Case Study: The Audio Visual Group

The Challenge
The Audio Visual Group were required by their client to manage the install of AV equipment across the four floors they were due to occupy within London’s prestigious new skyscraper, The Scalpel. As part of the wider project, The Audio Visual Group were tasked with procuring a suite of video conferencing solutions from Cisco. Their client had engaged a third-party consultant to scope an AV and collaboration solution that was fast to deploy, low-touch to use and manage, cost-effective to run and easy for end-users to incorporate into their daily workflow. Having been impressed by Cisco technology, the client selected them as their sole solution provider, and so came to tender with a precise room-by-room kit list that would need to be sourced before installation could begin. Not being Cisco accredited, The Audio Visual Group needed to identify a suitable partner to assist with procurement and offer additional commercial and technical assistance as the project developed.

“Having not previously worked with Cisco, we needed to source a partner who could not only help us to obtain the Webex Room Kits, but who could also assist with determining the specific product bundles required,” explains Alex Smith, Design & Estimator at The Audio Visual Group. He goes on to say: “We had previously worked with CCS as they help support our internal IT, so they already came with a good reputation. Based on their previous work for us, and their toptier Cisco accreditations, we engaged CCS to source the Cisco technology on our behalf.”

About The Audio Visual Group
The Cabling Group is one of the UK’s leading structured cabling providers, growing fast over the last 10-years. Having experienced unprecedented success, and a reputation for outstanding quality, the business had become closely associated with cabling projects only. Consequently, they had found that when submitting tenders for AV installation, in which they had proven experience, they were being perceived exclusively as an infrastructure provider and overlooked for these opportunities.

In response, they decided to launch The Audio Visual Group as a sister business to The Cabling Group, where they could build on their experience and demonstrate the same levels of focus and know-how that The Cabling Group had become synonymous with, but in the field of AV. Since launching, The Group has become a serious contender for larger-scale multidiscipline projects where AV features and have won a number of contracts as a result, including a custom office fit-out for an international law firm’s new London office

The Solution
Ahead of the project, it was specified that the client required multiple standard Cisco Webex Room Kits. However, following subtle changes to the office layout at the point of deployment, some changes needed to be made to the product specifications which were critical to both timing and budget for the project. It was found that due to certain room sizes and user requirements, some of the technology would need to be upgraded to the Webex Room Kit Plus. Smith accredits the CCS Pre-Sales team with helping to reach the right solution in light of these challenges: “The team were always on hand to offer advice and their excellent product knowledge ensured that the changes to the kit list were the right ones. It meant the eventual solution measured up to and ultimately delivered on the customer’s expectations.”