Hurrairah bin Sohail finds out how Insurance Australia Group overhauled its office in Sydney, Australia with a clear vision to not only improve experiences now but also for the future.
Insurance Australia Group [IAG] is the largest general insurance company in Australia and New Zealand. It decided to undertake a complete overhaul of its
office in Sydney and for this
purpose engaged Optus to assist.
Pro AV Solutions served as the
integrator for the project.
IAG’s standardisation of its
videoconferencing platform was
the core decision that guided the
project. In addition, simplicity
and ease of use was a key
requirement for the meeting and
collaboration spaces. Another
consideration was providing the
users at IAG a range of spaces
that enabled different forms
of collaboration.
A perfect example of the vision
in action is a meeting space that
features a dual-screen Cisco
MX700 as a multipurpose,
teleconferencing system which
has been paired with a Shure
MXA910 ceiling array
microphone system. This setup
covers the entire gamut of
videoconferencing services
that IAG required.
While the system may look
simple on the surface, a fair
amount of integration work
went into making sure optimal
performance was achieved.
Bobbie Anders, project
manager at Pro AV Solutions
[NSW], says: “There was a lot
of custom API work that was
required to integrate the Cisco
system with the Crestron systems
that had also been put in place.
We worked with the client
workflows and implemented
them according to their
requirements.”
The ceiling microphone is a
deviation from other meeting
rooms at IAG where you can find
table-top microphones instead.
Regarding the selection of the
Shure product, Clayton Pickering,
senior project manager for
infrastructure delivery, group
technology, at IAG, says: “Cisco
has a similar product [ceiling
array microphone], but during
our review process we found
the Shure microphone to have
superior performance.”
Anders from Pro AV Solutions
says: “The ceiling array
microphone was particularly
suited for this space. We could
configure the nodes and expand
or reduce the area being covered.
Working with the product was not
an issue, we actually integrated
them with the Cisco units.”
Anders continues: “The only
issue we had was at the start. The
microphones were too sensitive.
They were picking up table noise
such as the shuffling of papers.
The space has a lot of hard
surfaces and that was a challenge
as well. We specifically tweaked
the configuration of the
microphones to make sure that
these issues were rectified.”
Other meeting rooms feature
even more simplified systems.
Some are equipped with Cisco
Spark, while others rely on Cisco
Webex for videoconferencing.
However, IAG is not looking at
these meeting rooms as places
that will remain static. With the
help of Crestron Fusion and
a range of sensors, IAG can
examine in detail the exact
usage of these spaces.
Anders from Pro AV Solutions
offers further details: “The rooms
have been linked with Fusion and
sensors have been integrated into
the spaces so you can detect room
occupancy, how long the users
were present and much more.
This data can then feed back
into the business and provide
concrete metrics regarding the
spaces and all of that is enabled
via Fusion.”
Pickering from IAG says:
“This is the exact type of data we
wanted because we want to make
informed decisions regarding
how we design the next building.
What rooms work and what type
of rooms don’t? How long are
certain spaces being used for?”
The data-driven approach
is already proving to have an
impact. Pickering explains:
“We’re seeing that open space
areas are massively underutilised while meeting rooms are
at maximum utilisation. This
means that we have to find a way
to make open space areas more
engaging for people. Numbers
don’t lie. Maybe it is the open
nature of the spaces when people
are looking for more private
spaces for confidential
discussions. We now have the
data to guide us when we are
making decisions for the future.”
IAG also features an extensive
digital signage system across the
premises. Pickering details its
intended function: “We needed
the digital signage system to have
a way to disseminate messages
and content across the site. For
example, if we have performance
reviews taking place, that
information can be displayed via
the digital signage. We have an
internal communication team
and they handle all the media
and content for the system.”
An Exterity distribution system
along with BrightSign media
players comprise the digital
signage system.
Anders from Pro AV Solutions
says: “We use an Exterity
distribution system for the client
network and this handles all the
digital signage content along
with Foxtel for viewing. For more
complex spaces, such as larger
meeting rooms, where switching
is required we use Crestron NVX
to distribute the video over the
network.”
Town hall
Pro AV Solutions has delivered
AV for the town hall space at the
IAG office which is flexible and
multi-functional. From internal
gatherings to dining events, the
AV systems had to be able to
handle a range of use case
scenarios.
A set of Sony projectors provide
visuals in the space. Pickering
from IAG says: “The idea was to
have different settings for the
town hall for different events
which meant that the AV systems
had to be as flexible as possible.
With projectors, we were able to
provide displays on two sides of
the town hall which means that
the space can be used in two
different orientations.”
Pro AV Solutions faced some
hardship in installing the
projectors and Anders details:
“Finding the ceiling space for the
projectors was a challenge. We
had to change some of the lifts to
fit the space while making sure
that the throw distances were
right. In the end with some
careful selection of lenses it
all worked out.”
