You have had this date circled on your calendar for months. It’s finally the day of the big pitch and nothing can stop you. The presentation is done, the team is ready, and you even pulled in to the office 15 minutes early. You grab a cup of coffee on the way to the meeting room and confidently strut up to monitor to connect your laptop. But wait, thewireless connectionisn’t working and you are unable to hook up your presentation. You try restarting the system, but no luck. Ten minutes until the presentation and you are scrambling to figure out a solution. No one in the office knows if there is another way to connect, what the adapter looks like and if there is even one available in the office.
This scenario is played out every morning across America due to a lack of AV oversight. Many companies do not have onsite support meaning that often times employees are on their own when it comes to AV set up and use. You should not be worried if the AV will work for your presentation, rather you should be focused on crushing the presentation itself. The only way to ensure this is to have full time onsite support ready.
Onsite Equals a Proactive Approach
AV encompasses everything, from styling and design to implementation and support. Believe me, we’ve seen it all. Our team works with all teams from IT and operations to upper management and day-to-day staff. We ensure that meetings run smoothly, and a high level of experience is delivered. Being onsite is how we ensure this is 100% guaranteed. Integrators are able to anticipate needs and be proactive versus reactive to situations. Often times, our clients will think of things in the moment that they need or maybe a new thought will arise after a presentation is over. Working in close proximity, onsite every day, we are able to notice the little thigs before our clients even realize they need them.
This can be preloading a presentation, already knowing the number of microphones needed or setting up a particular type of light or video display. We not only make sure that our installations are up and running and user friendly, but go above and beyond to take the AV experience to the next level.It would be very difficult to operate without our staff onsite as we have built a partnership and weaved ourselves into the daily fabric of the companies we work with. Our clients not only rely on us, but also look to us to help enhance any projects they have.
Dangers of an Off-Site Approach
As technology continues to become more and more innovative, the need for onsite support has become increasingly more evident. The desire for scalable AV solutions is clear with the rise of BYOD and more need for installation functionality. What isn’t taken into account is user capability. A lot of technology is wasted on employees who are unable to use it. Rooms with wireless connection, multiple displays and advanced audio features are rendered useless if staff doesn’t know how to connect and no one is available to help. With a million dollar call on the line, you could be forced to have ten people huddle around a laptop, while a state-of-the-art installation is collecting dust in the same room.
Often times either an IT team or a member of the facilities staff will be called in if there is an AV issue, but this typically only exacerbates the issue. IT staff is only concerned with network bandwidth and security, not with user functionality and experience. If the network is secure, they will not have the need to troubleshoot installations. Facilities staff will be focused on other routine tasks and likely won’t have the technical knowledge to fix the problem in the manner an AV team could. These struggles can ruin your day and take away from your task at hand. We have heard stories of companies having to cancel meetings or run to the store to find adapters last minute to get their AV up and running. Not exactly something you want to risk with a make or break meeting on the line.
Standards in AV
The main benefit of onsite support with a trusted AV partner is piece of mind. Knowing that all you have to do is be ready for your presentation, and everything else is taken care of. At AV-Tech we put an emphasis on this level of experience and build standards that we abide by no matter the circumstance. If you have one meeting room or 100, have a quick internal meeting or a massive sales pitch, we will put the same level of attention and detail to every project. We can scale solutions to fit any enterprise or create unique installations that match your specific business goals. We have the experienced staff to be with you every step of the way to ensure everything runs smoothly, and in the case of emergency, get your presentation back on track.
Ignoring the importance of onsite AV supportis like playing with fire. Sure, you can pray your employees can properly use equipment and hope that everything goes to plan, but you can never account for the unexpected. Before a big meeting, I would like to be focused on the job at hand, not on if the video call will connect properly. Onsite AV support is the safety blanket you didn’t know you needed but can’t live without. Don’t get stuck scrambling for a last-minute solution when help could just be down the hall.
