How the Hybrid Work Revolution is Driving Demand for AV Solutions and Services
The pandemic may seem like a dim and distant memory, but it has become a defining marker in terms of economic and social activity. It led to the suspension of travel and live events and ushered in the era of remote and hybrid working on a scale never seen before. But that was then, and things have moved on rapidly in the last couple of years.
Whether it’s corporate, venues and events, retail, travel, education or hospitality, just about every sector has seen a sustained increase in demand for AV services in the last 18-months. Much of that has been a reaction to the workplace revolution sparked by lockdown.
Transport like airports and train stations are receiving digital makeovers with upgraded security and surveillance systems. Retailers experiencing an uptick in footfall are making the most of increased traffic by upgrading their digital signage systems.
Social and economic activity is on the rise
Live events — whether business conferences and exhibitions or full-on entertainment showstoppers — are once again drawing in huge crowds. While in healthcare, more and more clinical consultations are taking place virtually using cloud-based technology to help cut waiting lists and improve patient outcomes.
In the corporate world, there continues to be a tug-of-war between those who want to see a full return to the office and those who value the flexibility provided by hybrid working. The result is that hybrid work is becoming more and more ingrained in working life, something reflected in the increasing demand for quality conferencing, learning and signage solutions.
Despite the optimism, nearly half of the enterprises surveyed as part of Kinly's Trusted Connections 2024 research published earlier this year found that AV tech installed during the pandemic still needs to be ripped out and replaced in 2024.
Our research found that half of those surveyed (49 per cent) have had their budgets slashed in 2024 and a further 62 per cent say they are “expected to do more with less”.
According to those organisations surveyed, almost six in ten (57 per cent) say poor hybrid workflows are damaging staff productivity, while a similar number (58 per cent) feel that outdated AV technology is damaging remote productivity.
Meanwhile, seven in ten (68 per cent) believe they could accelerate enterprise decision-making if they improved collaboration.
Regardless of how companies and organisations are adjusting to new ways of working, one thing is clear. The demand for support services — whether managed remotely or on-site — is becoming an increasingly crucial part of the solution.
After all, AV solutions are an enabler. A conduit. A connector…until something goes wrong.
Put simply, when the technology that is meant to connect us goes down, it becomes an impediment rather than an enabler. People become isolated. Teams are unable to collaborate and the business of business grinds to a halt if people can't communicate.
Support the key to success
It’s something Morten Lie Andersen knows all about. He’s responsible for first-line support, dispatch and SLA management at Kinly in Norway. As an industry veteran, he has one goal — to deliver the best service to customers who need help with small and large problems in the meeting room.
Every month, Kinly Norway resolves approximately 700 cases via first-line support. In 2023, that equated to a whopping customer satisfaction level of 4.53 out of 5.
“We solve 85 per cent of all inquiries at first-line support,” explained Morten in a recent blog.
Those that can’t be solved there and then are either escalated to a second line for more in-depth support or an engineer is dispatched to fix the problem on-site. Kinly’s 24/7 service desk and industry-leading SLAs are supported by highly certified field engineering teams specialising in critical AV environments.
“With an average waiting time of seven seconds, and the longest waiting time of 23 seconds, I have no ambitions to improve the result,” he said. “I don't think it's even possible. My job, on the other hand, is to step in and make sure we keep the pressure up.
“Some customers also have a solution where the meeting room is monitored automatically,” said Morten. “This enables support to detect and resolve errors with customers before the customers discover it themselves,” he said.
As organisations adjust to new ways of working — reconfiguring offices to provide more AV-enabled space while simultaneously reaching out to remote workers — the need to ensure it’s all fully supported becomes ever greater. Whatever support package is in place, there’s only one thing that matters — when systems are down, every minute they are out of action counts.
