Barco

Knowledge is the most important asset for many companies – and, to fully utilize a company’s total intelligence, collaboration is vital. Which requires content and a means of sharing it with colleagues. The BYOD trend – with people always carrying their laptop, smartphone and/or tablet with them – ensures that employees have their valuable content with them at any times. To enable sharing from these devices in an easy and straightforward way, Barco set up an in-house incubator team to develop ClickShare. As the first truly user-oriented and intuitive solution, it quickly became a leading wireless mirroring product. For the past 3 years, the ClickShare portfolio has been steadily upgraded with the addition of the CSM-1 product, the introduction of the ClickShare management suite, and the addition of new features and functions – including synchronized sound and full mirroring from mobile devices.

Rising popularity
As it introduced a new way of collaborating, ClickShare’s sales grew gradually. “We recognized the potential of ClickShare when the concept was first explained to us, but it was only until we actually had a ClickShare meeting that we realized how revolutionary this device really is,” says Eric Van Zele, CEO of Barco. “It was like something we had always needed, but didn’t know we needed it. That’s why people must really try it out themselves: once you click the Button, you’re hooked – and your meeting dynamics are changed forever. Because ClickShare is very popular in the hospitality sector, it’s almost becoming a standard part of a hotel’s meeting room equipment. A huge number of people are becoming familiar with the product – and this has greatly contributed to market awareness.”

ClickShare’s popularity is indeed on the rise. Leading distributors in Europe and North America are on board, and sales in these regions are increasing accordingly. Meanwhile, there is still a lot of untapped potential in the APAC and the Middle East regions. Today, the total sales network of over 1,000 resellers is continually expanding – and this is demonstrated in the sales figures. “Sales keep on growing, doubling revenue every year,” says Jan Willem Brands, Barco’s VP Collaboration. “Customers include numerous leading organizations in the oil & gas, professional services, financial, consumer goods, public services and hospitality markets. At the moment, there are about 200,000 ClickShare Buttons in the field; and the ClickShare apps for smartphones and tablets have been downloaded over 80,000 times.”

An exciting roadmap ahead
The development of the ClickShare product portfolio continues. In the coming months, new products will be launched to serve all segments of the Corporate AV market. “Collaboration is becoming very important in knowledge working environments,” Jan Willem Brands explains. “Users demand flexible, easy-to-use technology that simply facilitates getting their message across. ClickShare provides an excellent answer to these needs.”