Air Duct, a South African-based mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) company that works across 13 African countries, assisting in the construction and refurbishment of commercial structures, has acquired a Huawei TE30 video conferencing (VC) solution.
Sourced and implemented by distributor Drive Control Corporation (DCC) and reseller, DAI Computer Consultants, the approximately R40 000.00 solution is part of a new generation of plug-and-play, high-specification VC solutions on the market. This solution interconnects easily with other VC brands and has delivered to Air Duct’s expectations, and more, driving savings and collaboration.
Acquired to facilitate interaction between Air Duct’s staff on site at its African operations and international partners, the solution has quickly paid for itself, delivering savings in terms of travel costs. More real benefits are, however, emerging through the ongoing collaboration and interaction that the now (almost) always-on VC solution enables between the company’s widely dispersed staff, suppliers, contractors, clients and other stakeholders.
Says Graham Thompson, CEO of Air Duct: “The catalyst for the purchase of the solution was the need to engage with a Dutch design team working with us on an expansion project at the Julius Nyerere airport in Tanzania. To link their teams in Bunnik, Netherlands with ours in Dar es Salaam and Durban, we asked DAI Computer Consultants to explore available VC solutions.
Says Mike Osborn of DAI Computer Consultants: “Air Duct’s key requirements included the need for high quality visuals and audio, and the ability to integrate with Cisco’s VC solution used by the Dutch company. The Huawei TE30 VC solution, supplied by DCC, ticked all the boxes – it was reasonably priced, easy to use and had world leading technology specifications.”
Notes Sanveer Mohan, Huawei Product Specialist at DCC Durban: “Huawei’s TE30 VC solution is a market leader in its segment. Unlike the complex and costly VC solutions of the past, the Huawei TE30 is small and sleek, uses voice dialing, adapts intelligently to the network, and can be deployed effortlessly in five minutes. It is the first all-in-one High Definition (HD) VC system with wireless connection. Its low bandwidth requirement enables 1080 pixel visuals or 50 to 60 frames per second (fps) over a 512 kilobit per second (Kb/s) connection, with its 20 percent anti-packet-loss rate using up to 50 percent less bandwidth.
How easy is it to run? “We use it every day,” says Thompson. “The integrated unit comprises a built-in camera, microphone and speakers, and software to drive the conference. It plugs into a television, IP addresses of attendees are added and the interconnections are made. It has numerous features. It stores the history of calls, can record calls, and can integrate with or be run from a PC, allowing sharing of the desktop to incorporate presentations or make other visuals available to conference attendees. Ease of use, clarity of the audio and the visuals, and the intelligence built into the solution, make it an invaluable tool.”
Time to return on the investment in the solution was approximately three months which was realised in travel costs. However, it’s the unquantifiable benefits that have convinced Air Duct to expand its rollout of the technology to its African operations.
Says Thompson: “We have a very diverse employee base across Africa, including foremen, engineers, technicians, managers and local contractors from Zimbabwe, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and South Africa. To appropriately staff our projects in their different build phases, we regularly fly key employees to the various sites. In addition, the nature of our work is such that we must work closely with clients, architects, design teams, construction companies, developers, suppliers, contractors and financiers. The topics of discussion can be highly complex and technical.
“With a pipeline of R700 million, and the business still growing fast, there’s a lot more conversations to be had – internally and with external partners and stakeholders. The VC solution enables face-to-face interaction, giving our engineers, executives, foremen and designers the ability to interact directly and collaborate more readily. This mitigates the risk of human error, limiting miscommunication. It also improves decision-making as we are able to better leverage the skills and knowledge of stakeholders. This drives the business forward, stirring innovation and improving the quality of our outputs. In effect, the value of this equipment goes way beyond its price tag.”
Over the next year, Air Duct hopes to introduce VC across its sites in Africa. “We are also encouraging our partners locally to invest in VC solutions. Our headquarters are in KwaZulu-Natal, while many of our clients and partners are in Johannesburg. There is a lot of design and development work, especially in the early phases of projects development that could be concluded as effectively via VC as in a boardroom.
“We think it is quite important that companies revisit the use of VC. Advances in technology make it a pleasure to use – quite simply, until you have experienced the clarity of the visuals and audio, it’s hard to comprehend how useful this technology can be. In addition, it is a breeze to operate, its affordable, it drives productivity and it contributes to sustainable business strategies.”
