Businesses can improve efficiency across the board with better communications technology
By Ingolf DeJong
Nearly every business has a goal to improve efficiency. But not enough businesses recognize one of the simplest, yet potentially most detrimental, areas of impact in their operations.
Communications and presentation systems and the ways in which those technologies connect with an organization’s network, can make or break an enterprise. These devices and software may place an unnecessary burden on your infrastructure, both technically and in terms of lost productivity. Or alternatively, they can work so seamlessly that efficiency occurs with seemingly little effort.
Video technology is a part of nearly every aspect of work life today, including meetings, training, information distribution, connection with remote employees, operations management and marketing. More than likely, there is a video display or a need to connect with video content in many day-to-day transactions in an enterprise, and yet those systems are rarely optimized to get the best results.
Making improvements and upgrades to more high-tech video solutions in the workplace is not just a whiz-bang addition to impress millennials (though they do tend to think favorably about companies that operate with an eye toward the future). These changes go a long way toward meeting the expectations of every employee and customer who has grown accustomed to the ease of communication afforded by their mobile devices. And altogether, the evolution may be the key to some impressive boosts in productivity.
For many businesses that are looking for areas where efficiency might be improved, the answer is right there in front of them. All too often, the flat-panel video display in the conference room is showing pixelated images, and the web cam used for videoconferencing isn’t adequate for
capturing a clear image of every participant in a meeting room. That’s not to mention the audio quality in conference rooms and training facilities. If microphones are used, the playback equipment seems to mangle speech or muffle delivery of information.
Meanwhile, none of these technologies work well when the connection to video is limited by bandwidth problems on the network. Choppy video and garbled audio on a video conference has ended too many meetings in an era when we easily use video chat on just about any mobile device.
It’s plain to see where technology is lacking, but it’s harder to know where to invest in making upgrades that would genuinely improve business and produce a return on investment. However, with the right guidance and a comprehensive needs analysis about how technology is used by team members in every department, vast improvements can be made.
To truly improve efficiency in a business, the first step is to align technology with operational goals. If meeting clients and making a good first impression via video conference is key, make sure that adequate video meeting facilities have been provided for the number of employees who need access to these technologies. If training and compliance are important, ensure that information delivery is clear and intelligible. If manufacturing teams could use incentives to meet quotas, provide real-time visual information.
Once the research has been done as to how day-to-day operations could be improved with better communications technology, there are countless opportunities for boosting profits and producing return on investment with new audiovisual and information network solutions.
Guidance here should be taken before leaping into massive technological change, however. An AV communications specialist can assist with needs analysis and connect operational goals with the technological tools that will help realize potential improvements.
Just as an enterprise works with an architect and interiors experts to ensure that the physical environment is conducive to producing efficient and profitable results, it’s equally vital to connect with an audiovisual systems specialist to identify the right solutions from the wide array of today’s new communications tools. The engineered designs produced by an AV integrator will take into account user needs and preferences, and the various pieces of the resulting custom solution will be integrated with a specially configured control solution that makes the system easy to use. Further, the AV equipment will be implemented by expert technicians who can ensure that the technology works to maximum potential.
Whether your business is expanding in an existing facility, or there are new construction plans in the works, with the right AV specialist on your design team, you’ll invest in the right equipment from the outset and avoid the fate of companies that are less strategic in their technology expenditures and end up making the “10-Year Mistake” (see sidebar).
Ingolf de Jong is president and owner of Gencomm Inc. in Draper. He serves on the Salt Lake Chamber board of governors and is the chair of the Small Business Committee. He has been in the technology industry since 1979 and has served on a variety of audio/visual industry boards.