One of the most common frustrations in pro AV is when an end user organization doesn’t use the conference room or digital signage solutions correctly – or at all.
According to Tommy Mullins, senior vice president of sales at Georgia-based AV and IT provider Onepath, that’s typically because a lot of legacy AV integration firms design highly complicated “whiz-bang” solutions.
“It was almost like a contest to impress the client with how much stuff you could do,” Mullins says, citing conversations he’s had with customers. “You wouldn’t believe how many clients tell us that.”
Early on, Onepath decided to take a different approach.
Mullins says the company’s mission is to design and build AV systems that are extremely easy for end users to understand and use. That sometimes comes at the cost of reducing some feature functionality.
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“What we decided to say is, ‘OK, we want very simple. We want our mission to be ease of use.’” Mullins says. “If it’s easier to use, we believe it’s going to be more useful for the client.”
As part of that, AV integrators need to offer the service and support that end users need – even for simple and easy-to-use systems. That includes a customer support line and knowledgeable support staff that can help walk users through the necessary steps. It also includes being a partner and offering routine upgrades as part of a service package.
Those concepts can help customers stay secure, stay up-to-date and get the most out of their investments in the future, Mullins says.
It doesn’t matter that the most highly skilled designer puts together the most sophisticated system ever if end users can’t use the system. If AV tech goes stagnant and untouched, customers lose on ROI and could open themselves up to vulnerabilities if they don’t update software and firmware.
“It’s worth nothing,” Mullins says of that scenario.
