A New Corporate Campus for Energy Supermajor Corporation

THE OBJECTIVE 

In 2013, an internationally acclaimed energy supermajor organization completed their cutting-edge new corporate campus.  With the goal of uniting their broad, large network of employees, this campus aims to foster collaboration, creativity, and innovation in their sleek, modern, and technologically forward complex.   

The campus consists of purpose-built areas for trading, monitoring, global security, and immersive technology. The scope of audiovisual (AV) enabled rooms is impressive as it includes: 

• 1,600 AV-equipped rooms in varying, standardized configurations 
• 2,200 displays 
• 345 Zoom-equipped rooms  
• 8 high-end visualization suites 
• A 300-seat auditorium 
• Major event center for large meetings and corporate events, including virtual broadcast capabilities. 

As construction was planned for the campus, this organization tapped on the power of their partnership with Mechdyne to strategically coordinate how this need for a broad scope and scale of cutting-edge technology requirements would be properly managed and executed, with the goal of providing quality, personalized end-user support. To achieve this, we developed three overarching objectives: 

• Enabling a smooth transition to the new campus
• Developing AV managed services processes prior to campus opening
• Increasing end-user satisfaction.  

 THE SOLUTION 

Mechdyne and our internationally recognized client visited multiple client sites to conduct discovery by gathering information on the usage and support of audio-visual technology. Through this process, we discovered:   

• A need for future-proofed technology upgrades 
• Training for both users and support teams 
• Process updates to alleviate the efficiency losses the company was experiencing at that point  
• The need to leverage client and end-user feedback to continuously improve service and maintain exceptionally high standards.  

By creating multiple categories of data-driven feedback, Mechdyne was able to offer customized strategic recommendations to the client to improve efficiency and reduce the load of work for onsite personnel.  

Here are some key highlights of what the discovery process revealed, and how we proactively addressed them:  

Mechdyne has provided onsite managed AV services since the campus opened through a tailored agreement that goes beyond a typical managed services strategy.  As a technology services partner that supports both hardware and end users, we can pay attention to ease of use, ergonomics, user training, and technology performance. This focus on user experience creates high-end user satisfaction and opportunities for continuous future-proofed planning. 

When our service level agreement (SLA) began, the initial objectives were to enable a smooth transition into the new campus, secure improvements with incident response and technology up time, and to increase user satisfaction and technology utilization. Over the course of this partnership, we’ve been able to improve the way we execute this SLA by:  

• Focusing on prompt resolution of tickets.  
• Providing ample content and resources for the client’s team to understand how to work specific software and hardware (i.e. single page guides on how to use tools like Clickshare, successfully, in a meeting room).  
• Using historical data and information to recommend ongoing strategic improvements, and to prove how we’re continuing to provide quality IT support.

The proactive support framework established for this campus’s opening remains a critical element of providing exceptional service.  In-depth training and hiring processes result in notably well-trained technicians who are prepared to support the client’s needs and document new issues, as well as resolution techniques that positively affect the rest of the support team.  

The success of this proactive framework is largely due to the standardization of support process into a set of step-by-step instructions facilitating quick and consistent resolutions, regardless of technician.  Two instrumental components were derived from the Proactive Support Framework: The Knowledge Base and the Proactive Client Information Program.  

Knowledge Base  

Our Managed AV Service unit includes event support as part of our portfolio. We assist the client with executing events seamlessly, including technology assistance, setup, and troubleshooting. By proactively monitoring technology issues, strategically-sound solutions can be immediately implemented; access to onsite support allows the client to minimize downtime for a smooth and successful event. 

Mechdyne stores all client processes in our Knowledge Base: Each proven process is indexed, stored, and continuously updated. Technicians then use these processes to resolve common AV system issues. The standardized processes allow techs to resolve issues as soon as they are uncovered, enables technology functions to operate as expected, and assists with early recognition and quick resolution of service issues.  

The Knowledge Base acts as a repository for crucial documents and equips each Mechdyne teammate with clear guidelines for every space that has this technology installed.  This allows techs to quickly perform onsite AV maintenance services and test in-room technology. This frees up precious time for each technician to support employees across the entire organization, an important factor considering the client’s sprawling campus size and the sheer number of buildings present.  

