AV maintenance projection remedy for The Royal Society of Medicine

Despite some obvious symptoms and a prior diagnosis, our highly trained service team were at hand to investigate further to reveal the true cause of a malfunctioning projector, which was soon restored to full operational capability, saving unnecessary expensive investment for a replacement.

Service and maintenance

Bespoke technical solution

Long-term relationship

Twist of fate

Recurring technical problems are extremely frustrating and can be very difficult to resolve. When the Royal Society of Medicine, located in 1 Wimpole Street found themselves in this situation with an apparently malfunctioning projector from a previous supplier, it looked like the only solution would be to replace the whole system. Fate played its hand and an unrelated meeting between the venue’s Senior Audio Visual Manager and Visavvi Group Service Director Ann Pickard led to a final resolution of the problem and the formation of a new working partnership.

Kevin McLoughlin, who was already aware of Ann and her successes in the industry explained, “I was actually a judge at the AV Awards for Industry Professional of the Year and when I read the entry for Ann, I thought ‘What an amazing woman!’ I have got to meet her, and when I did, she did not disappoint.”

Challenge

The lecture theatre had a relatively new 4K NEC projector that repeatedly overheated and failed when in use. This led to the AV team at RSM having to run the projector at half power, resulting in reduced image quality and disappointed viewers who expected to see highly detailed medical images. “Our current AV maintenance supplier at the time really struggled to find a solution to the problem, and it went on for the best part of a year” explained Kevin. Ann was quick to express her dissatisfaction that the system had cost the organisation so much money yet wasn’t being used effectively. Ann commented “I was so frustrated that the issue hadn’t been resolved and asked Kevin if one of our service team could come onsite to take a look at the projector at no charge. Kevin felt like he had nowhere to go other than buy new kit, which would have been ridiculous considering it was still under warranty and less than 12 months old.”

Solution

Kevin agreed and the Visavvi audio visual service and maintenance team set about investigating the issue. The projector was removed and taken back to Visavvi’s workshop facility in Farnborough. “I arranged for NEC to come into the workshop, as well as the people who designed the specialist projector housing so that we had all the technical stakeholders together”, explained Ann.

Removing the projector, however, was no easy feat. Sean Kennedy, Visavvi Service Technical Manager explained, “The projector weighed a whopping 200 kilos, so we had to take it down in three separate sections to transport back to our workshop.” Back in the workshop and on the bench, there was one objective: to finally solve this problem that seemed like a hopeless lost cause. After hours of investigation, it became clear that the housing itself was causing the overheating. A design alteration made during the initial installation had inadvertently caused the internal airflow within the case to be impeded, causing the unit to overheat. Working with the case manufacturers, our team helped create an alternative mounting solution meaning the case could be returned to its original design specifications.

Result

The projector and housing were subjected to extensive testing prior to reinstalling with a four-day soak test where the unit performed without fault. Throughout the whole process, what stood out to Kevin was the way that the Visavvi maintenance team went above and beyond to get the projector back in working order, refusing to give up until the answer hiding behind the complications was found. “If we say we will do something – we will do it 100%. For us it is personal!”, explained Ann Pickard.

Feedback

The unique level of dedication to find and rectify the problem prompted Kevin to award Visavvi the audio visual service and maintenance contract for the Royal Society of Medicine. “The relationship we have with Visavvi removes a lot of stress because now I know I have somebody I have confidence and trust in.” Kevin went on to say, “Somebody asked me recently at an industry event if I could recommend a supplier to provide integrator services, and straight away said Visavvi. When they asked if I had any more suggestions, I said ‘No, that’s all’. So, I think that shows exactly what I think of the quality of Visavvi’s service and support they provide to us!”