). Technological challenges also include getting legacy and modern solutions to work together (36%), sharing data between legacy and modern systems (27%), and managing and securing a diverse IT ecosystem (25%). Learn how, by investing in further modernization, your institution can boost its ability to meet current demands while maintaining flexibility to respond to the unknown challenges ahead in Carahsoft’s Innovation in Education report.

 

Embracing the New Normal in Higher Education

“By allowing students of different backgrounds, perspectives, and ages to interact with one another, a hybrid or HyFlex approach enriches the classroom experience. That flexibility should be used as a recruitment tool: By offering a range of options for in-person and online learning, institutions can dramatically expand their reach nationally and even internationally. The success of the new normal in education hinges on being able to measure student engagement. In a face-to-face classroom, instructors can note whether students are making eye contact and how many of them are raising their hands or asking questions. At Class Technologies, we enable instructors to bring that same emphasis on student outcomes into an online format.”

Read more insights from Class Technology’s Senior Director of Advocacy and Community, Dr. Kim Oppelt.

 

Using Data Analytics to Enhance Student Services

“In addition to automation, artificial intelligence can transform the way colleges and universities provide services to their students. When higher education leaders understand the value and availability of AI, they can create a vision for its adoption. Then data analysts can use AI to accelerate the institution’s delivery of student services and improve its ability to predict outcomes early, enabling educators to address trouble spots early or invest in key initiatives. With AI, analysts can focus at the level of the entire student population, a certain demographic profile or the individual student. For example, AI can integrate with a campus learning system to identify students who may be at risk of dropping out. To be successful, AI must be part of an institution’s overall data management strategy, and the IT infrastructure should be built or updated to support that strategy.”

Read more insights from Cloudera’s Senior Solutions Engineer, Brian Hagan.

 

A Cybersecurity Mesh Speeds Digital Transformation

“Research firm Gartner defines a cybersecurity mesh as a “flexible, composable architecture that integrates widely distributed and disparate security services” — in other words, it enables institutions to leverage a suite of complementary tools. A mesh architecture creates efficiency and greater coverage across the digital surface, while enabling the IT team to understand what’s happening on its network and better prepare for the next cybersecurity event. This concept can also reduce the number of point security solutions and products. To make the business case for taking that approach, focus on demonstrating return on investment. A mesh architecture reduces costs because it consolidates tools and services while simplifying digital transitions. The mesh components will enable standardized training and raise the bar on knowledge transfer across the distributed IT environment.”

Read more insights from Fortinet’s Field CISO for Education, Bob Turner.

 

Why Student Experience Equals Student Success

IIE Campus Tech June Evolving Higher Ed Challenges Blog Embedded Image 2022“Student needs are so individualized that a single, one-size-fits-all approach to services is ineffective. Institutions need systems that can constantly learn from students as they’re navigating their experience on campus and then take student-specific action. Qualtrics’ experience management platform enables students to share feedback in a host of different ways and then crucially, pairs that data with internal systems to help institutions gain a holistic view of those students. Campus leaders can listen, understand and act through a platform that gathers information and converts it into real-time insights for decision-makers. In addition, the Qualtrics platform uses artificial intelligence to help schools understand what friction points exist in the student journey and then helps to automate actions, such as connecting students with the right resources, at scale. By giving the right people the right information at the right time, AI enables institutions to intervene at the moments that matter most. It also helps decision-makers measure the impact of those actions.”

Read more insights from Qualtrics’ Vice President Higher Education Strategy, Joshua Sine.

 

Pivoting to Continuous Modernization in Higher Education

“Continuous modernization involves making small changes and regularly deploying those changes under a methodology called continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD). Users try out new features, and developers get immediate validation and testing throughout the entire process, which results in targeted and ongoing improvements. Another key element is automation. When rote tasks such as spinning up virtual machines, configuring networks or resolving users’ help tickets are automated, IT administrators can focus on more complex activities, such as improving processes or incorporating new technologies. In addition, containerization makes it easy to migrate applications and workloads back and forth from on-premises systems to the cloud as needed.”

