Business opportunities Local authority super fit for purpose


With unparalleled demand on local government it is more important than ever now it is essential that their systems and facilities are properly efficient and effective. AV plays a key role in driving this efficiency and effectiveness, as demonstrated by proAV’s project at Hounslow House.


In 2019, after two years of building works, the London Borough of Hounslow moved from its old Civic Centre prem- ises to Hounslow House, new purpose-built offices by Bell Square in the town centre. With a mission to work more effec- tively for the borough’s 270,000 residents, the new building was designed to be smaller, modern, energy efficient and econom- ical to run. Hounslow House also incorporates the Hounslow Clinical Commissioning Group, police partners, the town’s li- brary and new adult education classrooms.


As part of the new-build de- velopment, proAV was commis- sioned directly by the London Borough of Hounslow to create a stimulating, smart working environment by implementing a building-wide, integrated au- dio-visual solution. The objec- tive was to adopt new, more ag- ile ways of working and multiple technology workshops and proof of concepts were held with Hounslow’s workforce to ensure user adoption progressed ap- propriately in readiness for the move.


The challenge


As with any substantial new- build programme, the key


challenge for proAV’s proj- ect teams was to coordinate seamlessly with the main con- tractor’s various on-site trades and their operations to ensure the client’s timescales were met. The entire project to re- locate Hounslow’s workforce was carried out in a phased, floor-by-floor move, although fundamental to the success of proAV’s AV commission was the sound working relationship enjoyed with both Bouygues and the Council’s IT and Proj- ect Management team. Since the AV scheme’s tech- nologies had to run on the client’s new network and inte- grate with its meeting booking system and queue manage- ment system, it was imper- ative proAV’s project team worked closely with the Bor- ough’s IT department to avoid complications and delays.


The solution


proAV’s AV scheme represent- ed a site-wide scheme that would transform the London Borough of Hounslow’s work- ing environment, its operation- al effectiveness and the rela- tionship it has with its visiting public. proAV’s AV solution was focussed on wireless pre- sentation,


conferencing and


collaboration, the fast dissem- ination of information within a mission-critical environment and, crucially, the visitor expe- rience.


Some 70 meeting room spac- es with two AV functional types, a flexible civic chamber with expansion to open out into as- sociated function halls and an Emergency Control Centre (that houses the Multi-Agency Safe- guarding Hub (MASH) were covered by the scheme. Its key technologies include stun- ning digital signage and IPTV network with 60+ displays, to stream messages to staff and visitors on all floors via LED displays. Wireless presentation and col- laboration in meeting rooms, a conference system with voting for chairman and delegates, LED Projection and a cen- tralised AV control suite com- plete the solution. All technol- ogies were fully commissioned to operate on the client’s net- work and integrate with its oth- er technical systems.


Digital signage


A powerful arrangement of digi- tal signage displays on all floors streams an array of messages and information to visitors and staff. A raft of meeting spac-


Application news


The London Borough of Hounslow’s new building employs a range of leading-edge AV technologies includ- ing wireless presentation, conferencing and collaboration for the fast dissemination of information within a mission-critical environment.


es enable guests and staff to connect and collaborate using any device via the wireless AV presentation platform. UC solu- tions were also deployed in the meeting rooms and integrated to the client’s Cloud Unified Communications service. The vast sixth-floor Civic Chamber and associated function halls offer professional delegate communication, conferencing and voting technologies with expansion capabilities for fo- cused Council meetings and expandability to accommodate large functions as required. The Emergency Control Cen- tre, which serves as the MASH, is a mission-critical environ- ment that now boasts an im- pressive video wall comprising six 55” displays in a 3 x 2 con- figuration with additional dis-


BrightSign and Signagelive to upgrade signage at Medical research


BrightSign collaborated with Signagelive to realise a complete sig- nage solution for the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in Australia. The installation covers 2 Perkins Research Institute facil- ities to manage the creation, scheduling and delivery of content to a large number of LED screens, information boards and large foyer ban- ner displays, all of which are used for internal digital signage commu- nications. BrightSign players were selected for their high reliability and ease of use.


Founded in 1998, the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research has grown to become one of Australia’s leading adult medical research centres. 450 research and trial


staff with the major work


across two new state-of-the-art research facilities, in conjunc- tion


teaching hospitals. Their foyer exhibitions


ity and keep time spent manag- ing the system to a minimum. Commenting, Andy Crowhurst, Facilities Operations Manager of the Harry Perkins Institute said: “The reliability of the Sig- nagelive CMS on the BrightSign media


player is outstanding.


Given our existing inflexible pro- prietary signage infrastructure,


provided highly effective imple- mentation and ongoing support services and the combination is highly recommended.”


