Most people have heard the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The saying seems logical – don’t spend time on something that is working. This doesn’t mean what “ain’t broke” should be ignored.
Audiovisual (AV) systems often fall under this saying. AV systems that are working are left unchecked in favor of other projects needing attention.
IT teams are tasked with a multitude of strategic and support responsibilities, and finding the time to check AV is often not high on priority lists. The issues emerge when the items do break, and the real costs of putting off maintenance come to the forefront.
When a meeting is about to take place, the last thing a person wants to encounter is failing technology. The costs of delayed and canceled meetings can be very high. This is where Proactive System Maintenance (PSM) comes in.
What does Proactive System Maintenance mean?
Proactive System Maintenance is a preventative maintenance program that identifies and corrects issues before they develop into larger, more costly problems.
PSM, on AV systems specifically, includes full and sub-system checks and calibration of the various components. Checking the audio, video, control, and network systems individually allows any issues to be tracked to the corresponding system and resolved more efficiently.
The process may catch issues that everyday users may not notice. PSM also helps identify the root cause of any issues that are found, reducing issues, and the costs associated with them. Components nearing the end of life or that may not be suitable for new use cases can also be identified.
What benefits does PSM provide?
Identifying issues during a routine check not only allows the IT team to develop a resolution plan but also allows the business and employees to modify any upcoming plans if the resolution requires scheduled downtime of the AV system. Ultimately, PSM lowers the cost of downtime.
First, users are not losing productive time trying to resolve issues, waiting for maintenance assistance, or searching for a new meeting space when the meeting should have already started.
Secondly, proactive calibration and system checks ensure each system’s audio and video are at premium performance for users. Meetings start on time, increasing productivity. Users are more satisfied with the technology, increasing space utilization, therefore increasing the ROI the business realizes from its technology.
These cost-reducing and ROI-increasing effects have a compounding effect, helping businesses get the most out of their AV systems.
PSM Success Examples
On a PSM visit for one of our virtual reality clients, our technician discovered a failing fan within a motion tracking controller. If this had gone unchecked, it would have caused the entire tracking system to fail and the system to be down for a significant amount of time until the diagnosis and repair were complete.
Finding this issue early allowed our team to begin the repair process before the equipment was needed by the client.
The Mechdyne Difference
Our teams of technicians are trained and work on a variety of systems which instills a wide breadth of knowledge that they bring to all of our clients. We are technology agnostic and vendor-neutral, meaning that whatever systems an organization already has in place, we can help maintain the system, decrease your costs, and increase the return on the investment.
Enacting a PSM program can prevent disruptions and technology failures during critical moments. This type of maintenance program benefits a variety of environments from manufacturing centers to utility companies to conference rooms to higher education.