After spending many years in both the AV and Workplace Technology space, I've seen a little trend: people who specify AV often forget the big picture. Many focus solely on the meeting room itself without looking at the full floorplan or understanding how the company works outside of it. As a result, many opportunities for AV integrators are lost, and the end-user is forced to shop from different vendors—becoming their own project manager with many different vendors trying to get everyone to speak to each other.
When an AV integrator receives a request for "50 meeting rooms," the immediate focus usually becomes room fit-outs: video conferencing, displays, audio, and signal distribution etc. And that makes sense – it's the core of the AV world. But there's a problem here.
Companies with 50 meeting rooms typically have 200–500 employees on-site. That scale brings a different set of needs: ESG goals, hybrid work models, flexible seating, and workplace platforms that might require more than AV inside the meeting rooms.
The mistake? Many AV teams ignore what's outside the meeting room. And in doing so, they miss a large part of the customer's total requirements—requirements that often fall as close as it gets to AV-related solutions. This includes areas like desk booking, wayfinding, visitor management, or even solutions like Occulights that eliminate interruptions in small meeting rooms that are not bookable in O365 and, in many cases, don't contain any AV equipment at all. (Yeah, i had to sneak in some marketing)
In a large amount of project I've seen in recent years, companies with 50 meeting rooms also have 20–30 small, non-bookable rooms/phone booth`s. These are ad-hoc spaces used for phone calls, quick BOYD meetings, or quiet focus work. And here's the kicker:
These rooms rarely get any AV attention. But the need to avoid interruptions, gain space data, and optimize usage is just as strong.
They don't need a scheduling panel. They might not even be in the customer's room booking platform. But they might need:
This is just food for thought. Of course, not all AV professionals fall into this pattern. There are many integrators who truly understand the broader needs of their clients—and they are the ones shaping the future of our industry. As AV professionals, we need to think bigger. The customer's true pain points are not only in the meeting rooms. They relate to how people find and use spaces, how data drives future decisions, and how to make people and square meters more efficient.
Don’t just look at the AV rack – look at the floorplan. Ask your customer what’s outside the room, what’s not being measured, and what causes frustration day to day.
"selling isn`t telling, its asking questions and listen"
And hey, it's easier to build a sustainable business when you have a bigger share of wallet, more recurring revenue, and—most importantly—a better understanding of your customer's broader needs.
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Patrick Edwards
Co-Founder
#AVIntegration #WorkplaceTech #OccupancySolutions #SmartOffice #SpaceUtilization #Meetingroomtechnology #occupancylights "availabilitysigns