The modern board room is a different creature than the one from even a generation ago. The board room used to be an essentially simple area; there was almost no technology in the room except the phone and maybe a projector for slides and overlays. In the current board room, it is necessary to work with an IT person in order to properly prepare a presentation; things have changed and it has become necessary to expect a certain level of technological expertise. Thus, the board room equipment necessary to properly run a meeting has changed.
The New Basics
As noted, all that used to be needed to run a meeting is possibly a phone capable of handling multiple telephone lines at once and possibly a projector, and the projector could be wheeled in. However, the rules have changed as we have become not only more technology savvy but also more likely to telecommute; a lot of executives work from home and not the office. Because of this the needs have changed as well; a board room, even with everyone physically present, should have a laptop with a projector so that presentations can be created and shown to others in addition to the phone.
A Few Extras
As noted, not everyone may be in the board room during a meeting. This means that you need to make sure that board room is connected to the internet and that you have the means to make sure that they have the means to communicate with the others. This is why you should have some sort of webcam in place that gives a decent view of the entire board room as well as making sure that the laptop giving the presentation is also sending the other people the same presentation. This system is actually not that hard to set up, and can be set up in a few minutes.
So if your board room has the phone, webcam setup, and a laptop with projector and internet connections for presentations, you should be pretty much set. You may also want to include a good coffee maker and chafing dishes as part of your board room equipment just to make the room more comfortable for the attendees. Of course, you should also have a sturdy table and comfortable chairs, but that should be somewhat obvious. The room needs to allow people to talk comfortably and with people that are not present; keep that in mind and your board room should facilitate your meetings better.
