In recent months, organizations from around the world have been investing in surveillance technologies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in space work. But post-pandemic workplace monitoring systems may become standard office equipment in the coming years.
For example, in October, a report of Gartner he predicted that 75% of workplace conversations will be "recorded and analyzed" by 2025.
A recent patent filing by Microsoft shows a shift towards a new office space.
The Microsoft patent describes a monitoring system consisting of a number of monitoring devices to analyze meetings and participants to provide a score for these events as well as detailed feedback. According to company this will help the organizations to improve future meetings.
The patent summary describes a system designed to observe and “collects quality parameters. "
Let's see what the company means by "quality parameters."
The image below shows a conference room with many participants in their seats. The meeting room has “multiple Appliances παρακολούθησης ποιότητας συσκέψεων”. Μία τέτοια device it also includes a thermostat that records the temperature in a given room. As the patent notes, "air temperature affects a person's comfort level and can negatively affect how comfortable and productive the meeting is when it is too high or too low."
The image also includes a camera which states that it could be used to track which invitees attended the meeting, analyze “body language and/or facial expressions,” as well as “the time each participant spends contributing during the meeting. "
The third monitor is a microphone on a bookshelf and a potted plant. This device could be used to detect "speech patterns that indicate boredom, fatigue, etc.", as well as to record the time participants speak during a meeting.
The fourth "quality monitoring device" is "a personal electronic device" designed to serve as "a source of information about the behaviors of participants in a particular meeting".
Examples of behaviors described in the patent include “how much a participant participates in a meeting or does something else” such as checking email, sending text messages, or doing “tour on the Internet".
Of course the above image which very descriptively shows the increased surveillance in the workplace could lead to many reactions in the workplace due to concerns about data privacy.
(That would be ideal, but you never know. Conditions may not allow for reactions).
Do employers really need to know all this? According to the Microsoft patent, it is probably necessary to have "better working conditions"