VARs and MSPs: In-House AV Expertise Differentiates Your UC Offering

Workplace reformation has accelerated the need for high-quality videoconferencing solutions as essential part of the UC tech stack. Companies have a heightened awareness of the role of premium audiovisual technologies in delivering successful collaboration outcomes. As they standardize on platforms like Microsoft Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms, or Google Meet, significant investments are being made to upgrade underperforming meeting room endpoints. VARs, MSPs and their peers have an opportunity to facilitate this and solidify their position as indispensable partners in clients' operational success. 

A new generation of IT-centric, professional conferencing audio systems enables the IT channel to provide superior hybrid collaboration experiences without outsourcing. These solutions are more powerful, integrated, and cost-effective, delivering greater functionality with fewer components and reduced effort. Still, some level of AV competency is necessary to guide customers in identifying the ideal solution for their unique needs.

Benefits of In-House AV Skills

Understanding and addressing the nuanced collaboration requirements of each client is crucial. By delivering reliable AV performance in any space or use case, partners can boost customers’ operational efficiency and so ensure greater satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.

Experts with a deep understanding of acoustics and audio-conferencing system design can provide valuable guidance on the capabilities or limitations of available solutions (see above). In-house AV experts may introduce innovative applications or recommend tailored solutions for collaboration spaces and use cases where standard off-the-shelf devices may not suffice. This helps clients to avoid uninformed purchases that may later require costly upgrades, facilitating more realistic budget planning while boosting client confidence and contentment. 

Professionally executed demonstrations that highlight the effectiveness of proposed AV solutions are another major value-add. Given the subjective nature of sound, an on-site proof of concept can aid in better decision-making by providing tangible evidence and reinforcing the benefits of premium solutions.

How to Build Competency

One approach to developing internal audiovisual capabilities is recruitment of specialized AV talent with experience in markets of focus. This deepens sector specialism and enables solution providers to identify and critically assess gaps in their current portfolio.

In addition to organic hiring and skills development, mergers and acquisitions are another option to quickly gain access to AV experts. Recent years have seen major MSPs acquiring AV integration firms to rapidly build out their service offering and market presence.

Integrating manufacturer reps as permanent in-house resources is another, less resource-intensive approach. A dedicated workspace for these experts helps to foster collaboration, fill knowledge gaps, and provides direct access to the latest product insights and applications support. 

In conclusion, developing AV competency is a strategic imperative for UC solution providers seeking to deliver better collaboration outcomes for clients. Investments in audiovisual expertise enables the IT channel to capture new revenue potential by delivering state-of-the-art conferencing solutions that meet the evolving needs of the digital workplace. Early adopters of this approach are already reaping the benefits of their foresight, while others are quickly mobilizing to catch up and position themselves for sustained success.

To learn more about AV solutions for the IT channel, visit p.shure.com/av-for-it-providers