Proactive Client Information Program  

End users who are comfortable with technology— not frustrated or intimidated— are more likely to take advantage of available technology. Our program empowers users to resolve frequent ‘user error’ issues on their own. Typical program issues include everyday tech concerns, such as setting the correct audio source or extending or duplicating displays. Allowing users to proactively fix simple day-to-day issues like these directly empowers the client and their end users to feel confident and comfortable with the technology they use, leading to less downtime— and more money saved.  

When an employee logs a simple issue, AV tech teammates resolve the problem per typical processes and practices.  Once fixed, a follow-up email is sent with steps that empower the end user to fix the problem next time— without having to make another call to the AV Support Center. By giving clients the ability to fix their own problems, we can reduce the downtime their employees spend waiting for tech support.  

People-First Service  

Customer service excellence is critical to Mechdyne’s Managed AV services. Because confident and happy end users engage with the technology more often, quality service often translates into an increase in technology ROI. Our support team, which is trained to provide quality customer service, is maintained through our specific approach to hiring the right teammates.  At Mechdyne, we recruit, train and develop exceptional support techs with quality client-facing skills. In fact, we emphasize people skills in hiring and training in order to continuously maintain this level of service. This allows us to remain consistently committed to delighting and empowering end users while also being able to drive the best Net Promoter Scores (NPS) possible. We leverage this kind of data to adjust and adapt our ongoing training and learning processes to keep our service agents exactly at the level the client needs.  

Tactical Resource Allocation  

Because of the sheer scope and size of the client’s campus, our onsite teammates developed a Tactical Resource allocation software, to dispatch resources and resolve incidents in the most efficient way possible.  The software combines location tracking and activity monitoring to pinpoint the whereabouts of every technician in relation to the relevant resources they need to efficiently solve an issue. It offers situational awareness for Mechdyne’s diverse network of teammates, identifying their locations on campus, prioritizing and classifying their current tasks, and indicating their availability status. 

From the first client contact, we aimed to minimize downtime by expediting our response and restoring productivity as quickly as possible. For more complex issues, the service technicians may provide a temporary solution or relocation of the event to a new meeting space. This flexibility allows our partner’s teammates to remain productive while situations are resolved.  Once the employees resume work, Mechdyne uncovers the source of the disruption and resolves the problem. We are also able to proactively make strategic recommendations for procedures, processes, and solutions that will mitigate further similar issues.  

Root Cause Analysis 

Incident resolution is not a checklist of tasks. Rather, it is an ongoing ebb and flow of activity to which service teams must have a dynamic yet prepared response. Mechdyne’s technicians treat each client interaction as an opportunity to optimize productivity, gather insights into user experiences, extend client knowledge, and improve overall team processes.  When we interact with clients, the collected information feeds continuous improvement efforts and root cause analyses. 

This focus on continuous improvement and root cause analysis allows us to build customized maintenance processes that solve the true problem rather than a symptom, making it a more dynamic and flexible process that centers the satisfaction of both the client and the end user.  By becoming a proactive unit, we prevent problems from incurring downtime and in turn make our partner’s organization more productive.  Mechdyne follows the following root cause analysis steps to collect information:

• Incident type, source, and counter measures. This data informs ongoing technician training by identifying patterns in what kinds of incidents occur, from where, and how they’re ultimately solved. This then translates into updated training procedures, which allows for faster resolution overall.  
• Response times, action plans, and team efficiency. For example, we deemed ticket closure rate more important than contact resolution, because an emphasis on first-contact resolution can lead to hasty solutions.  
• Client satisfaction, workflow disruption, and client aftercare. We put a strong emphasis on both end-user and client satisfaction, which tends to occur when workflow is not disrupted.  We gather data like NPS to analyze end-user satisfaction, but we also review and analyze feedback and data from our client directly as part of the process.  

With the information gathered, our processes can be adjusted in real-time to increase efficiency, reduce downtime, lower incident requests, identify training opportunities and boost overall return on the company’s technology investment.  This proactive method has reduced incident generation, improved AV operating efficiency, and greatly increased client satisfaction. 

THE RESULTS 

Mechdyne recognizes that AV operations are constantly evolving, requiring continuous AV maintenance and adaptation. Providing top-tier support entails more than just occasional updates to physical AV assets. Our commitment to superior client service, enhanced efficiency, and swift execution is not static. Rather, it’s an ongoing collaboration with our partners, driving dynamic progress. 

The flexibility and adaptability of our continued partnership provides: