The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, headquartered in Mumbai, underwent a full-fledged AV revamp to strengthen communication and collaboration efforts. Naila Nadeem explores.
Agriculture remains the backbone of India’s economy, employing over 45% of the labour force and serving as a critical driver of rural livelihoods and national growth. Recognising the pivotal role that agriculture plays, the government has been actively working to uplift the financial and economic conditions of farmers. In this endeavour, institutions like the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) are especially vital.
Given the crucial nature of discussions around agricultural policies, NABARD recently undertook a strategic initiative to upgrade its meeting spaces with the goal of fostering a more productive environment for communication and collaboration.
For this project, EYTE Technologies was appointed as the consultant, while Cosmos Business Machines served as the integrator.
Abdul Waheed, managing director at EYTE Technologies, details how both parties won the project: “All government projects in India require a tender process, and a minimum of three parties have to bid for the project to be awarded. For this particular project, there were more than nine SIs competing, so it was definitely tough going.”
E.B. Devan, vice president at Cosmos Business Machines, adds: “This project was a revamp of what we had originally installed back in 2015. Technology becomes outdated over time, and NABARD hadn’t done any significant upgrades during these years. So, this revamp was long overdue. They reached out to EYTE, and we then worked closely together to win this project. We scored well in the technical evaluation and were competitive commercially, which helped us secure the tender.”
The organisation’s headquarters required modern AV systems for a 46-person conference room, a boardroom, and its other smaller conference rooms, and these were key spaces where all of the top management and team members would hold regular meetings as well as high profile monthly reviews. Vivek Birje, director at Cosmos Business Machines, shares: “India’s agriculture minister visits NABARD quite regularly. The government of India allocates USD 18 billion for agricultural initiatives, and many strategic decisions are made in these boardrooms. The chairman often mentioned that making critical decisions in such a poorly functioning setup was challenging. Thus, they wanted a user-friendly and state-of-the-art AV system that would last for a long time.”
Creating a futureproof system
The AV upgrade at NABARD needed to address both the outdated technology and the specific needs of the users, many of whom are senior decisionmakers. Abdul weighs in: “Tech upgrades are needed every two to three years, especially now that technology evolves rapidly. In this case, their system was about eight to nine years old. Many products were no longer being supported by OEMs, features weren’t functioning, and they were using discontinued equipment that couldn’t be repaired.”
He continues: “The challenge was to design a solution that would remain effective for the next five years. The design we proposed included modernising the AV setup with wireless presentation capabilities, transitioning from outdated H.323 videoconferencing systems to software-based solutions, and introducing digital signage for dynamic communication. We also had to add additional displays and shift from wired VGA and HDMI connections to wireless.”
Beginning with the 46-pax conference room, four LG display screens are mounted on the ceiling and arranged in a manner such that participants from all corners of the room are able to view the content on the screens. A 98-in LED display serves as the main display at the front of the room. For wireless presentation mode, the room is equipped with the Wolfvision Cynap Pro, which allows users to stream and present content from their personal devices directly to the main display.
For videoconferencing, the room utilises the Poly G7500 as well as Sound Control Technology (SCT) camera extension kits to support remote communication.
Devan provides his rationale for the design chosen: “The displays were originally placed on the floor. Abdul designed the setup to move the displays to the ceiling, providing a 360-degree view of the content and a more immersive feel. The camera is also mounted centrally on the ceiling to capture all participants.”
A key requirement from the client was to transform its static, manual signage into digital signage to showcase content and information. To address this, LG 55-in portrait displays were used in conjunction with BrightSign media players. An LG interactive digital board is also used in the space for participants to annotate and interact with on-screen content directly.
In terms of the audio system in the 46-pax conference room, the setup centres around the Q-SYS Core 110f processor, and QSC ceiling loudspeakers have been deployed to provide even sound distribution across the space. A couple of units of the QSC column surface-mount loudspeakers have also been fitted into the space to provide directional sound reinforcement. These loudspeakers are powered by QSC SPA4-60 amplifiers.
For discussions, participants are able to use the Televic chairman delegate system gooseneck microphones.
Managing the room’s video signal distribution is a set of Kramer AV-over-IP encoders and decoders. To extend USB connection between devices, a Raven USB extender is utilised while a Netgear AV-over-IP switch supports the entire AV system. Lumens LC 200, a 4-channel HD switcher, recorder, and live streaming media processor, has also been installed.
It seems that every choice of technology in the conference room was carefully curated to provide a premium experience for the end users. Abdul shares the process for choosing how brands made the cut for the project: “We look for the most recent, technologically advanced equipment that aligns with current trends. As designers, sometimes we select specific products and brands, but for government tenders, we must keep the specifications generic, allowing multiple brands to fit the bill. For example, display specifications need to be broad enough to accommodate a variety of options to be considered, as tenders cannot seem to favour a single product and hence a single brand.”
