Working from home unexpectedly hit first place on virtually every business agenda over past months, for those of us who were caught off guard, the inevitable transition from band-aid conferencing solutions to a seamless, company-wide collaboration experience has probably reared its head.
To share some insight on this process and relieve some of the headaches you might experience while you navigate through these often murky waters, we are publishing this short blog series. If you haven't read Getting the Most from Your AV Budget - Part 1 or Part 2) you might want to start there
If you're all caught up, let's get started.
Marketing departments love the word innovation. It sounds cool and important, it reeks of confidence and most customers don't really understand how it applies to their requirements. (Click here to read more about understanding your requirements).
Innovation is crucial to value. Let me break it down.
The collaboration technology available today truly is amazing, but it reached us through a process. Assessing market demand and industry trends, profitability analysis, R&D, production, marketing, distribution, sounds arduous right? AV equipment manufacturers go through this process for the customer, but it takes time. Our industry is driven by what you need and the next wave of AV tech is based on your weird new way of solving an old problem.
Thankfully, existing AV integration technology can be adapted in endless configurations in order to solve new problems. There's a whole engineering discipline dedicated to exactly this.
At Hart Automation, we like to add a splash of colour to an otherwise pretty-drab collection of black boxes.
(In-progress shot of an equipment rack which is currently running the Wellama immersive art exhibition in the heart of Sydney). Wellama has been nominated for the Inavate APAC Audio Visual Projects Awards 2020. Stay tuned for updates on our progress.
Innovation relies on two crucial factors; understanding the discipline, and understanding the problem.
Your value here comes in the form of intuitive, easy to use and practical solutions that suit your workflow and make your life easier. In this case, the discipline is collaboration technology and audio visual systems - this is why you need an AV expert on your side, we understand the discipline.
This brings us to the other side of the equation - understanding the problem. Human beings are great at adapting to their environment. Unfortunately for many, work environments are often plagued with technology nightmares. Multiple layers of short-term solutions can lead to clumsy and generally frustrating systems. We all know them, and we all deal with them every day. Just take a minute and think about some of the inventive ways your organisation overcomes practical problems with technology. No doubt they work, and I'm sure you've fully adapted to using them, but imagine a world where your workplace technology experience is intuitive, seamless and looks stunning. This world is here already, it just takes a little bit of communication and innovation to make it a reality.
So don't be intimidated when you start a conversation with your integrator - their in-depth technical knowledge is worthless without your contribution. Just like your requirements, nobody understands the problems you're facing like you do.
If you're enjoying the series make sure you drop us a line - and stay tuned for the next installment in our Getting the most from your AV budget series.
If you're keen to dig a little deeper into professional AV and collaboration solutions, be sure to check out our website hartautomation.com.au if you haven't already.