We’ve all seen it in homes: A side table covered with remote controls for the video display, the sound system, and the cable or streaming device. Even such a basic set-up can be a recipe for confusion for every new or occasional user. Add in the wired connections that may never get touched until the owner moves and debugging the loss of picture or sound or service can turn into a snipe hunt.
In a business context, these problems may look different. Their cost is certainly higher.
With multiple users adjusting the settings on shared AV installations, it’s possible to lose literally dozens of man-hours on set up. Meetings can be delayed, and productivity can be impacted. Of course, these are just superficial issues and can be easily addressed by enterprise-class user controls or even automated systems.
The bigger issue is inside the walls. For this, there is no substitute for complete and actionable documentation. Such documentation should be available at three levels: Physical (or architectural), functional, and operational.
As with any other electrical schematic, the AV portion of the architectural drawings will show where the cabling is installed, but one step that can go overlooked is labeling each cable as it is on the drawings. Unlike lights or power outlets, AV connections are configured for specific uses. A well-documented drawing will be noted with each specific item of gear and how cables are connected from one end of a device to another device via conduit pathways. The documented drawings will also need to have the type of cable, cable labels, types of equipment, equipment placement, device settings, etc. This can save days of work when repairs, regular service, or upgrades need to be performed in the future. Drawings will also help the technicians on prewire, the programmer on programming the devices, and the commissioner on what type of devices are in the room to test.
Ideally, these notes will be cross-referenced to the related notes in the original RFP and the resulting bill of materials. This becomes even more important in the event of an audit. Having thorough documentation of where everything is, and its role can simplify such a process considerably. It is also the perfect foundation for upgrades if and when they happen.
Functional level documentation should be prepared with facilities management in mind. This will be helpful—or even crucial—when all the AV endpoints have been installed. At a minimum, this can save hikes around the building or the campus to assess the infrastructure before addressing a service ticket. In the case of planned upgrades or reconfigurations of rooms and equipment, functional documentation allows for planning and provisioning with greater certainty and less spadework.
Operational documentation of end-point equipment can be a huge time-saver for facilities management and may even be helpful for users. This type of documentation should go beyond product manuals, not in detail, but in simplicity. Nothing can balloon service time like poring through manuals looking for the right section, much less the right detail. Reconfiguring such documentation for practical use can save a lot of time and frustration on a service ticket.
In sophisticated enterprise implementations, there may also be custom configurations for equipment like the aforementioned automated controls. Having documentation for the device itself may be practically useless. It’s critical to know the specific equipment with which it’s integrated and the proper configuration. It is also critical to have redlines/As-builts documented after the project is completed for accuracy of what was implemented on the project site. This can eliminate hours of discovery.
All this documentation may sound like a full-time clerical function of its own, but it doesn’t have to be. It just needs to be planned for at the beginning of the project. A systematic approach to AV strategy, design, engineering, and implementation will be informed by just this kind of thorough documentation. Then, it’s just a matter of proper formatting to make it actionable for the concerned stakeholders.
Some enterprises may even require this level of detail. Federal and other public sector implementations would be such an example. By taking this requirement and formatting it to serve all the downstream applications, the time and money savings can be considerable.
And the side tables in that space might even look better.
