Business opportunities Training:


services and iBook, interactive product guides for iPad and other tablets.”


Changing attitudes


Over the ten years N-vest has been providing end-user prod- uct training on behalf of the channel, the company has seen a change in attitude. “We’ve always provided training for manufacturers wanting to sup- port their channel partners and users and over the years they’ve been joined by more- and more-distributors. They see training as a great ‘add-on’ that can be sold as an accesso- ry and as a value-add that helps give them a competitive edge over their competition.” Distributors now see


train-


ing as an essential part of their services wrap, but not all take it further than a listing on their website or catalogue. But is in the channel at large where change is most appar- ent: “Where we’re seeing the biggest change is at a reseller/ integrator


level. While many


are content to offer training as an add-on offered online or by telephone sales, others are making training a key differen- tiator by engaging with us on a much deeper level as a training partner,” said Thomas. She emphasises that, for committed resellers and inte- grators, training is not just an extra revenue source, but is the key to a successful system de-


ployment. It is people using the equipment that will determine success after all not the choice of kit or the quality of the in- stallation: “We’re also now partnering integrators to make training part of a user adoption strategy, engaging with custom- ers for our partners pre-sale to understand what they expect from their new video conferenc- ing, digital signage, interactive etc. - their business objectives, then work with them to intro- duce the new technology to potential users and drive adop- tion.”


The value of outsourcing


Scanning the list of distributors published by AV News in June 2014 reveals that the majority offer training as a service – and that most provide instruction from within their own staff re- sources. Increased demand will see either the addition of dedi- cated trainers to the staff com-


plement, which can be a size- able commitment for a smaller reseller, or greater recourse to outsourcing.


Outsourcing can


be a more cost effective option for a business that does not want the expense and/or hassle of establishing and maintain- ing an in-house resource, or it can be used as a top up - to cover specific product areas or provide national coverage, for example. “We find resellers value hav- ing a specialist partner,” says Thomas. “We help them in- tegrate our training into their sales process, or design train- ing offerings for them. We work with the sales teams to maxi- mise their effectiveness then once the sales are made we do the rest. We do the customer needs analysis. We design the training and we deliver it. It means they free up valuable resources and focus on running their business.”


the business benefits


Training can be a high margin commercial activity taken in isolation, and offer an even greater advantage when seen as part of the sales process for future projects. Around 30 points is realistic for end-user training. The real money is to be made by developing an on- going revenue stream follow- ing these guiding principles:


1. Provide consistently good quality training across all your brands, not a piecemeal of- fering cobbled together from manufacturer training and some home-spun efforts.


2. Use professional trainers who understand different learning styles, hands-on in- teractive training techniques and who, most importantly, are able to design effective training that gets results.


(N-vest often get called in to train users who have already had ‘training’ from a reseller or manufacturer that was not relevant to them, was poor quality or was more of a pas- sive demo.)


3. Actively sell training: all too often training is provid- ed only when the customer requests it, or is included on the quote as an optional extra that’s chopped off to get the price down.


Training: Return on Investment (ROI)


Quantifying the ROI for train- ing ROI can be very difficult. For instance, one effect of training can be increased job satisfaction, which is difficult if not impossible to quantify. Intuitively we know this is important in retaining good employees; however it will not show up on a ROI calculation. Individual case studies have estimated training ROI from 100 to 5900 percent, but even the most conservative


calculations, using large data sets to compare many differ- ent organisations, place the estimate somewhere between 7% and 50% - more than ac- ceptable when compared to many other budget items. You customer’s conclusion should be that training is a valuable commodity that, if viewed as an investment rath- er than an expense, can pro- duce high returns.


Corporate AV fice next on the installation list.


Communicating with the desktop


Where important safety and operational messages are part of


the internal communica-


tions content delivering these messages to employees in op- erational roles can be a chal- lenge. The Port of Felixstowe is Britain’s biggest and busiest container port, and one of the largest in Europe. The port han- dles 3.7 million TEUs (Twen- ty-foot Equivalent Units) and welcomes over 3,000 ships each year, including the largest container vessels afloat today. Around 75% of


employees


carry out operational roles in- cluding driving plant and sup- porting vessel operations, with- out regular access to PCs. The Port needed a way of providing consistent information to those in frontline roles who are deliv- ering service to their customers every day.