Read more insights from Red Hat’s Chief Architect for Education and the North America Public Sector, Damien Eversmann.

 

Using the Power of Data to Support Collaboration

“Data analysis can help institutions gain a fuller understanding of their cybersecurity posture. For example, it can enable risk-based alerting, so staffers are not overwhelmed with security alerts that aren’t important. In addition, many institutions are merging their development, security and operations cycles in a methodology called DevSecOps. That collaborative approach ensures that security is an integral element of IT systems rather than an afterthought. Collaboration also results in deeper insights. When institutions can access and analyze student experience and outcomes, they have a much clearer picture of what they need to do from a strategy and planning perspective to enhance academic programs and student services.”

Read more insights from Splunk’s Strategic Advisor, Frank Myers, and Business Development Manager, Elizabeth Thompson.

 

A Data-Informed Approach to Recruiting and Retaining Faculty

“UT Austin has a strong commitment to nominating faculty for major awards across racial and gender lines. However, we wanted to pinpoint any gaps in the nomination process to make sure we retain talented faculty members by recognizing a diversity of research. We chose to partner with Tableau because the company offers a user-friendly process for developing self-service dashboards. In this case, an awards analysis dashboard helps us quickly identify under-awarded faculty in each department and drill down into race/ethnicity and gender information. As a result, we have achieved better equity in the awards nomination process and improved our faculty recruitment and retention efforts.”

Read more insights from the University of Texas at Austin’s Chief Data Officer and Executive Director of Institutional Reporting, Research and Information Systems, Shiva Jaganathan.

 

Creating a Single Source of Data Truth

“The ability to make those kinds of informed decisions hinges on robust data sharing. Unfortunately, many institutions still lack consistency in data access and management. And when data exists in silos, there is no single source of truth. Breaking down silos to give end users the power to do their own research is crucial, and that culture change starts at the top. Leaders must drive the demand for universal access to data so that everyone can be confident in the data they’re using and the decisions they’re making. ­At Tableau, our mission is to help people see and understand data. We continually enhance our product to ensure that decision-makers at all levels have access to the data and insights ­they need.”

Read more insights from Tableau’s Regional Vice President of Education and Nonprofit Sales, Cassidy Macias, and Vice President of U.S. Education Enterprise Sales, Adam Ingram-Eiser.

 

Discovering the Endless Possibilities of Automation

“From recruitment through graduation and beyond, automation can play a crucial role in ensuring that students have the experience the college or university wants them to have. Automation can help students succeed, and after they graduate, automation can be used to stay in touch — for example, by congratulating them on a new job when their LinkedIn profile changes and encouraging them to give back to the university. In the past couple of years, a mental health crisis has arisen in higher education, and many students withdrew from institutions or struggled to keep up with their studies. Tackling the issue should be a top priority in higher education because the crisis will continue for at least a few more years as people become accustomed to going back to campuses and in-person learning. Automated services can help institutions check in with students to see how they’re doing and connect them with mental health resources if necessary.”

Read more insights from UiPath’s Global State, Local and Regional Government Industry Lead, Dan Horan.

 

A More Immersive Experience for Students and Staff

“Zoom was a market leader in higher education even before the pandemic because our tools are affordable and easy to use. We have built a unified communications platform on top of our popular videoconferencing technology and, for the past two years, have focused on creating a superior on-campus experience by integrating communication across all operating systems and expanding capabilities via cloud telephony with Zoom Phone. For example, among many amazing features, using the Zoom application on a smartphone gives users the ability to have Zoom Phone voicemail messages transcribed and sent to their e-mail. In addition, while most people are familiar with the chat function that’s enabled during a Zoom meeting, we have a separate, robust Zoom Chat collaboration tool built into our unified communications stack. It allows users to create communication channels for particular projects or teams and conduct one-on-one or group chats.”

Read more insights from Zoom’s Global Education Marketing Lead, Johann Zimmern.

 

Download the full Innovation in Education report for more insights from these IT modernization thought leaders and for additional industry research from Campus Technology.

Turning Vision into Reality: How Agencies Can Forever Improve

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In the past two years, agencies have taken a hard look in the mirror. Often on short deadlines, they had to stand up new IT systems, design innovative customer experiences, collect and manage hordes of data, provide tools for a newly remote workforce, and evaluate funding and other resources. Some agencies managed with what they had; others were exceptionally ill-prepared. The immediate challenge was a health care crisis that had overwhelmed much of society. But now that we’ve entered what’s known as the post-peak phase of the pandemic, it’s time for agencies to consider, “What next?” The purpose of this guide is not to help organizations prepare for the next disaster. The purpose is to go beyond that — to explore how agencies can take a broader, more overarching and continuous approach to self-improvement. Download the guide to read more about how to institute continuous modernization to exceed your goals.

 

Digital Transformation Starts with Strategy

“For many people, the first and only interactions they have with a government agency are through its website, and good first impressions can go a long way. It’s not just having an exciting color palette, cool graphics and boxes that flip over when you hover your cursor on them. It’s about building a site, a platform, that appeals to and serves the public and is intuitive, quick and secure. It needs to highlight the work an agency does, the services it offers consumers and the resources it makes available.”

Read more insights from Mobomo’s Chief Executive Officer, Brian Lacey.

 

Videoconferencing: Modernizing How Employees Connect and Collaborate

“At the intersection of all the types of reforms we cover in this guide — people, technology, innovations and budgets — lies one that has reimagined what it means to communicate: videoconferencing. Indeed, when agency offices temporarily closed nearly two years ago, employees who knew little about their laptop cameras suddenly became webinar proficionados. They scheduled video meetings, learned to read body language from the chest up, and got a peek into coworkers’ home lives. And many agencies discovered that video technology not only made remote work a viable long-term option, but it allowed organizations to expand their customer services in a forward-looking, energized way — akin to what the private sector often provides.”

Read more insights from Zoom’s SLG Industry Marketing Manager, Elijo “Leo” Martinez.

 

How to Cross the Analytic Divide and Democratize Data

“In one of America’s largest counties, a public health agency struggled with collecting and interpreting COVID-19 test results quickly and accurately because of data quality issues requiring hours of manual review. Analytic automation made a difference. This technology unified processes across analytics workflows by analyzing data quality and format before notifying relevant parties about potential compliance issues. Ultimately, analytic automation saved the agency five full-time equivalent employees manually reviewing data quality and notifying reporting labs about errors in this information. Reducing the amount of manual labor also accelerated the time needed to map COVID-19’s spread and address related public health challenges.”

Read more insights from Alteryx’s Director of Solutions Marketing, Public Sector, Andy MacIsaac.

 

IIG GovLoop Modernization Guide Blog Embedded Image 2022Are People at the Center of Your Modernization Efforts?

“Agencies have to be mindful of the narrative that people believe about the nature of government work. They must be skilled at cutting through the noise and using language that speaks to the heart of what government does and why that work is critical. ‘Government matters, and we have seen that very dramatically for the past two years,’ Heimbrock said. ‘Not only is government’s ability to respond to crises the difference between people living and dying, but our government institutions are under attack.’ Agencies can’t afford to be stymied by bureaucratic entanglements and dated technologies, which are steep prices of not paying attention to modernization.”

Read more insights from Qualtrics’ Chief Industry Advisor for Government, Sydney Heimbrock, Ph.D.

 

Making a Case for Continuous Improvement

“Home improvement shows are something of a metaphor for government modernization. You can superficially update an old home for quick sale and profit, or you can do more intensive and long-term improvements that require additional time, talent and, of course, money. And as outdated as the home may look, it’s worth remembering it probably was impressive in its day — kind of like the bygone technology that still supports many government agencies. That’s the parallel Brandon Shopp with SolarWinds drew when asked about the need for continuous agency modernization. ‘Technology is evolving constantly,’ he said, ‘and so unless you want to end up with something like a house that looks very dated and old, you need to stay on top of things.’”

