The best communication technology solutions are the ones that fit the organization they are designed for. Best has nothing to do with expense, appearance, bells and whistles, or any other aspects that don’t necessarily lead to use. Unfortunately, many AV integrators don’t think this way and allow their designs to be driven by what they want rather than by what the client needs.

Challenge

A large city police department was building a new facility and needed a space to meet and train with easy-to-use technology that did only what they needed it to, and worked with their approved budget. The system proposed by the architect’s AV partner, however, was overly complex, included technologies that were not necessary to accomplish the capabilities described in the bid documentation, and was driving the budget out of reach.

VisionPoint was asked to submit a complete redesign of the communication technology system that would reduce the expense, work with the approved building designs, and account for varying levels of comfort with technology.

Design

By first taking great care to understand and clarify all the customer’s desired use cases for the room, we were able to streamline our solution and still allow for changes and growth down the road. Taking into consideration their concerns about their future budgets, we selected component manufacturers based on reliability and quality of support. We also explained the reasoning for every recommendation, including the trade-offs and the advantages.

Impact

The department has long-needed a facility that serves their conference room and training requirements and performs with little to no need for technical knowledge on the part of the operators.

In addition, the department saved enough money as a result of the leaner, more efficient conference and training room design to be able to build regional dispatch and Emergency Operations Centers, an outcome that was recognized throughout central Connecticut.