The saying goes that necessity is indeed the mother of invention. And never before have we seen such a large and abrupt catalyst for change as the current pandemic. Businesses, schools, churches, and countless other organizations have had to make rapid changes to the way they do things. Changing school and business models to accommodate the risk to public health and keep everyone as safe as possible. All these changes have resulted in a massive increase in the use of AV services and technology. How can AV services help during a pandemic?

The first and most obvious answer is Video Conferencing. Never before have we seen the use of Video Conferencing permeate through every aspect of our lives. What was once a necessity for some companies and organizations to stay connected, is now an aspect of all types of work, school, and even our personal lives. So many have had to learn the skill of joining a meeting on a myriad of platforms, with mixed results. Camera? Audio? What’s working, what isn’t?

With the increased use of Video Conference comes increased frustration as technical difficulties with audio and video quality become more evident and cumbersome. When you’re using something occasionally, it’s easier to tolerate these set-backs. But with Video Conferencing being a tool used daily to keep things going, these technical difficulties are slowing things down, making some calls painful to participate in.

A tool used daily should provide a seamless experience, allowing you to see, hear, and share with ease.

The Right Equipment

The right equipment will help eliminate the soft costs – the time it takes to work through the technical issues before a video call can get started. There are three key components we focus on for any of our solutions.

1. It has to be simple
2. It has to work
3. You don’t even notice it

Our mantra is we make technology disappear. Meaning, if we’ve done our job, we make technology unseen. No thought goes into using it. You’re able to pay attention to your meeting because the technology you’re using is no longer on your mind. It disappeared.

Another important aspect is to make sure you have the same experience in every room. Whether in a conference, huddle, or training room, getting a meeting started should be just as easy and dependable.

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The right AV technology has allowed businesses to adapt during the pandemic – implementing contactless and social distancing solutions to move forward, staying open, and staying safe.

We offer free consultations. Feel free to contact us. We can help.

Audio Video for the workplace is now offered as a subscription-based model. Instead of purchasing, managing, and maintaining your own Audio Video systems, you achieve the same AV utilization with 24/7 service and maintenance, getting your Audio Video Systems “as a service.” Philm Gear Audio Video as a service (AVaaS) provides speed, performance, security, easy user management, and access to all apps on any device.

The modern workplace demands audiovisual technology, and it doesn’t come cheap. Above and beyond the hardware costs, ownership also requires figuring out which “IT guy” will be responsible for it functioning successfully. A recent study by Harvard Business Review and WareHouse Research shows that 90% of all meetings are started 12 minutes late, usually as the result of technical difficulty, user error, or other issues we are now eliminating.

Our clients are pleased with how easy it is to adopt our AV Solutions for every user.

Benefits

No More Late Conference Calls, Complicated Equipment. No More IT.

• A true service as an operating expense (tax benefits)
• Hardware does not become a company asset (tax benefits)
• Save on your business and property taxes
• Lower cost upfront
• No expense to update technology (set costs include technology refresh)
• No additional expense for service (set cost includes warranty and repair)
• No need to budget for future upgrades (upgrades are included)
• No additional expense for user training, implementation or tech support
• No need for your IT staff to work on “fixes” for the AV
• Not on the balance sheet
• CFO writes one check
• End-user training and adoption help

AVaaS Includes:

• Flexible service models
• All equipment
• Design and installation
• Video conferencing license
• Firmware and software updates
• Patches included
• End-user training and adoption help

You get to focus on what your company does best. Your staff focuses on what is profitable for your company and not on AV equipment support.

You’re not touching this equipment, not upgrading, not troubleshooting. The health of your system is always being monitored, with no involvement from your IT department. We focus on true user implementation and ease-of-use.

Additionally, new and often game-changing technology emerges faster and faster, shortening the refresh cycle and increasing your investment. It’s hard to keep up with any sense of confidence, until now. You pick the equipment and service package. The one that works best for you and your space – managed, monitored, and supported 24/7.

AVaaS Pricing

All packages are customized and can include a combination of some or all of the following equipment: video conferencing, wireless presenter, large display, control system, multiple microphones, projector, dedicated PC and tablets, etc. Choose between PhilmSure Gold and PhilmSure Platinum Warranties. All packages include design, installation, support, and service.