Read more insights from SolarWinds’ Group Vice President of Product, Brandon Shopp.

 

USAID Learns New Tricks of Training Trade

“Officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were on a path to harmonizing numerous data-related training when COVID-19 made virtual work a necessity. For USAID, this proved the perfect opportunity to roll out a training curriculum that worked for employees who were working remotely. Before the pandemic, USAID leaned heavily on classroom-based instruction. In exploring options for virtual training, it recognized an opportunity to rethink instructional design, said Julie Warner Packett, a Data Scientist at USAID who helps lead training on data use and governance.”

Read more insights from USAID’s Data Scientist, Julie Warner Packett.

 

A Federal Vision for Enterprisewide IT

“The state of Connecticut has launched a new “Information Technology Optimization Process” to replace the state’s disparate approach to agency IT. The yearlong initiative aims to deliver coordinated, modern solutions for agencies and the public alike — and recognizes that nearly 50% of the state’s IT workforce is older than 55. The new strategy has three overarching goals to improve state operations now and into the future. First, the plan aims to optimize existing technology by completely rethinking the structure of Connecticut’ IT delivery system. Second, the plan will accelerate efforts to deliver more digital government services. Using enterprise technology, officials aim to hide the “seams” between agency operations and user interactions. And third, the state will enhance its cybersecurity protections.”

Read more insights from OPM’s Chief Information Officer, Guy Cavallo.

 

Empowering Frontline Employees to Lead a Culture of Innovation

“Within the Veterans Affairs Department (VA), the Veterans Health Administration’s Innovators Network (iNET) stands out as a leader for several reasons. High on that list is the reality that innovation is just as much a mindset as it is concrete actions, and Allison Amrhein, Director of Operations for iNET, has the kind of growth mindset that’s needed to sustain and expand new ways of working. The program launched in 2015 in response to VA’s annual employee survey, which found that some employees did not feel encouraged to try new things at work. Today, the program operates across 34 VHA sites, but all sites may participate.”­

Read more insights from iNet Director of Operations, Allison Amrhein.

 

Wayne County Is Making Funding Last

“After Superstorm Sandy in 2012, New York City received Community Development Block Grant funding from the federal government to help rebuild storm-ravaged neighborhoods. Nearly a decade later, many of those projects — and the contracts that support them — are still going strong, said Rachel Laiserin, Chief Financial Officer of the city’s Department of Design and Construction. The key to those projects’ success has been a commitment to including contracting officers, procurement staff, legal teams and finance team members early in the process and maintaining a long-term perspective.”

Read more insights from Wayne County Michigan’s Chief Financial Officer, Hughey Newsome.

 

Download the full GovLoop Guide for more insights from these modernization thought leaders and additional government interviews, historical perspectives and industry research on the future of modernization.

The Best of What’s New in Government Customer Experience

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State and local governments faced a perfect storm of challenges at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemic response is now driving a more serious commitment to usability, accessibility and equity of government digital services. City and county officials ranked improving constituent experience and engagement as a top priority, trailing only cybersecurity, in the Center for Digital Government’s (CDG) 2021 Digital Cities and Counties surveys. And states ranked expanding and improving access to services as their top priority in CDG’s most recent Digital States Survey conducted in late 2020. Learn how your agency or municipality can adapt to this new environment, including taking advantage of COVID relief funds, modernizing IT infrastructure and expanding broadband in Carahsoft’s Innovation in Government® report.

 

Empathy Is Key to Exceptional Experience

“Migrating to cloud-based solutions should be a priority for organizations that are still using on-premises systems. As we’ve seen during the pandemic, cloud-native services let organizations respond, support remote work, scale and add new capabilities much more quickly during crisis situations. Gone are the days of hoping the next emergency doesn’t exceed your on-premises or hosted hardware’s capacity. AI and ML use cases will vary by organization, but the end goal is those who are able to use self-service can do so easily, those who opt out or have more complex needs can reach a representative, and representatives have the context they need to engage and resolve issues with empathy.”

