The Challenge

Perry Wheeler, Group Manager ICT at Minda Inc says the organisation operates at the forefront of the disability sector, which sees technology having to underpin its dynamic and geographically dispersed operations.

Collaborative tools are essential for Minda’s employees, management and Board to efficiently and effectively work together across South Australia.

In the latest upgrade of Minda’s meeting rooms in the Adelaide headquarters, Perry was looking for a flexible solution with Microsoft Teams integration: “We had large screens and projectors with computers connected, but the experience from them was pretty flat. We wanted touch screens and interactive white board features. The solution had to be able to run from each person’s laptop, so you could swap neatly between users or run an event natively from their devices. Plus, with Minda being primarily Microsoft users, seamless integration was key to our selection.”

The Solution

Compnow had provided “several years of great help in AV – they’d set up rooms for us and given lots of very useful advice,” Perry says. This time, as a neat fit for the organisation’s meeting needs, Compnow introduced Minda to the latest Microsoft Surface Hub 2S. These are premium AV interactive displays that integrate natively with Microsoft Teams and have advanced whiteboarding and sharing functionality. “We saw that this solution would cover our meeting dynamics perfectly,” he says.

To cover the needs of the boardroom, conference area and two meeting rooms, Minda commissioned Compnow to source two 85” devices, and Telstra, from its Technology Fund offering, for an additional two 50” Hubs. It also elected to have all four of the very heavy Surface Hubs on rolling stands for easy positioning and mobility.

As only limited stocks of Surface Hubs are held in Australia, Minda’s order would be filled via an upcoming shipment.

The Benefits

Perry says: “The real story to be proud of here is that a very important Board meeting was called and we needed the conference room fitted out urgently with one of the large Surface Hubs.”

He wanted access to the new device to enable the Board to leverage all its functionality during the meeting. “It was important for all directors, whether around the table or connecting from around the state, to feel equally part of the meeting.

“Compnow pulled some magic. I don’t know how they did it, but they got one delivered to Adelaide on the Wednesday before the Saturday meeting. They’ve obviously got enormous cut through with equipment vendors.

“Then, because the delivery was out of schedule, Compnow didn’t have any of the usual engineering team available for the specialist configuration and installation work. Plus, we’d bought the Surface Hubs with custom designed trolleys to be assembled. All that would normally be a problem, but not for Compnow.

Their Commercial Sales Manager & Account Manager dropped everything, rolled up their sleeves and came and did the technical work for us. That’s exceptional. Bottom line, we had it all up and working and the event went really well,” Perry says.

The remaining three devices were installed by Compnow as the original shipment arrived. “Compnow installed not only the devices bought through them, but also the Telstra ones. They weren’t worried about where we got them from, they just wanted to sort it,” he says.

The Surface Hubs have delivered as promised. The devices “are sophisticated pieces of technology – from the whiteboard functionality to all the intelligence of their cloud access. They’ve proven to be the best in supporting collaboration and sharing is seamless. Everyone, whether onsite or remotely accessing an event or meeting, is made to feel equally part of the room.

“The whole meeting set up experience is now very smooth. The Surface Hubs can be booked as a resource, and they work flawlessly. With the custom trolleys, we also have the flexibility to shift the Hubs to where staff or the Board need them.”

Perry says: “This isn’t the first time Compnow has gone over and above for Minda. I have to give them a 5 star review for what they do. They’re always there with advice when we need it, and are very generous with their time.”