Maplin Electronics, the consumer electronics retailer, has selected Sennheiser’s TeamConnect audio conferencing system to connect its UK offices and reduce travel costs.
Maplin decided to install the system in-house with support from Sennheiser, led by Maplin’s head of operations and infrastructure, Mike Prescott and Sennheiser’s global business development manager, business communcations, Nick Pemberton.
“We chose TeamConnect specifically for its ability to utilise Skype for Business,” said Prescott. “I was looking for a hardware solution that worked with existing software and environment, rather than an all-encompassing ‘black box’ solution. I find new communication services are more successful if they build on things people are familiar with. Skype for Business is our company standard.”
“In one respect, the brief was simple,” commented Pemberton. “It was to provide an easy-to-use system that seamlessly interfaces with Skype for Business.”
The second part of the brief, was more challenging. “We needed to provide a system that met and exceeded the audio quality requirements of senior managers and the main board,” added Pemberton. “Acoustics, layouts, size and physical deployment were the main issues, rather than technology integration. The use of TeamConnect Flex bundles, which provide a number of options to suit varying requirements, provided a great solution to these issues.”
The TeamConnect system was installed across two sites: Maplin’s Rotherham HQ, where there is a conference room with a large oval table seating 12 people, and a boardroom with horseshoe table with seating for at least 24 people. The London office has a similar sized conference room and a meeting room for six people.
“In each location, TeamConnect Small and Large Flex systems were deployed to interface directly with Skype for Business for daily communication,” explained Pemberton. “Maplin makes full use of the various on-board communication connections across the sites, but in particular the USB to touchscreen Skype for Business clients and mobile cable for BYOD integration to calls.”
On the installation of the system, which was completed over a few weeks Prescott commented: “Putting together or connecting TeamConnect equipment is straightforward. And the build quality is excellent. The whole business now uses it for internal and external meetings. We have significantly reduced the cost of travel and accommodation caused by having two offices at opposite ends of the country.
“Nick was excellent throughout the process, being flexible around times to demo the kit, and assess the installation requirements for rooms which are constantly in use. We ran a pilot to demonstrate the solution worked, before scaling this up into the final solution.”