Read more insights from Genesys’ Senior Solution Consultant for U.S. Public Sector, Christina Angel.

 

Digital Workflows That Empower Constituents

“Constituents are looking for a consumer-grade experience when they interact with their state and local governments. They expect government services to meet them where they are — meaning they want omni-channel 24/7 services in a seamless delivery format. They want answers in real time, as well as tools to help them find answers themselves. A great workflow allows rapid delivery of government services with intelligent case routing and automation. It reduces costs by enabling self-service, proactively answering common questions and providing automated service responses. Finally, it provides a single system of government engagement that supports digital transformation efforts to improve overall customer experience.”

Read more insights from ServiceNow’s Global Head of State, Local and Regional Government Solutions, Tom Yeatts, and CTO/Chief Architect of State and Local Government and Higher Education, Chris Dilley.

 

Modernizing Document Workflows to Improve Service and Equity

IIG GovTech January Embedded Image 2022“The resident experience has a number of components. The first is engagement. Experiences should be immersive and intuitive and on par with user experiences in private sector companies. The second element is efficiency. The experience on the backend should be as functional as it is beautiful, meaning it reduces errors, optimizes workflows, automates processes and quickly delivers tangible value for the agency. The third aspect is effectiveness. Agencies must be able to measure and evaluate, almost in real time, how effectively they are engaging users and realizing a return on investment, and then adjust accordingly. The final component is trust. Organizations must demonstrate that they can protect mission-critical workflows and satisfy rigorous government and industry standards.”

Read more insights from DocuSign’s Vice President and Global Head of Industries, Michael (MJ) Jackson.

 

Reinventing the Customer Journey

“It’s listening to people and the frontline employees who serve them. Designers and CX professionals cannot always sit down with customers, but reviewing data through the right platform can make them feel like they are. You need the right technology — including “listening” tools, predictive intelligence, analytics and full closed-loop actioning capabilities — to gain a holistic understanding of your residents’ experiences and take the right actions that drive meaningful impact. Don’t overlook employee experience. Engaged employees are 4.6 times more likely to be customer-centric compared to disengaged employees. Part of engagement is feeling heard and valued. Always-on collaboration tools, where employees can submit and comment on ideas and feedback related to the resident experience, put the people closest to residents at the heart of your CX program and help you build a more resident-centric culture.”

Read more insights from Qualtrics’ Government Industry Advisor, Jill Leyden.

 

Adapting to New Customer Behaviors and Expectations

“A digital experience platform is an integrated set of technologies that supports the composition, management, delivery and optimization of contextualized digital experiences. It supports modernization efforts by providing a broad set of solutions for engaging constituents online. The digital world offers many possible touchpoints for residents. Trying to independently solve for each desired touchpoint can lead to a scrambled web of conflicting technologies, but taking a tech-first monolithic approach will lead to disappointing engagement. A digital experience platform offers proven patterns for providing meaningful engagement, while also allowing flexibility to architect each touchpoint according to the organization’s preferences.”

Read more insights from Acquia’s Digital Transformation Leader for Public Sector, Joshua Smith.

 

Video Teleconferencing Puts Humans at the Center of Interactions

“We’re seeing a lot of success with court applications. One great example is the Texas judiciary, which announced in February 2021 that more than 2,000 state judges had hosted a combined total of more than one million virtual hearings via Zoom since the pandemic began in March 2020. We anticipate courts and justice systems will continue to leverage videoconferencing in lieu of, or in combination with, in-person hearings due to the benefits it brings to witnesses, judges, jurors and other participants. In the social work realm, video teleconferencing helps increase access and care between in-person visits.”

Read more insights from Zoom’s Head of U.S. State and Local Government, Jennifer Chang.

 

Download the full Innovation in Government® report for more insights from these CX thought leaders and additional industry research from GovTech.