With Verrex’s expertise, a prestigious medical research institute seamlessly transitioned to Zoom Rooms on its California campus.
Goals
The field of medical research requires copious amounts of collaboration, both cross-country and cross-disciplinary, to lead to vital discoveries. Currently, AV systems factor tremendously in the ease and quality of that collaboration. When one of the leading medical researchers in the U.S. wanted to upgrade their AV systems and convert their meeting spaces to Zoom Rooms with custom room controls, Verrex was ready to help them succeed.
The medical research institute was looking for a robust system that was easy to use. The client’s goal included transitioning most meeting spaces to Zoom Rooms with custom room controls embedded within the native Zoom interface. They wanted their physical meeting spaces built to make using Zoom Meetings as seamless as possible. This project occurred on the medical research institute’s California campus. It consisted of the design-build of the audiovisual system for a theater-style Auditorium and Lecture Hall. Verrex had previously completed a similar project on the client’s Florida campus.
Challenges
This project had some unique challenges besides the typical supply chain issues involving equipment backorders. The client was converting meeting spaces to Zoom Rooms, which resulted in the project requiring the removal of complicated and expensive switching and system control products. Therefore, the Verrex team was working with a mixture of new and existing equipment and inherited the results of the poor installation practices in the past. As a result, the Verrex technicians were required to carefully comb through the entire AV infrastructure to ensure any reused equipment met Verrex standards.
Additionally, the client-driven scope to utilize room controls from Zoom natively meant that the project needed someone who knew the ins and outs of Zoom. Zoom allows you to control third-party devices. These controls enable you to implement controls through Zoom seamlessly. Verrex’s team includes Zoom Room Certified Integrators who worked hand in hand with the client’s Zoom admin and IT teams to coordinate customer configurations.
Solutions
Once Verrex removed the existing switching and control products in the rooms, they could use the Zoom platform to handle all primary control functions, for example, muting ceiling microphones, turning projectors and displays on and off, and moving projection screens up and down. Verrex’s knowledgeable programmers created custom configuration profiles using JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) scripts, the Zoom environment's programming language.
They say teamwork makes the dream work, which was undoubtedly the case on this project. Verrex and the client worked as a team on this project, and the engagements were always friendly, open, and cooperative. The design engineers worked closely with the medical research institute’s Zoom coordinator and the IT and Facilities department to ensure the design would meet the client’s needs. With open dialogue and a series of meetings, the client became a genuine Verrex “team member” and was very hands-on with the design and the review of documentation that Verrex produced.
Results
The client is pleased with the newly Zoom Room appointed auditorium and lecture hall. Simplicity and standardized operation from room to room were essential to the client team as the users have a variety of experiences and skill sets. The result provided an excellent experience for those local to the room and those on the far end of the video and audio calls.