Summary

Houston Utility, an Australian service provider to the oil & gas industry here in Australia and in the United States, sought to improve their boardroom meeting experience. To achieve this, they collaborated with Rapid Circle, to design and optimise their meeting room using virtual reality technology.

Customer Profile

Houston Utility Service was established in May 2013 providing services to the Oil and Gas Sector. They provide a range of equipment solutions to the Oil & Gas industry, delivering solutions for daily drilling and well servicing operations.

Challenge

With employees, operations and customers across Australia, the company regularly conducts internal and external meetings. They recognised the importance of enhancing their meeting experience, specifically focusing on video conferencing, to foster better collaboration and communication among their teams. Houston Utility faced several challenges with their existing video conference call equipment.

Meetings often encountered delays and disruptions due to cumbersome setups and technical glitches, wasting valuable time of both participants and support staff. To the point that many meetings reverted to an iPhone in the middle of the Board Room table. The company sought a solution to simplify the meeting room experience, allowing users to walk in, start meetings effortlessly, and have all essential information readily available.

Solution

Rapid Circle presented Houston Utility with a comprehensive solution to address their meeting room challenges. Leveraging their expertise in meeting room design and virtual reality technology, Rapid Circle proposed a state-of-the-art video conference upgrade for their Boardroom.

“Once Houston Utility completed our ‘Meeting Room Rapid Audit’ we discovered that the boardroom is near a busy road, which can be a noisy environment, so we purposefully chose equipment that allowed us to tune the microphones to reduce background noise from traffic.

Using our VR design software, we then created a layout that would maximise the capability of the state of the art equipment we were installing, creating a meeting room that will be an asset to their business for years to come.”

Nick Showler, Principal Consultant, Rapid Circle Australia

The key components of the solution included:

1. Automated Setup: Rapid Circle integrated the meeting room equipment (Shure MXA910 Microphone Array, ceiling speakers, Poly E70 Camera, Logitech Tap, Lenovo Core PC and 65″ commercial display) with smart automation, enabling seamless initiation of video conferences. Participants could walk into the room, and the system would automatically power up all necessary devices and display the meeting schedule on the screen.
2. User-Friendly Interface: To simplify the meeting start process, Rapid Circle implemented an intuitive user interface. With a single tap on the screen, attendees could join the scheduled meeting, eliminating the need for manual setup or technical assistance.
3. Virtual Reality Testing: Rapid Circle utilised virtual reality technology to design and optimise the meeting room equipment layout, conducting sound, lighting, and ergonomic tests within the virtual environment to ensure the best meeting experience in the physical space.
4. Fast Design and Installation: With expertise in meeting room design, Rapid Circle ensured a swift and efficient implementation process. Minimising downtime, they swiftly installed the new video conference equipment into Houston Utility’s existing infrastructure.
5. Ongoing Support: To guarantee smooth operations, Rapid Circle is available for support, troubleshooting and upgrades as needed.

“We chose the Poly E70 dual lens camera with a wider field of view to fit in all meeting participants. This camera has Poly DirectorAI which enhances the meeting experience for remote participants by providing smart ‘people framing’, making the meeting more visually engaging.”

Nick Showler, Principal Consultant, Rapid Circle Australia

Result

The collaboration between Houston Utility and Rapid Circle led to a remarkable transformation in their meeting experience. The video conference equipment upgrade vastly improved the efficiency and convenience of their meetings.

The outcomes of the solution included:

• Seamless meeting start: Participants experienced a hassle-free meeting initiation process, with all equipment automatically set up and ready to use upon entering the room.
• Enhanced user satisfaction: Houston Utility’s employees expressed satisfaction with the user-friendly interface, allowing them to focus on the meeting’s content rather than dealing with technical challenges.
• Improved Collaboration: Seamless content sharing during meetings, no more printing or emailing reports or works in progress.
• Time savings: The automation and streamlined setup reduced meeting start times significantly, helping foster productive meetings.
• Reliable support: Houston Utility had peace of mind knowing that any technical issues would be promptly addressed, minimising potential disruptions during critical meetings.

“Best thing, it just works, walk-in the room everything fires up on its own, meeting schedule is displayed, tap your meeting done.”

Adam Day, CFO Houston Utility Services