Choosing An AV Consultant.

Collaboration and agile working have become increasingly important when companies are considering business expansion, upgrade or relocation strategies. Correctly designed and implemented audio visual solutions greatly enhance a business capability to support those needs.

Therefore, when considering new Audio Visual (AV) system solutions, it is important to choose a partner that has the knowledge, experience and proven track record to both design and successfully deliver a wide range of solutions.

It is also important that your chosen partner focuses on you and your business needs and not on technology for its own sake.

Overall there are five key characteristics that should be readily available in any AV consultant that you choose;

Knowledge – it is clear that any new AV services are going to play a key role in enabling and supporting the business going forward. It is therefore vitally important that you select a partner that has a wide range of knowledge on a range of systems and technologies. This will help to ensure that you get the solution that you need rather than one that is limited by your partners knowledge

Experience – it is vital that design proposals fully meet your day one requirements as well as offering clear paths to future product developments that maximise the return on investment. Fundamentally, when we talk about experience, we mean experience in designing a wide range solutions and technologies. Your chosen partner should be able to show that they have worked within a wide range of scenarios, which have delivered fully realised, fit for purpose and functioning solutions, within the agreed framework of time and budget. It should not simply a resume of completed projects with glossy photos, but clear evidence that the designed systems delivered what the business needed.

Flexibility – requirements change, budgets change and new opportunities can arise during the lifetime of a project. It is therefore vital to ensure that your partner can adapt to changes as they arise, to provide clear and unambiguous advice on the impact and desirability of change, and to ensure that those changes, once agreed, are fully delivered.

Discipline – the discipline to ensure that the agreed design solutions are implemented, within the agreed project timescales and in cooperation with other parties, including building contractors and client IT staff. Too often, we hear that the customer experience in many AV related projects, includes a lack of adherence to agreed timescales, poor communication throughout the projects and ongoing issues with “minor” glitches which seem to take way too long to resolve. It is therefore vital that your chosen partner understands these frustrations and that they impose the necessary disciplines to eliminate them from any project.

Responsiveness – not only during the physical implementation and test phases, but equally importantly during the immediate post implementation stages. Too often, we hear of projects suffering due to late delivery of service and difficulties in obtaining responses once the project is complete.

By ensuring your AV consultant has all the above characteristics, you will create a smooth and lasting business relationship that will help your company grow with today and tomorrow in mind.