- When Electronic Data Systems (EDS) appropriated the 7th Floor Video Conference Room as a personal meeting area, AMX® Control Systems were a given.
"This is the first NetLinx system we have installed in Plano," Stamps said. "The power we have with NetLinx is amazing. There are things we are doing that only NetLinx can do. We have benefited tremendously."
- "The room was originally designed in 1992," said Scott Stamps, Audio Visual Technician at EDS. "To incorporate AMX technology in here was a natural progression."
- During the past 10 years, EDS has installed AMX Control Systems, both NetLinx® and Axcess® as well as AMX Touch Panels, in conference rooms worldwide — company headquarters in Plano, Texas, plus regional offices in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. At EDS, like many Fortune 100 companies, AMX is the standard.
- "This is the first NetLinx system we have installed in Plano," Stamps said. "The power we have with NetLinx is amazing. There are things we are doing that only NetLinx can do. We have benefited tremendously."
- Initially, the 7th Floor Video Conference Room did not support various components necessary for daily executive meetings. "It was built as a conference room, not a presentation room," Stamps explained. "So there wasn't adequate space for an audio/video control room or projection equipment. We had to get creative in our utilization of this limited area."
- Adding in-room capabilities usually means bringing in extra conduit for numerous electronic devices and extended control and automation features. However, EDS technicians had one rather large obstacle facing them. In fact, it was everywhere they looked: The conference room is part of an executive level that suspends outward from this particular EDS building. The obvious solution was to harness the existing conduit already in place.
- "There was no really good way to get conduit to it (the room)," Stamps said. "We couldn't put in as many inputs and outputs as we would have liked to, but we worked successfully with what we had."
- The first step was to go across the hall, take a small telephone booth and transform it into an audio/video control room, fully integrated with the conference room. Richard Walker, Integrated Media Designer/Installer at EDS, provided the code and programming for the entire system, including Touch Panel features. NetLinx operates efficiently and discreetly behind the scenes.
- "The control room is really small so everything had to be a flat panel," Stamps said. "All the displays are flat panels. The AMX Touch Panel Interface uses a flat panel. We couldn't take up a lot of space in here or generate too much heat."
- A wireless AMX Modero® ViewPoint (MVP) Touch Panel in the control room guarantees anywhere, anytime control. An EDS technician can remotely prepare and orchestrate the videoconference needs of the CEO — without ever entering the conference room unless absolutely necessary. The AMX control and automation is seamless, reliable and intuitive. No more wheeling in an overhead projector and manually pulling down a projection screen. No sudden computer shutdowns that halt an important videoconference. EDS has created redundant computer and power supplies, audio equipment and conferencing components, so everything can be re-routed if a shutdown does occur.
- "The features we are using are the kinds you wouldn't want to work without," Stamps said. For example, the technician is able to customize the control options for each and every meeting by taking into account the personal preferences of each presenter. Rather than clutter the conference room's AMX 10.4-inch Tabletop Touch Panel with too many control icons, only those commands necessary for the current meeting are displayed. This saves valuable time and minimizes any confusion for the end user.
- "It's easy to get overwhelmed with so many buttons on more than one page," Stamps said. "I give the end user what they specifically need at that time. It has worked out quite well."
- The handheld MVP is the proverbial staging point for the amount of control and automation allowed in the conference room, as well as the current status of equipment employed for a meeting in progress.
- "If I need to make changes, I can take control of the room wherever I go," Stamps said. "Since the control room is just across the hall, I can take the ViewPoint with me to do several different things, like get a presenter's microphone activated and cue the presentation simultaneously."
- EDS also uses NetLinx as a means of instant communication between the technician in the control room and the executives in the conference room. During every meeting, an "executive sponsor" is chosen to operate the AMX 10.4-inch Touch Panel. At anytime, this person can pick up the telephone handset located under the table to speak with the control room technician or use an on-screen keyboard to type text messages for assistance. A video window appears on the panel's display in which the technician and executive sponsor can see each other in real time. In the conference room, one of the videoconference cameras can zoom in on the executive sponsor. In the control room, the technician looks into a much smaller camera the size of a large marker.
- "We can speak right there, face-to-face — from the camera in the conference room to the touch panel in the control room — without having a major impact on the flow of the meeting," Stamps said. "Prior to NetLinx, I would have to go into the room, pull a person out of the meeting, and explain things. Now, they can continue while I navigate the touch panel to make their lives better."
- Almost daily, the CEO communicates with global offices to discuss different projects. Time and results are of the essence. These project updates must occur as seamlessly as possible. From the control room, the EDS technician can prepare each videoconference or audioconference through NetLinx. The technician contacts by phone or online connection each EDS employee from around the globe, then groups each person into the appropriate videoconference or audioconference queue.
- "They're live and already online for the CEO," Stamps explained. "The executive sponsor navigates the panel, hits a button, and brings them digitally into the room. When the meeting is over, the executive sponsor presses another button and they are gone. This practically elimates the wait time between projects. In the old days, we would have to break everything down and reestablish the calls. There were so many projects that even a few minutes of down time between meetings would ad up to several hours. NetLinx has paid for itself already in the amount of time we have saved, not to mention the lower levels of stress for everyone involved."
- The conference room is about 30-feet wide by 30-feet long. In the center is an octagon-shaped table that sits 14 people. At the front of the room, two retro-cabinets have been removed and replaced with rear projection screens. Three cameras for videoconferencing and security are built into the walls. The control rack is situated between the digital projectors and cameras located behind the front wall. One 60-inch projection screen drops down to accommodate overhead slides that are used to display highly confidential information. Other integrated electronic equipment includes a VCR player, lights, microphones, satellite television, speakers and a document camera.
- "With all that we had to do, the control system code became quite sophisticated," Stamps said. "We actually built the entire room in our shop first, wiring it up in a mock arrangement in order to test the programming. In the end, everyone here thinks it is cool. Several of the executives have stated that they noticed how much smoother, quicker and less stressful the meetings have run with this new system."