He continues: “We also had to consider the space limitations, such as pop-up lift monitors that needed to fit the existing office furniture. Compatibility with existing equipment and minimising structural changes, like avoiding the need to open up entire ceilings or floors, were also key.”
Devan adds to the conversation with interesting insight into government projects in India, and how the restrictions on brands that can be used also guides the selection process: “For these government projects in India, we have to be cautious as there is a clause that restricts us from using brands from bordersharing countries. Hence, the products we choose must comply with this clause. We also ensure the chosen brands are of very good quality, offer strong after-sales service, and are commercially competitive, as tenders often come down to price. This helps us get the right mix and win the tender.”
Building boardrooms
NABARD also requested for its other key spaces to undergo an AV revamp, in particular a boardroom and a 15-pax conference room.
For the boardroom, the AV setup consists of a 136-in active LED videowall from Planar. To manage the video signal distribution, Kramer’s encoders and decoders have been deployed as well. Arthur Holm 17-in HD retractable monitors are strategically placed on the table to serve as interactive displays for viewing content and for annotation. The same Netgear switch is being utilised together with a Q-SYS DSP to complete the control system. For VC and wireless presentations, Wolfvision’s Cynap Pure RX and Cynap Pro, as well as a Poly kit, are being used.
On the other hand, the 15-pax conference room sees an 85-in LG display serving as the main display in the room, boasting a wide-viewing angle and resolution of up to 4K for participants. Devan comments on the process of installing the display: “As there were some limitations with the infrastructure of the space, we had to do wall reinforcement and revamping works to ensure that the display would sit perfectly at the front of the room.”
The boardroom and 15-person conference room’s audio setup mimics that of the 46-person conference room, ensuring consistency in sound distribution and fidelity. An addition in these 15-person rooms is the Shure MXA 920 ceiling microphone tile.
The AV systems across all key spaces in NABARD have been designed to ensure complete compatibility with BYOD features, enabling seamless use of Microsoft Teams – the client’s chosen unified communications platform – in all meeting rooms.
Challenges faced
Executing the project in a fully operational facility posed several challenges, which Abdul expounds on: “The client did not want to change the interior, civil structure, or furniture layout of the rooms. Hence, we had to work within these constraints, making small adjustments where needed.”
Devan adds: “We also had to do some civil work to reinforce walls and enhance the aesthetics, even though the interior design wasn’t part of the tender. Also, as we opened up the ceiling, we encountered differences between the design and the reality on-site, leading to spatial constraints. However, we managed to overcome these challenges and satisfy the customer.”
Additionally, Devan highlights the limited working window for the project as a key obstacle: “One challenge with government tenders is that they often set a fixed timeline for completion, which might work for a greenfield project where the space is available all the time for us to work. But in this case, it was an operational office, and the mandate was that we could only work during non-working hours, not during the day. They gave us access to the rooms one by one rather than all at once, and we still had to complete the project on time to avoid penalties. Additionally, they wanted the rooms in which we completed the installation to be ready for their meetings and conferences even before the entire project was completed. For these reasons we had to undertake project execution in phases.”
Abdul continues: “Sometimes, we only had holidays or weekends, and then the office would be up and running the next day. For months, I saw Cosmos teams working day and night at the site, ensuring that everything was back in place before the office resumed operations. It was quite challenging due to these restrictions, but the quality of work had to remain high.”
Moreover, integrating the new digital signage and AV systems with NABARD’s strict IT infrastructure required careful coordination. Abdul shares: “Being a government organisation, they had strict firewalls and multiple levels of approval. While the business side wanted everything ready immediately, navigating the processes took time, so we had to balance expectations and work through the procedures.”
Reflecting on the journey of working on the NABARD project, Abdul mentions: “I believe we did a great job and the client was satisfied with the outcome. However, as a consultant, there’s always a bit of compromise when it’s not a greenfield project. Starting from scratch gives you more freedom to design. In this project, we had certain limitations, but even so, the solutions we delivered will be effective for the next five to 10 years.”
Devan concludes: “Despite the constraints, the NABARD project turned out well. As Abdul mentioned, having a greenfield project would of course allow you to design everything, including the room’s look and feel, lighting, and more. For future projects, we’d prefer to conduct work via a hybrid model where we can manage all aspects of the room like interior, acoustics, electrical and lighting in addition to futuristic AV deployment for a more cohesive and best possible outcome. Cosmos has developed wellrounded expertise in all these diverse areas to deliver the best experience to our customers.”