Huddle Space (3-6 people) 
Up to 2500 per year
or 110 per month

Small to Medium-Sized Conference Room (6-10 people)
up to 15,000 per year
400 per month

Classroom or Large Conference/Board Room (12-25 people)
up to 40,000 per year
or up to 1,500 per month

PhilmSure Warranties:

PhilmSure Gold

Philm Gear NOC is on standby. Quarterly updates and system checks. If you have a big meeting, we can verify the system the day before ensure all is working well and ready to go.

PhilmSure Platinum

PhilmSure Platinum includes all of Gold plus: full equipment warranty. If something is not working and needs to be repaired or replaced, Philm Gear does this all for you at no cost to you.

Philm Gear NOC is on standby. Quarterly updates and system checks. If you have a big meeting, we can verify the system the day before ensure all is working well and ready to go.

Example Package from a Client
Package Total $201,000
PhilmSure Warranty – Includes:

• AV Technicians available to all end-users
• Platform to monitor and connect with
• Call, video call, remote in
• Onsite same day

Philm Gear AVaaS $6673

Introduction:

Philm Gear is a multi-media equipment supply and tech consultancy. We are founded on relationships and offer the best solutions for Video Conferencing and Huddle Spaces. We offer personalized, guided research and customized solutions in affordable packages for all multi-media needs. We thrive on applying our knowledge and expertise in creative implementation, giving our clients technology that’s easy to use. We solve AV problems.

The Client:

Workfront is a Utah-based software company that develops web-based work management and project management software. Software that features enterprise work management, issue tracking, document management time tracking, and portfolio management. The company was founded in 2001 by Scott Johnson. Workfront is designed to connect people to work and accelerate organizational success across the enterprise. Workfront has 1200 employees and approximately 4,000 customers with offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

The Problem/Need:

Workfront was regularly experiencing 20 to 30 percent downtime on all their AV systems. They had conference rooms that would remain vacant for weeks at a time due to the systems being too difficult to operate. People were not using the AV resources available to them. Workfront has 75 conference rooms available for their employees and would conduct approximately 4000 meetings per year. Their number one concern was to have AV systems that were easy to use and uniform throughout their organization.

Recommended Solution: Integrated AV and Zoom Room.

We recommended utilizing Zoom Room Video Conference service licensing rather than other, more traditional video conferencing methods. This would make creating invites and screen sharing consistent regardless of which room or office they were using. We recommended installing control systems for each room so it would be easy to control temperature, lighting, screens, presentations, room scheduling and video conferencing all from a tablet. We made sure all systems were integrated for ease-of-use. Each meeting member would be able to wirelessly access presentations and related documents at a touch. We wanted to make sure that everyone at every skill level would be able to access the technology without help from their IT Department.

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Implementation:

We designed all AV systems and handled the project from start to finish making sure the design, installation, and implementation went smoothly. Each room was outfitted with the appropriate equipment based on the space. We installed the same control systems and ways to connect throughout. We integrated all systems so that utilizing the AV systems was the same regardless of the location for ease-of-use. It became easy to access a wireless presentation, start a video conference call, or just control the blinds. We made sure all video conferencing cameras were eye-level and that each piece of equipment was in a convenient location. The AV equipment integrated seamlessly into the environment keeping the rooms professional and presentable. And it just works.

Results:

Implementation of Workfront’s new AV systems was simple and painless. Learning how to use the new systems took very little time and was easy for all employees to adopt. During the first year of utilizing our integrated AV solution, Workfront saw a 60 percent increase in conference room and AV systems usage as well as a zero percent downtime with meetings starting on time, greatly increasing team collaboration and productivity.

Client Review:

Workfront is exceedingly happy with the results of our AV solutions. Now Workfront’s end-users know how to go into a conference or training room, start a meeting and share materials. The AV systems are intuitive and easy to use with no down-time.

“The number one concern we had was ease-of-use. If our end-users don’t want to use the product, it’s not going to get used. No matter how great it is, no matter how advanced, cool and shiny the thing is, it’s never going to get used if the end-user doesn’t understand how to use it and are unable to easily adopt it. Philm Gear came in and designed everything from the ground up, gave us the right products, and everything just works.”

-James Sennett, Corporate IT Manager, Workfront