Video is distributed over the IP
network with Crestron NVX
encoders and decoders. Anders
says: “The NVX boxes have fans
but they still run quite hot. We
tried to avoid putting them in the
floor as much as possible to make
sure there were no issues.”
Audio is provided by Crestron
ceiling speakers, amplifiers and
Avia DSPs with the signal being
transmitted via analogue. Tight
ceiling speaker placement
ensures that the town hall has
adequate sound and Anders says:
“This is a large open space with a
lot of hard surfaces. Our speaker
placement ensures that we have
proper coverage.”
Regarding the selection of the
Crestron DSP, Anders says: “The
audio for the town hall was not
complicated, we do not have
an extensive deployment of
microphones, and the Avia DSP
worked well for this particular
environment.”
A range of floor boxes
with inputs allow additional
equipment, including a mixing
desk if required, to be brought
in to augment the installed AV
systems.
Williams Sound infrared
hearing augmentation is also
deployed. Anders from Pro AV
Solutions says: “We find that
induction loop has its own set of
advantages, but it requires a lot
of design and coordination to
implement in particular spaces.
This town hall has a raised floor,
so that posed an issue for putting
in an induction loop which led us
to the option of infrared.”
Boardroom
Careful thought and
consideration went into the
design and installation for
the main boardroom at IAG.
Pickering details: “We went
through many different
iterations for the boardroom,
with different sized desks and
different technology.”
The most dominant feature of
the boardroom is a circular table.
The integrator had to take this
fixture into account when
deploying AV systems.
Cisco telepresence and
cameras, along with two
Samsung 85-in panels, serve as
the display and conferencing
system.
Getting the best out of this
system was not simple.
Pickering narrates: “The
particular shape of the
boardroom and its size posed
some problems. We started
speaking with Pro AV Solutions
about how to overcome the
challenges. We focused on
making sure that all the
participants in the room could
be seen and covered by the
Cisco cameras, the microphones
could pick up audio. We had to
juggle a lot of variables, such as
the fire sprinklers, furniture and
requirements from the business
and the architects. But our core
focus always remained on the
experience in the boardroom.
Not just the near-end but also
the far-end. It took a while, but
I think we were able to get the
right mix in the end.”
Cisco PresenterTrack helps
out in making sure that all the
participants are accurately
captured and framed during
videoconferencing.
Audio decisions were also
influenced by the table in the
boardroom. Anders from Pro AV
Solutions details: “We had
initially planned for a specific
number of microphones. But due
to an error on the builder’s part,
there were 20 holes cut into the
table for microphones. It was
cheaper for IAG to increase the
number of microphones than
procure a new table, so all our
audio designs changed.”
He continues: “We were
initially going to use a Crestron
Avia DSP, but with the additional
microphones we needed to
expand the DSP and eventually
went with a QSC Core DSP. We
upgraded the system halfway
through the project and added
more microphones.” The
microphones in question are
Shure MX310 gooseneck
microphones.
Crestron controls the room
environment and is integrated
with the Cisco system.
As can be expected with any
change, there was an adjustment
period for IAG to get accustomed
to the new AV systems. Jon
Anderson, senior project manager
for integrated client services at
Optus, says: “There was a bit of
a learning curve in the first few
months and Pro AV Solutions
provided concierge services to
help IAG through those weeks
and teach them how to use the
space.”
Anders from Pro AV Solutions
details: “Once we finish a project,
we generally offer our clients a
service to ensure that they have a
smooth transition. This includes
appropriate training which was
important for a project like this
where a lot of users were being
moved on to a completely
new way of interfacing with
technology and getting used
to a new setup.”
Pickering from IAG affirms:
“We engaged the white glove
support for the first few months
because it was a big step up for
us in terms of where we came
from and where we are now
with respect to technology. The
service helped us alleviate the
initial issues with the change
until everyone was comfortable.
If users are uncomfortable with
the systems we now have then
they will just go back to the old
way of doing things.”
Regarding the overall outcome
of the project, Anderson from
Optus says: “Off the back of
this project, IAG has decided to
upgrade a number of its offices
across the country. The switch
to Webex has really kicked this
off from an IT perspective. The
ability to enable VC across the
entire company and the entire
country with the same user
experience and the same
functionality is what is driving
this, the fact that it is a system
that doesn’t add complexity.”
Pickering from IAG concludes:
“Certainly, Webex has been very
stable and that is the biggest thing
for us and the platform we were
using was proving to be unstable.
The stability Webex brings is
helping us change how we work.
For example, now if someone is
working from home or in the
office, they are enabled to perform
in similar ways regardless.”