AVI-SPL has come a long way since its first pop-up stand at ISE 2013. At this year’s Integrated Systems Europe, AVI-SPL was the biggest integrator booth and the only integrator showing the Microsoft Surface Hub.
That wasn’t the only reason the booth was crowded from show open to close. The integrator giant demoed its VNOC remote managed services, its Virtual Meeting Room, its new UnifyME microsite, and its new EZ App.
Where Were We?
The very first thing AVI-SPL wants its clients as well as ISE attendees to know about its presentation at this year’s show is that it’s a testament to AVI-SPL’s commitment to the EMEA market. The integrator has been expanding its reach since 2013, when it first stepped into Europe. Now AVI-SPL has a physical presence across Europe and plans to move into Germany in the coming months.
“At InfoComm, AVI-SPL is well established,” says Will Hegan, EMEA sales director at AVI-SPL. “[At ISE] people have heard of us but they want to know more. They care more about global reach. They have questions like, ‘Will you be able to scale?’ and ‘Will you be able to support my needs anywhere I go in the world?’”
Hegan says the goal is to provide the same end user experience in London that they do in Tampa, and so on and so forth all over the world. That’s why they have somewhat of a slogan this year: “AVI-SPL is your collaboration solutions provider down the street and across the globe.”
“[Since our first ISE show] our UK-based team has grown from a handful of employees to over 100 team members supporting clients in 21 countries just this past year, and approximately double that since its inception,” says Kelly Bousman, AVI-SPL senior VP of marketing.
On the Surface (Hub)
AVI-SPL is one of several integrators collaborating on rolling out Microsoft’s Surface Hub, and it was one of only four booths showing it at ISE (and the only integrator).
Bousman says AVI-SPL has many clients around the globe “eagerly awaiting the arrival of their Surface Hub” from the integration firm. “Our clients see the value of the Surface Hub as an extension of their Skype for Business strategy.”
AVI-SPL saw that eagerness at ISE, when attendees “didn’t wait for the demo, but instead just came right up and started playing with it,” according to Bousman. “This is pretty cool because it shows us what they’re most interested in.” So far, “touch has been the biggest thing,” says Bousman. “People want to see how responsive it is.”
A New Easy Button
The integrator launched its new UnifyME Virtual Meeting Room microsite at ISE, an online tool that provides free demo accounts for 30 days of its VMR service, an easy to use and instant connection, interoperability with Lync and many other devices, and more.
AVI-SPL also demoed, in a very soft launch, its new EZ app. The app acts as a tool which its sales team can use in meetings with customers to customize a meeting room, setting up the equipment needed to a client’s preferences.
The user can choose specific technology from a list, which the EZ app places visually in the frame, even down to the network, power and cabling requirements. Once the room is complete, the app provides pricing information right in your hand. The app won’t officially launch for a few months.
“With EZ app, we’ve been able to come up with a standard for what every huddle room is going to look like,” says Hegan, adding that this ability is what will enable conference rooms in Tampa to look exactly the same as the conference rooms in London, and beyond.
