Vistacom
Streamlining Communications Strategy

With rapid technological developments and changing workplace demographics, the traditional organizational setup is undergoing a huge transformation. At the heart of this transformation is the influx of millennials who are trying to reshape the workplace into a flexible, creative work environment. To revamp corporate communications with the changing times, companies are adopting unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) technology as a means to streamline their internal and external communication functions. With all available resources— smartphones, collaboration technology, and wireless internet—creating a flexible communication environment is no longer a pipe dream. However, implementing effective communication models is a well-schemed process that can be daunting. Vistacom, offering communication services since 1954 and pioneers of audio-visual communications technology in the U.S, are industry-experts in integrating the newest channels of communication technology and devising the most appropriate UC&C solutions for companies.

Jim Ferlino, principal of Vistacom, notes that bring your own device (BYOD) is the greatest driver behind the growth of the unified communications market. He says, “Professionals want to communicate through their hand-held devices, work from their home offices or co-working spaces, and thus the dynamics of communication has altered greatly.” Vistacom, being one of the early providers of audiovisual communication technology during the 50s in the U.S., fervently keeps upgrading its channels of delivery to cater to the changing client needs—staying at the apex of their communication expertise. “Cloud collaboration, wireless presentation solutions, and interoperable communication models are some of the biggest trends in today’s UC deployments,” adds Scot Smith, Director of UC&C for Vistacom.

Vistacom’s process of implementing a unified communications solution begins by interviewing clients about their expectations and understanding the on-going workflow of the company. Smith says, “This is the most critical stage of effective solution modeling and few technology vendors understand its significance.” Without comprehending the communication challenges relative to the client’s internal workflow and their industry at large, Smith adds, “a standard ‘off-the-shelf’ UC solution would not best leverage the technology to provide the most effective business outcomes for the client. Furthermore, lack of follow up with training and review of client usage will limit the client use and adoption of these tools."

The Pennsylvania-based Vistacom works with clients across numerous verticals, such as healthcare, higher education, corporate enterprise, transportation and government. Ferlino mentions that each industry has its own set of unique challenges that have to be addressed while architecting UC solutions. Vistacom combines the industry’s best communication toolsets—Cisco (Spark & WebEx), Polycom (Skype for Business), for collaboration and video conferencing. Vistacom offers these both as on-premise or cloud-based solutions for those that want to minimize capital expenditures. They also incorporate advanced collaboration platforms such as Barco Clickshare, Prysm and Multi-taction interactive display solutions. Ferlino adds, “These solutions, when properly implemented help transform the overall user experience and provide the best business outcomes."

One of Vistacom’s clients, with employee strength close to 30,000 spread across offices over a 100-mile radius, faced severe challenges in coordinating meetings and communicating in a cost effective manner. Frequently, the employees would have to travel for meetings, causing a huge loss of time, productivity, and inconvenience to the employee. The company had previously implemented different solutions throughout individual departments without a global plan. This resulted in lack of standards, inconsistency in performance, user frustration leading to limited user adoption. Vistacom interviewed key stakeholders and various user groups to clearly understand their workflow issues and then laid out a cohesive plan. This included UC tools and best practices to provide consistent and standard methods for staff to better communicate with greater efficiencies. This not only reduces costs through efficiencies but many times results in increased revenue.

“We always try to implement a consistent user experience across all our solutions,” says Smith. He notes that the UC&C domain does not have a rigid set of standards like that of information technology or other industries. Thus, much of Vistacom’s efforts lie around creating an industry benchmark for UC. Ferlino remarks, “Although the technology has changed dramatically since the company’s founding, the core values of providing the best client experience remains true to our mission, growth, and success.”