When The Openwork Partnership – boasting 4200 financial advisers and 600 support staff – moved in to its new premises at Auckland House in Swindon UK, it refurbished the spaces to include the very latest workplace technology, including Yamaha’s ADECIA pro audio ceiling solution, supplied by Audiologic and installed by workplace technology specialists Visually Connected Worldwide.
Visually Connected installed four Yamaha ADECIA solutions in separate meeting rooms, each comprising an RM-CG dynamic beamforming ceiling array microphone, an RM-CR conference processor and an SWP2311P-10G PoE+ switch. The company installed the facility’s entire audio visual, videoconferencing, integration automation for video and audio, access control and digital signage systems, alongside one-touch Crestron Teams panels for simple videoconferencing control. In addition, ADECIA was seamlessly integrated into the company’s sophisticated support infrastructure, which includes a remote monitoring and repair system.
All devices are monitored 24/7, with Visually Connected Worldwide giving the client a report on the entire system every day at 8am. Any issues with the technical systems can be fixed overnight, before the working day starts.
The Openwork Partnerships structure means that hybrid working – part office-based, part at home – was already important before the pandemic. But with the enhanced importance of flexible working, having a pleasant and technically-advanced environment for employees when working from the office gives an undoubted boost to the company’s efficiency.
Thanks to the RM-CG microphones, Yamaha’s Human Voice Activity Detection technology and advanced noise reduction algorithms, ADECIA has given staff freedom to move around in meetings, clearly picking up individual voices, even when more than one person is speaking, as well as overcoming air conditioning noise.
“The idea was to create a pleasant, user-friendly environment for people coming into the office, including various zones of open plan hot desking, drop in areas, meeting spaces and facilities like a restaurant and wellness gym. It was designed to bring a new concept of working environment to staff in the financial advice sector,” said Sussi Murphy, CEO of Visually Connected Worldwide.
“The goal was to deliver top-quality video conferencing, while retaining a simple user experience. For the audio solution we worked with the Application Team at Audiologic. With the ADECIA solution from Yamaha being new to the market, we went through a process of remote demonstrations with Audiologic and the client as a proof-of-concept exercise, which ultimately led to the installation. We have a reputation for delivering high end, easy to use systems, but installation times are always limited. ADECIA was very straightforward to install and set up, more so than the originally-requested solution.”
Ben Spurgeon, senior technical manager at Audiologic added: “Both the use case scenarios and room requirements for this project were perfect for the ADECIA family of products. The ease of deployment, paired with top quality audio performance, meant that rooms could be commissioned in quick succession. We’ve had great success with our remote demos of the ADECIA products and were very happy to see Visually Connected Worldwide pushing forward with this solution.”
The Openwork Partnership’s technical brief was for spaces with state-of-the-art technology, which is easy to use and to connect with remote participants, while giving users a relaxed atmosphere in which to work.
“What we have delivered is the technology for a ‘next generation office’; great quality and highly usable for external communication, which is as reliable and stress-free for the customer as possible,” said Sussi. “With ADECIA, we discovered that you can make a complex, high quality installation for remote meeting sound more easily than with alternative solutions.
James Sansom, head of programme delivery at The Openwork Partnership, concluded: “We are very happy with the sound and the way Visually Connected Worldwide and Yamaha work. This project demonstrates how different communication technologies can be used to deliver intelligent solutions and support to clients in the finance market.”
