Handling AV Operations as a team
Anton Zeiher, MBA
SARS-COVID or COVID-19 will be etched into the minds and memories of a generation of people worldwide. Never before has a virus literally been able to shut down the world in such a way as this virus has and left such chaos behind it. The way we did and do business was set to change forever. The virus brought about more awareness and the need for greater AV/IT support for all industries. Our AV/IT journey was unique and very demanding. Through the combined effort and dedication of our staff at USC ITS Learning Environments, we successfully achieved a future long-term goal within a year.
Initially, we all assumed that things would return to normal within a matter of 3 to 5 months, but as things drug on, we knew we were in store for massive changes.
As we settled into a long-term shutdown, we knew we needed to adapt our ways of doing business and ensure that we implemented the highest measures to ensure our customers’ and staff’s safety and health. This new way of thinking placed major challenges, pressure, and strain upon our team and created a new normal, which, with coordinated focus, helped us make the appropriate adjustments.
Initially, we all assumed that things would return to normal within a matter of 3 to 5 months, but as things drug on, we knew we were in store for massive changes. As we settled into a long-term shutdown, we knew we needed to adapt our ways of doing business and ensure that we implemented the highest measures to ensure our customers’ and staff’s safety and health. This new way of thinking placed major challenges, pressure, and strain upon our team and created a new normal, which, with coordinated focus, helped us make the appropriate adjustments.
Operationally, 2020 saw a complete revamping of our technology to support long-distance learning, incident support, and the facilitation of meetings and conferences remotely. The need to implement an appropriate technology was paramount. Working closely with our industry partners on the AV side and with mailing companies, a solution had been created in the form of mating a UC engine with the aspects of our existing infrastructure to provide not only in-class learning but to be able to harness the newer software platforms, such as Zoom, to provide remote instruction to our student customers around the world. With this objective in mind, large quantities of technology and boxes began to flood our mail center and storage areas. This presented massive challenges since we had limited staffing, had to stay 6 feet apart, and dealt with delays due to mailing vendors that could not guarantee accurate shipping times. Our race against the clock had already begun, and it took everything we had to see this implementation into fruition
Initially, we all assumed that things would return to normal within a matter of 3 to 5 months, but as things drug on, we knew we were in store for massive changes. As we settled into a long-term shutdown, we knew we needed to adapt our ways of doing business and ensure that we implemented the highest measures to ensure our customers’ and staff’s safety and health. This new way of thinking placed major challenges, pressure, and strain upon our team and created a new normal, which, with coordinated focus, helped us make the appropriate adjustments.
Operationally, 2020 saw a complete revamping of our technology to support long-distance learning, incident support, and the facilitation of meetings and conferences remotely. The need to implement an appropriate technology was paramount. Working closely with our industry partners on the AV side and with mailing companies, a solution had been created in the form of mating a UC engine with the aspects of our existing infrastructure to provide not only in-class learning but to be able to harness the newer software platforms, such as Zoom, to provide remote instruction to our student customers around the world. With this objective in mind, large quantities of technology and boxes began to flood our mail center and storage areas. This presented massive challenges since we had limited staffing, had to stay 6 feet apart, and dealt with delays due to mailing vendors that could not guarantee accurate shipping times. Our race against the clock had already begun, and it took everything we had to see this implementation into fruition.
With coordinated efforts by various departments and vendors, we were able to sort, assemble, and inventory the new technology and install said technology into 228+ spaces. This undertaking’s scope is hard to describe in words, but this was not a simple task, especially with the restrictions that we had to follow. This would not have been possible if we did not have AV/IT vendors who understood our needs and provided technical and shipping support and remote programming capabilities. The dedication and quality of work that the USC ITS staff demonstrated during a time of extreme stress and uncertainty made for a successful implementation.
How did your organizations come together during this difficult time to achieve mission success? Such times of extreme pressure and anxiety can see teams and operations either really come together or come apart. What do you think your organization’s ingredient to success was?
Get to Know Anton Zeiher
Anton Zeiher, MBA, is the Learning Environments Senior Support Analyst at the University of Southern California. He is an experienced team leader and operations management professional with a proven history in leading teams, sales, negotiation, project management, resource management, and outstanding customer service within large organizations. A well-rounded professional with a B.S. in Business and an MBA with emphasis on Global Business.