With the huge impact of Covid-19 throughout the world, our thoughts are with the whole community affected. In particular; any clients or contacts who are personally affected by the pandemic; the vulnerable amongst us; and the brave health professionals who are heroes for us all.
Crossover continues to operate whilst closely following, and in most instances going further than, government guidelines for safe working, social distancing and hygiene.
Covid-19: The immediate impact for AV in the UK
The initial ripples of the effects of Covid-19 in the UK AV industry were felt early in 2020 as China and the East was hit by the pandemic, affecting the supply chain of many goods manufactured in the region. Lead times are still stretched for equipment in high demand during social distancing - videoconferencing cameras and mic headsets, streaming systems etc. but it's reassuring that trade is getting back to normal.
Much of the AV industry is geared towards enhancing collective experience – events, meetings, boutique fitness classes, retail and leisure environments. We wait to see how and when these gatherings will resume and are encouraged by the many ways businesses are professionals are adapting.
Many construction projects have shifted timelines, as sites have either been closed or enforced restrictions on working.
AV supporting new ways of working
Crossover have a host of services dedicated to high quality collaboration and communication over distance - livestreaming, videoconferencing from home and videoconferencing from meeting rooms and boardrooms, and for remote teaching and virtual classrooms.
With remote working prevalent across many sectors, organisations may either be relying more heavily on platforms like Microsoft Teams, or have expedited migration onto such Unified Communications tools. Teams can handle regular phone calls, as well as chat, videoconferencing and file sharing, which can mean easier remote access to a company's internal phone system than with legacy phone systems.
The use of software VC platforms such as Zoom for helping families to see each other through social distancing, has brought videoconferencing into many homes, as a much wider audience embraces meeting online meeting.
Boutique fitness operators are making use of livestreaming and video recording to bring their tailored fitness classes into the home.
Conference centres and events geared up to large-scale presentations are also making use of video recording, broadcast and streaming to reach remote audiences in this time of social distancing. Class-based training and education organisations are doing similarly.
Preparing to bounce back stronger
A silver lining of the disruption to our regular working is the opportunity many of our team have had to undergo in-depth technical training courses. Technical training is essential to stay current in the AV industry, and pleasingly we've seen our team upskill not only in the latest audiovisual hardware and software, but undertake advanced training in IT and computer networking, project management (PRINCE2) and business operations.
Contact us if you have any queries about Crossover, AV or how to use technology to adapt your business operations to accommodate social distancing in the time of Covid-19
