The Entertainer - Project Audio Visual

The Challenge

The Entertainer, the UK's largest independent toy retailer, relocated its team into a state-of-the-art head office in Amersham. The move is a part of its strategic growth plan, providing a central hub for its internal operations teams to connect to its 170 stores, clients and partners.

The brief, set by the board of directors, was to revolutionise its communication technology to match the vibrant culture. This included sourcing technology that would blend into its branded meeting spaces and instil continuity across its workspaces, including boardrooms, small, medium and large meeting rooms, mock shop, reception and canteen.

COVID-19 presented a significant challenge for both teams, disrupting project delivery, budgeting and remote teams.

The Solution

To provide consistency across all 21 environments, which varied in shape and size, Project Audio Visual designed the video conferencing system to centralise around the all-in-one Logitech Room Solution for Microsoft Teams, which offers bundles for small to large spaces.

The video conferencing suite includes an intelligent camera, soundbar, Microsoft Teams compute, table mics and room scheduler, allowing staff to walk into any room and have the same experience. Each room also includes a professional Samsung display ranging in size from 43" - 75" to be proportional to the room.

A Crestron Airmedia has also been incorporated into the system to let staff easily share content via a simple wireless connection.

Retail HQ

Microsoft Teams Rooms solution

21 communication spaces

4-50 capacity

The Result

Project Audio Visual provided The Entertainer consistency across its fleet of meeting spaces. In addition, staff can move freely between desk spaces and any meeting room whilst maintaining workflow on their personal Teams profile and seamlessly connect to the room system.

By implementing a fully Microsoft Teams Certified solution, staff who worked on the platform from home during the pandemic experienced a smooth transition back into the office. This resulted in an uptake in staff using the in-room technology, staff productivity and a significant decrease in paper consumption.

Although COVID-19 presented setbacks to the project pipeline, this allowed for enhancements to the video conferencing system as requirements changed, giving The Entertainer more continuity and a seamless experience across its headquarters.

To help staff unfamiliar with the technology and to build the confidence in those returning to the office, Project Audio Visual provided online and in-room training for the IT department to help with enquiries from the wider team.

"Project Audio Visual has been incredibly flexible with us from the start. As a result of the pandemic, our requirements kept adjusting, but Steve and the team were open to our needs and offered their knowledge to help us to navigate to the result we required.

"Two pieces of kit we initially thought we'd not require have turned out to be the most used. The room booking system has become essential to our business, and the team are incredibly respectful of its usage. Secondly, staff love the Crestron Airmedia; it's saved a lot of time for our teams who often share big files.

"What Project Audio Visual has provided us with is a futureproofed solution. As staff returned to the office, the call-outs for technical support have reduced significantly, and we've seen an uptake in teams using the video conferencing system. Staff are provided with precisely what they need and have the same high-quality experience whether working at their desk or in a meeting room.

"The level of service from the team was phenomenal. Our IT department now has a centralised solution to monitor all rooms. Project Audio Visual has expertly built a complex system but simplified the output so all staff of all skill sets can use it."

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Paul Mitchell, Head of Infrastructure and Applications at The Entertainer