Port’s digital signage project, provide an alternative


The ‘Media Screens’, the source


of information for employees in operational roles. After re- searching a number of op- tions, A+K PADS was selected to manage content and deliver information to numerous lo- cations across the Port. 26 screens have been installed in canteens, break areas, recep- tion and other communal areas. The Media Screens are used


to communicate a range of in- formation including progress against customer service tar- gets, vessel and train informa-


Without dedicated resource, a small team have been able to support the development and scheduling of content across


and customer service priorities Move to mobile


The challenge at the Port of Felixstowe was to install an internal communications network that addressed an operational workforce that doesn’t usually sit at a desk. The task was achieved with a 26-screen A+K PADS solution.


tion and changes to operational procedures as well as non-op- erational information such as weather, traffic and canteen menus. A+K also supported the Port to build bespoke widgets to graphically display multi- ple data elements in a format which is easily understandable at a glance.


the Port. The Port has pushed the boundaries of PADS in terms of the range of content types, data sources and file formats they use. The Media Screens are one aspect of the Port’s wider communications strategy aimed at supporting the focus on helping employees understand industry changes


The Port of Felixstowe example highlights the advantages of digital signage where employ- ees are scattered across a large site, organisations that employ significant numbers of remote staff face the challenge of pro- viding consistent messaging over a wide area network. Here, mobile personal devices provide the platform and one of the solu- tions to the need port content across both large fixed displays and a mobile network has been developed by Piksel. The com- pany’s Digital Signage platform, DS4, is said to empower global organisations to deliver informa- tion to their workforce instanta- neously, including the delivery of corporate news to the connected devices of remote workers. “The rise of remote working has created an unprecedented communications challenge for global companies, who need to be able to share information with their staff in a quick and re- liable way. Increasingly, organi- sations are looking to implement digital signage solutions, which enable them to reach their en- tire workforce with a unified message,” explained a company representative.


Demand for such systems grew in almost every market segment in Europe in 2013, and a recent report from IHS predicted that the corporate sector will account


for 704.7K displays in 2014. Piksel


has developed DS4,


an end-to-end digital signage offering that enables organ- isations to design, manage, store and broadcast branded multimedia content. Piksel’s DS4 can deliver content to a wide range of mediums includ- ing digital screens, directional signs, corporate Intranets and remote staff’s Android or Win- dows mobile devices.


The solution is available as a Software-as-a-Service


(SaaS)


or as an on premise platform. It can be combined with Piksel’s Online Video Platform (OVP) to streamline the managing and publishing


of media assets.


Able to integrate with exist- ing architecture, Piksel’s DS4 provides a one-stop platform, which allows the delivery of live, VOD and OVP content to multiple devices.


Mark Christie, Chief Technol-


ogy Officer, Piksel explained: “The flexibility of DS4 enables organizations to


harness the


power of video to deliver tar- geted corporate content to frag- mented workforces, whether on local displays around the offic- es or on remote workers’ mobile devices. The market is primed for a fully integrated solution which can deliver content to every screen, and the launch of our DS4 solution will provide European companies with the ability to make their internal communication resonate with their employee base.”


Internal communications: digital signage strategies


Digital signage can offer a solution to those organisa- tions investing in long-term employee engagement. Dig- ital screens can reach all employees from cleaners and chefs, to engineers and security guards, and ensure that the key drivers are con- sistently emphasised and ac- knowledged.


The principle capabilities of digital signage in internal communications applica- tions include:


1. Highlight core company values and cultures


2. Make employees feel part of the “bigger picture”


3. Recognise employee and company achieve- ments Inform about training & development opportunities


4. Communicate long-term company strategies


5. Share success stories 6. Reward staff with incentives


7. Reinforce employer branding


8. Educate staff with key health & safety messages


9. (Source: amsreen.eu)


AV News August 2014 P13


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