Huddle room hype has waned, but it helped promote the concept of simplifying video in the workplace. Now, organizations could consider a video everywhere strategy.

Several years ago, the huddle room trend dominated the video conferencing market. Every hardware and software vendor sold huddle room-branded products. Every trade show booth had the word huddle emblazoned everywhere.

The huddle room concept came into clear focus. Suddenly, video conferencing hardware was affordable and easy to use to support huddle spaces. The software was flexible and powerful enough to make it all work.

Business video communications was no longer limited to the C-suite in the boardroom or large conference rooms. Regular working teams, in their smaller workspaces, collaborated with remote team members on video calls for more effective meetings. Everyone was excited to huddle in small groups. Then, COVID-19 hit. Huddling went from a cool way to work to a way to get sick. Social distancing -- the exact opposite of huddling -- quickly became the new norm.

By now, many workers have returned to the office, but things are different. The pandemic sparked lasting changes. Organizations now have different workflows and work environments. As a result, the huddle space concept needs to be revamped to accommodate today's modern workplace.