The 5 Steps Involved When Working With an Effective AV Partner to Set Up Video Conferencing for Your Workplace
Choosing the right AV partner is very important for the success of your workplace’s AV transformation. Finding a trusted partner that can provide the highest standard of services and capabilities will ultimately save you time and money and improve outcomes for the staff and stakeholders using the technology. Some of these services and skills may include specialist equipment sourcing and having a strong network of resources on hand. It’s also important to look for an AV partner that assists with the support and general maintenance and running of your new equipment. We acknowledge that there is a range of different workplace AV partners and companies with different levels of specialty in different technology areas, however, this blog will focus on AV partners who provide a comprehensive list of services. To make the process easier, we’ve put together five key steps that should be involved when working with an effective AV partner, so that you can ensure your workplace is getting the best quality services possible.
(1) Requirements Gathering
The first important step to any successful business operation is to first understand the client’s needs. An effective AV partner should ask the right questions that will help you to determine exactly what your needs are and make recommendations around these. The more detailed you are with your AV provider, the more thorough they can be with their solutions engineering. There can be risks in failing to capture the complete scope in this early stage, these include things like project delays, stock availability issues and even limited functionality. Potential risks like these can be avoided by having detailed conversations with your AV partner at the beginning of the project. Alongside this, you should ensure that you have chosen to work with a partner who values honesty and transparency and can flag any issues related to your requirements openly and proactively, to avoid issues down the line.
(2) Solutions Design
Based on your goals moving forward, an effective AV partner will then design the most appropriate and cost-effective solution specific to your workplace and meeting room technology requirements. More specifically, an effective AV partner will consider things like the size and location of your space, your existing tech stack and preferred collaboration platform/s. If you’d like to look at what these aspects mean in more detail, we’ve written a previous blog on how to have the best meeting room technology for your meeting space. Being rigorous throughout this stage ensures that the client will have a solution that both meets their requirements and also takes into account other considerations that may not have been originally captured, leading to an improved outcome.
(3) Procurement
Once a plan is made, your AV partner will then source all of the necessary equipment. An effective AV partner will have strong existing relationships with vendors and a wide network of other connections in this area. This will ensure that your business is getting the best quality equipment at the best price possible. Your AV partner may even have a specialised procurement team to help optimise pricing and manage time commitments and stock access. At Engagis, we have a strong procurement capability and solid relationships with our vendors, which has helped us and our clients get the stock they needed on schedule, even throughout the global supply chain crisis.
(4) Installation
Working with an AV partner that offers comprehensive services means that they and their technicians will also manage the installation of your equipment. This will ensure that the equipment is installed safely and securely by professionals who the AV company is familiar with. An effective AV partner will also be able to ensure that their installation contractors have all the necessary certifications and approvals before attending the site. In addition to this, using the same AV partner through the process, including the installation, provides greater cohesion and reduces the need to explain your goals and priorities to a new company at every step of the process.
(5) Support
A thorough AV partner will often offer additional services and support once they complete installation. Many AV services providers, like Engagis, offer round-the-clock support, both proactive and responsive to ensure any issues are resolved quickly and efficiently and to maintain the highest possible uptime. This means you can have peace of mind with your new audio-visual conferencing set-up, and your staff can begin to use it with confidence.
There are major advantages to having a trusted AV partner that can deliver all these services and capabilities in one comprehensive service. As discussed above, an end-to-end AV partner will provide you with a more cohesive and streamlined process as it only requires one owner for a plethora of functions, as opposed to a multitude of different specialists. In addition to this, an effective AV partner will be well-versed and detailed in every aspect of the process, so you can ensure you’re getting the best quality equipment based on your requirements. At Engagis we offer the full package when it comes to setting up new conferencing systems for your workplace. To find out more, follow AV hardware and see how we can improve your workplace today.