The Harry Perkins Institute is one of Australia’s leading adult medical research centres.


space is accessible to the pub- lic during weekdays and regular tours give supporters the oppor- tunity to see cutting-edge re- search taking place. The spaces are also available for venue hire. The aim of the new installation was to increase platform reliabil-


Signagelive and BrightSign have been the proverbial breath of fresh air, delivering significant cost savings, reducing admin- istration overheads and provid- ing a solution that is far more agile in presenting content. In addition, Amped Digital has


The purpose of this project was to increase platform reliability and time spent managing the system to a minimum, taking the stress away from facilities management allowing them to focus on other tasks other than just updating their internal digi- tal signage communications. Dylan Holtzhausen, Director of Operations, Amped Digital explained: “Signagelive and Amped Digital have success- fully partnered on many proj- ects in a relatively short period of time. Matt, Dylan and their team take a professional and honest approach rarely seen in the industry. The Harry Perkins Institute is our first major proj- ect undertaken together. From the start, we were able to meet the existing needs and exceed- ed expectations by offering additional features which The Harry Perkins Institute flagged as a necessity. We were able to provide these literally ’out of the box’. The flexibility and scalabil- ity of Signagelive were evident in the outcome.”


Existing solution


He added, “Our existing solution was at the end of life and going out of support. Signagelive was the most cost effective, func- tional and flexible replacement solution that we evaluated. It


The BrightSign installation man- ages the delivery of content to a number of LED screens.


is a very complete solution that doesn’t need lots of training, doesn’t consume huge amounts of time to maintain and is reli- able in operation.” “There was considerable time and effort in the analysis and design stages, and we didn’t lose much time dealing with un- expected issues. Overall, it was a quick and well-executed proj- ect completed ahead of sched- ule and within budget. The sig-


nage is a vital and valuable part of our communications strate- gies and our brand and therefore it has provided major business benefit to the institute.” Nick Curulli, Business Devel- opment Manager of Australia for Signagelive, said: “The best re- sult of the project was the ability to give the key users at the insti- tute a reliable and simple way to run their signage across multiple sites with the ability to add us- ers as they please with 20 - 30 minutes’ worth of training. As an example, one of the users was having to log in to the previous platform and update the weather each day; this is now automated and has cut down time spent on management significantly across the board.”


BrightSign players were cho- sen due to their exceptional reliability


in these fast-paced


environments. The POE+, and the frame-accurate synchroni- sation simplified system design and installation. The close inte- gration between the players and the Signagelive CMS means that content management is simple. Rectifying issues remotely and troubleshooting is a walk in the park when compared to compet- itor hardware solutions.” Harry Perkins uses Signagelive in conjunction with BrightSign to provide a complete signage solution across the Harry Per- kins Research Institute facili- ties. The solution manages the creation, scheduling and deliv-


ery of content to a large number of LED screens, info boards and our large foyer banner displays. A partner organisation was al- ready using Signagelive and was very happy with every aspect of the solution. Amped Digital had provided highly effective imple- mentation and ongoing support services and the combination was highly recommended. Given


the existing inflexible


proprietary signage infrastruc- ture - where everything had to come from one manufacturer - software updates were large projects with complex firmware dependencies.


BrightSign media players were chosen purely due to their reliability in these fast-paced environments, the XT244 of- fering POE+, the ability from frame-accurate synchronisation along with full feature support from the Signagelive CMS, means from installation to con- tent management the system is simple to manage and support. Jeff Hastings, BrightSign’s CEO, commented: “We’re de- lighted to make the facilities of the Harry Perkins Institute even more friendly and functional. This project serves as the per- fect example of how updated digital signage solutions can improve not only a building’s aesthetic but contribute to the overall smooth running of a valuable educational facility.”


plays set around the space for bespoke presentation connec- tivity, video conferencing and distribution of media that can be conducted


simultaneously.


Elsewhere, interactive screens offer scope for impromptu col- laborations and informal meet- ings.


Execution


London Borough of Hounslow worked closely with proAV’s team throughout the initial scoping, design, planning and final implementation of our AV systems in the new building, Hounslow House. proAV really went the extra mile to get the building ready on time for a fixed opening day.


Thanks to the close working relationship


between proAV’s


project team, the main con- tractor and the client’s internal IT team, the London Borough of Hounslow project proved to be an outstanding success. It has transformed the way the workforce operates and serves the town’s residents. proAV’s scheme was com- pleted on time, within budget and was developed according to the exact AV specification agreed with the London Bor- ough of Hounslow IT team. As a result of proAV’s meticulous approach and deployment of the overall scheme, proAV is now working with Slough Bor- ough Council and main fit-out contractor, Bouygues, on a similar project in readiness for the move into its new £41 mil- lion, 80,000 sq.ft. headquar- ters building in Windsor Road.


AV News May 2020 P5


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