The Three Touchpoints

“The first touchpoint is scheduling,” says Mulpeter. “Give the user availability options and easy ways to book the space right at the outset.” The second touchpoint is the UC application that’s running in the room. “Is the space (or the meeting) running Microsoft Teams or Zoom software?” he adds. “Can I join that meeting with a tap?”

The third, of course, is control. “It’s at the heart of what we’ve been doing for a long time,” says Mulpeter. “It’s about taking complex technology and bringing all of that together and ensuring that the user experience of that touch panel matches what that room's workflow is intended for.”

And to accomplish that, less is often more. “You don’t need every button on a screen; it's about putting the right buttons on the screen for the intended workflow so that it's easy for non-technology-experts to use,” he adds.

There’s another benefit to this approach. “Think about your smartphone,” says Alex Peras, VP of product at Crestron. “You know where the power buttons are, you know what the ‘snooze’ button looks like, you know exactly where the volume controls are located. You can customize the screen, but there’s a consistent look and feel across every device when you’re using a particular brand.” When that consistency takes hold in the mind and muscle memory of the user, the technology fades into the background.

80 Series Touch Screens: Features at a Glance 

The Crestron 80 Series Touch Screens deliver purpose-built control solutions across three core applications: Scheduling, Unified Communications (UC), and Room Control.

General Features found on All Models 

• 8" and 10" high-resolution capacitive touch screen displays (excluding UC model; 10” only)
• Black and white finish options (excluding UC model; black only)
• PoE powered
• Wi-Fi® (except for Government models) and Ethernet connectivity
• Ambient light sensor for automatic brightness adjustment
• Built on Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP)
• 802.1X authentication, TLS encryption, and integration with Active Directory® credential management
• XiO Cloud® technology operations management platform monitoring and zero-touch provisioning
• Multiple mounting options (including wall-mount, tabletop, angled, and mullion)

Scheduling Touch Screens 

• Integrated RGB lightbar for room status visibility
• Support for various scheduling platforms (including Microsoft 365® software, Zoom® software, Spaceti® software, AppSpace® software, Joan®, and others)
• Occupancy sensor integration for “Decline-for-No-Show” automation

UC Touch Screens 

• Native Microsoft Teams® Rooms and Zoom Rooms® software interfaces
• Integrated Crestron Control within your UC platform

Universal Control Touch Screens

• User Interface via Crestron Construct™ software, Crestron HTML5 user interface, or HTML5
• Far-field microphone with mute button
• Speaker for audio feedback and paging/intercom

All of the Benefits

“MDEP also provides a consistent onboarding experience for the product,” adds Mulpeter. “What you'll see is a different level of ‘feel’ out of the box. One of the biggest things that we hear from installers is they want to press a few buttons and go — and the work we’ve done on this device achieves that. It’s something that’s incredibly important when you’re deploying at scale.”

Other features of the 80 Series Touch Screens are all about improving the user experience. The series is available in 8” and 10” models, all with Crestron’s signature minimalist aesthetic with black or white finishes. They offer the same flexibility as previous models, with wall-mounted or tabletop options.

Performance has seen a significant upgrade, too: The 80 Series Touch Screens boast Crestron’s fastest processor yet — and radar-based proximity sensing that “wakes” the device when someone approaches, with no need to touch or tap. A new ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the screen brightness for optimal visibility and comfort in any lighting condition. As for sound, these devices include upgraded audio and intercom features, including far-field microphones and premium speakers, as well as a microphone mute button with an indicator that provides users with instant control over their privacy. Every device includes an Ethernet port with PoE and PoE+ for clean, single-cable installation and reliable wired performance. Wi-Fi® connectivity is available, too.

The new 80 Series Touch Screens are yet another concrete example of what drives Crestron in the quest to “engineer a culture of collaboration”. “When people aren’t thinking about technology, they’re ‘in the moment,’” says Mulpeter. “They came into a room to teach, to meet, to collaborate, and when the technology is reliable and intuitive, they can stay in that moment.

“And ultimately, when that happens, culture thrives, right?”