AVI-SPL: Unleashing the Power of Smart Meeting Rooms

There is nothing permanent except change. And audiovisual (AV) technology, both in terms of its scope of usage and evolution has undergone massive developments. Without a doubt, this technology is no longer an inert one that exists just for broadcasting images. Today, it has become an important productivity tool for organizations across the world. Every year companies spend millions of dollars on AV technology for their workplace communication and collaboration. However, many still struggle to develop a template for conference rooms that can be easily applied across multiple locations. Whether it is connecting an enterprise via high-definition video conferencing or delivering a message to a large audience, a trusted partner is imperative to design reliable and user-friendly AV technology solutions for the digital age. Founded in 1979, AVI-SPL is a pioneer in the industry and offers an end-to-end service framework for the design, build management, and support of AV and collaboration technology. It facilitates effective communication throughout the organization and enables teams to work closer, better, and faster.

“We invest time to understand the way organizations work and what it will take to improve their ability to communicate and collaborate,” says John Zettel, CEO, AVI-SPL. “We then recommend a system design or go further and specify a comprehensive set of solutions that will be beneficial to the organization.” The firm simplifies AV system control, monitors assets, and enables employees, customers, and vendors to work together through cloud-based video collaboration solutions, without the intervention of an AV expert. Built on a web-oriented architecture, the firm’s intelligent framework effortlessly interacts with current and emerging interface technologies for real-time, ubiquitous, and mobile access to any meeting resource.

AVI-SPL’s cornerstone is its Symphony platform, which is specifically designed to monitor and manage AV collaboration systems, provide real-time call statistics, run system diagnostics, launch video calls, schedule meetings, all through a single interactive dashboard. The platform’s interface allows users to quickly visualize systems that are active and if a conference is launched properly, its system usage and success rate.

Symphony connects a variety of AV collaboration devices to a user’s network, and all of them can be monitored and managed through it remotely. It integrates with other systems like Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory to provide end-users with an unprecedented level of scheduling experience as well as automated and efficient user provisioning and management.

Such synergies help in improving the way organizations operate by giving them a broader set of tools to work smarter. “Enterprise customers also embrace Microsoft’s unified communications solution—Lync,” says Zettel. “Becoming a Microsoft Gold partner bolsters our unified communications platform; we now offer hosted, hybrid, and on-premise Lync deployments to cover every aspect of digital workplace transformation.”

The Symphony platform also includes a Communicator Proxy server that hosts key modules, which users can deploy to communicate securely in the cloud, without the need for dedicated circuit between the AVI-SPL and their network. The Communicator Proxy server acts as standards-based polling for all IP-reachable AV and video conferencing devices within the user’s network.

Video Collaboration and Conferencing

AVI-SPL’s managed services empower organizations with the best video and AV technology in the market and provide the knowledge, resources, and assistance that make communications seamless and productive. The firm also offers remote, hosted, and hybrid models of managed service to its clients and ensures that they receive the right implementation services to further meet their business goals successfully.

The firm also integrates its maintenance and managed services resources with on-premise solutions for proactive monitoring of video conferencing. By allowing its client to leverage third-party products, such as Cisco TMS and DMS, Polycom CMA/DMA, Lifesize Control, Crestron Fusion, AMX RMS, and Extron GlobalViewer, AVI-SPL lets users see the status of every room and device across the organization. This further enables facility managers to make efficient use of all available rooms and also swiftly notify when technical issues arise.

In addition, the firm also embeds its proprietary business process automation module into its managed services to help users govern and customize their business rules, thresholds, and workflows. The module focuses on conferences, incident and escalation management, endpoint scheduling, reporting, and networking.

A New Paradigm in Patient Care

One of AVI-SPL’s key differentiators is its ability to cater to a broad spectrum of segments, including large IT enterprises, governments, education, and healthcare institutions to name a few.

One example is the University of Toledo’s Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center— home to nearly 3,000 healthcare students—which consists of three interconnected centers that foster interdisciplinary collaboration for advanced interprofessional education. Given the fact that numerous learning materials get added to the curriculum frequently, assimilating content in classrooms was imperative to effectively teach healthcare students how to deliver efficient patient care. The university wanted a reliable partner to combine the complex audio, video, and control systems into one interactive environment that uses advanced visualization systems to train healthcare professionals and students. AVI-SPL integrated video collaboration, digital signage, IPTV, and other AV devices into an intelligent system, enabling departments to seamlessly collaborate and transfer knowledge and skills for creating new research opportunities, the benefits of which ultimately trickled down to patients.

"AVI-SPL’s cornerstone technology is its Symphony platform, which is specifically designed to monitor and manage AV collaboration systems"

AVI-SPL lights up communications for almost 86 percent of the Fortune 100 companies through its partner network comprising of AV heavyweights, monitor/display manufacturers, control system designers, and video technology providers. The firm also houses certified experts that offer the most advanced, secure, and effective cloud-based video collaboration tools, which allow colleagues, customers, and vendors to efficiently work together. The firm also prides itself on its ability to scale technical products and services according to any business’s requirements and goals. A big game changer for AVI-SPL has been its strong and fast-evolving set of Microsoft capabilities—Office 365, Microsoft Intune, Enterprise Mobility Suite, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Dynamics CRM online— which has helped its customers complete their goal of unified communications and collaboration. Being a certified service provider for all major manufacturers, the firm also offers round-the-clock customer support—ensuring the reliability of AV systems and minimizing downtime.

The Road Ahead

Forging ahead, AVI-SPL’s goal is to substantially increase its presence and resources worldwide to provide best-in-class services and responsiveness to its wide range of customers, while further enhancing global delivery capabilities to assure consistent customer experience. Zettel always believes that true innovation can be the most powerful differentiator of all. In the near future, the firm plans to set a new standard for professional collaboration and also develop a technology roadmap that will keep users communicating effectively and seamlessly.