Quality Assured Service... The Brown Cow of the AV Industry

How many of you like root beer? How many of you like milk? How many of you have had the deliciousness that is root beer mixed with milk in a 1:1 ratio, otherwise known as the “brown cow”? I know what you are thinking: why? Why would anyone want to combine these things? They are fine as separate entities but mixing them together makes me feel funny inside. Brown Cows were a delicacy while I was growing up. Before you think I’m crazy, it’s just a poor-man’s/rushed-parent’s root beer float. Just replace the ice cream with milk. The flavors are there. These two things that are typically enjoyed separately, may, in fact, be better together. Not too many people drink brown cows, but if you think about it... it just makes sense.

Don’t stop quality assurance once the project reaches service

The same can be said for AV customer support services and quality. We spend a LOT of time focusing on applying quality ideals to design and installation... and we should continue to do so, of course. However, what about service? Does quality assurance belong in the service world? I would say, wholeheartedly, YES! The whole point of quality assurance is to provide users with complete systems that perform as expected, and to do this consistently from any member of the team. This has service written all over it.

How would it apply to support services?

It is easy to see how powerful this would be for preventive maintenance or health checkup visits. The idea of creating a functional checklist and system performance checklist for a scheduled visit makes sense. Using these checklists, we can assure that the system is indeed ready for business and any service specialist that performs the visit will follow the same process. We can confirm the system is complete and performs well. Additionally, by leveraging a checklist, I can send Tom, Jenny, or Paul to run through the system and end up with the same, consistent result. The functional checklist will assure that every function of the system is exercised, even the functions that are not obvious. The system performance checklist will assure that the system is healthy, and all devices are performing within specifications. These checklists will confirm that the system is 100%, and if performed on a periodic basis, ideally, will catch system issues before the users do.

Quality Assurance in Preventative Maintenance and Health Checks

Since the systems we are testing are already in production, we don’t necessarily have to get as granular and nitty-gritty as we do during a full commissioning of a system before it is turned over to the users. Using expensive test equipment to assure it’s been installed correctly would only be required during the initial installation. Once a system is in use, we can focus more on the human experience of what the test equipment is used to measure. Instead of measuring signal to noise ratio with an expensive (but awesome!) NTI XL2 audio analyzer, the service specialist can just make sure they don’t hear a hiss when no audio is present in the system. Instead of measuring the impedance on a loudspeaker line with an expensive (but awesome!) NTI MR-PRO impedance meter, the service specialist can just assure that the amplifiers are functioning properly, and all loudspeakers are distributing sound at the same level. These tests are not as objective as measuring these performance specifications with test equipment, but with trained eyes and ears, this subjective testing focused on the human experience can still be very effective. Additionally, the training required to perform this minimal-test-equipment, commissioning-lite checklist is about an hour versus the 24+ hours of training required for the CQT certification (not to mention the 2+ years’ experience in the industry). This is the reasoning behind the AQAV Readiness (“RED”) checklist in the AV9000 standard. It provides a checklist that someone with little experience can complete to confirm the functionality and performance of an AV system that is already in production. If we perform these tests periodically throughout the system’s life, the potential for a surprise failure during a meeting (most likely... a critical meeting... that’s always when something bad happens...) is decreased.

Quality Assurance in Break-Fix Service Visits

So, for preventive maintenance visits and health checks, quality and service are a perfect match. But, what about for break-fix service visits? The users notice a laptop input no longer functions, or a touch panel has stopped responding. A service specialist is assigned the case and finds the issue within an hour. Great! Now, should they continue with a complete functional and performance check of the system? Some might say no, because we want to limit the service call time and get the room back in production as quickly as possible. Or, what if it’s a billable service call? As soon as the issue is addressed, most owners want to limit the service call hours to a minimum.

But, what’s at risk here? If the service specialist leaves, and there is another unrelated issue that pops up in the room within three months, users will automatically assume it was something the service specialist messed up during their last visit. Whether that’s true or not doesn’t matter. The perception of the service provider and the technology itself is tarnished either way. Also, if the goal is to make sure the system stays up and running, and the service specialist is there, why not take advantage of the situation and spend an extra 20-30 minutes (for a typical conference room) to make sure the system is indeed 100%? From the user perspective, I think it’s a valuable offer: “Hey, while we’re here…let me just make sure everything is perfect for you.” From the service provider perspective, I think it’s also a valuable offer: “Let me do this to protect my reputation and make sure I don’t have to come back here again in a week.” It is a little extra time, but it is well worth it.

the power of checklists

It's great for the system and the users, but let’s not forget the consistency aspect of it. Often, a service specialist might not have ever seen the system before a case or ticket is opened. Imagine if they had a documented function list to use during their visit to make sure they can quickly check everything is operating as expected. Additionally, what if the owner’s executive support team is tasked with making sure the Boardroom is ready for the Directors’ meeting? How comforting would it be to have the functional checklist ready to use to verify they’ve exercised every function of the system? Anyone with the functional and Readiness checklist (and some experience with the system) can effectively verify that the system is good to go.

I’m also not preaching some never-before-thought-of idea. Think about the last time you took your car in for service, planned (oil change) or break-fix (“there’s this funny sound when I break”). The mechanic most likely won’t just attack that singular issue. They will probably run through their documented “award-winning 57-point inspection checklist” to make sure everything in the car is working well, for the same reasons we just talked about: assuring the car is 100%, that it won’t need service again within a week, and to keep the driver/users happy. Servicing complex systems demands a quality management system be in place to do it well and consistently.

Quality Assurance and Service go hand in hand

Unfortunately, in our industry, not many people think about pairing service and quality. Quality management stays in the design and installation realm. Service attacks singular aspects of a system during a break-fix call, which is the AV equivalent of not seeing the forest for the trees. Putting the two together could improve the way we deliver customer support services to our users. Sure, it’ll take a little extra time... but the cost of poor quality is always higher than making sure it’s done right the first time. It’s a beautiful thing when we mix in some quality assurance with our service offerings. Just like root beer and milk: they are fine on their own, but when you mix them, something magical happens. I encourage you to try it, both the service with quality assurance AND root beer mixed with milk.

Then, and only then, will I be able to ask: How now, Brown Cow? And, is your service more POWerful?

I tried.

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