About RIBA Enterprises

RIBA Enterprises have over 30 years’ experience in delivering effective solutions to the information needs of the UK construction industry. Providing effective and established solutions for the construction industry professional, from buying a book or selecting a product to recruitment and targeted marketing.

With offices in London, Newcastle and Newark, RIBA Enterprises employs approximately 260 people across the UK.

The need for better communication has been a side effect of the way that RIBA Enterprises has grown over the years. When RIBA Enterprises was formed, bringing together the different sides of the business, a process of rationalisation was undertaken leaving RIBA Enterprises with dispersed teams across the UK. Video Conferencing offered the perfect solution to lessen the impact of having geographically dispersed teams.

The main driver for Video Conferencing was to reduce travel costs.

Many business miles were being made travelling between RIBA Enterprises offices in Newcastle and London. Convenience was also one of the major advantages of Video Conferencing. The ability to book a meeting without travel was very appealing to RIBA Enterprises, creating better work-life balance for staff and also increasing staff productivity.

Working with AuDeo

RIBA Enterprises engaged with AuDeo Systems Ltd when first investigating Video Conferencing four years ago and have been working with them ever since. Over the years AuDeo have become a trusted Video Conferencing advisor to RIBA Enterprises. RIBA Enterprises were initially impressed with level of knowledge and expertise of AuDeo’s staff. Mike Ray-Jones, IT Director of RIBA Enterprises comments: “We are extremely pleased with the level of service and support that AuDeo’s team have continued to provide us with over the years”.

The Video Conferencing Solution

4 x Polycom Viewstation EX Video Conferencing systems with ISDN
2 x Polycom V700 Video Conferencing systems
5 x Polycom PVX software licences for desktop Video Conferencing
Back in 2004, AuDeo integrated four Polycom Viewstation EX’s into RIBA Enterprises’ conference rooms; one in London, one in Newark and two in Newcastle, providing staff with Administrator and User training courses.

When RIBA Enterprises decided to expand their Video Conferencing facilities last year, AuDeo provided them with Polycom PVX for desktop Video Conferencing and two Polycom V700 systems, one as a portable unit in Newcastle and one fixed in a meeting room in their London office. A further four Polycom PVX licenses were acquired during 2008.

AuDeo continue to provide Support & Maintenance contracts for all of RIBA Enterprises Video Conferencing systems.

RIBA Enterprises’ deployment of an MPLS based QoS-enabled IP VPN network from Redstone has also been pivotal in RIBA Enterprises’ adoption of Video Conferencing, providing them with improved quality of service for their video calls.

Adoption of Video Conferencing

One of the contributing factors to RIBA Enterprises success with Video Conferencing is the way that it has been continuously promoted within the organisation. New members of staff experience Video Conferencing as part of RIBA Enterprises’ daily activities and communications. All of the Video Conferencing system locations are listed on RIBA Enterprises’ intranet site and they also have an intranet facility to book out the portable Video Conferencing unit in the Newcastle office.

Staff have learnt about Video Conferencing etiquette, and Mark Warnock, Business Systems Manager of RIBA Enterprises has written and published guides and frequently asked questions to aid user adoption.

Using Video Conferencing

RIBA Enterprises realise that Video Conferencing cannot replace all face-to-face meetings, and that some types and styles of meeting are more suited to video than others. Although Senior Management and RIBA Enterprises employees do still travel to undertake those important face-to-face meetings, many of their other meetings take place by video.

Directors meet by video, team meetings take place regularly on video, as do production, development and project meetings. RIBA Enterprises also have the ability to Video Conference with external companies across ISDN. PVX is used by senior members of staff for point-to-point catch up meetings, sharing data and also to join multipoint calls across RIBA Enterprises’ MPLS network.

“Video Conferencing is working for us. People just use it. It’s an effective tool that has been integrated into the way we do business”, says Mike Ray-Jones, IT Director of RIBA Enterprises. All six of RIBA Enterprises primary Video Conferencing systems are often all being utilised at the same time. Mark Warnock, Business Systems Manager at RIBA Enterprises tells us that “Looking at our room bookings we can see that our Video Conferencing systems are used 6 hours a day, every day”.

The Business Advantages

The use of Video Conferencing has significantly reduced the frequency of travel between RIBA Enterprises offices in Newcastle, London and Newark. RIBA Enterprises have seen substantial savings on travel costs and also increased staff productivity levels. RIBA Enterprises take their commitment to the environment seriously and have an appointed Environmental Officer, who reports to the board on all CSR matters. Video Conferencing has enabled RIBA Enterprises to significantly reduce their carbon footprint.

• Travel reduction
• Cost savings
• Convenience
• Better work-life balance
• Increased staff productivity
• Reduced carbon footprint

RIBA Enterprises are very happy with their Video Conferencing investment, they have seen the rewards that it can bring and can only see their reliance on Video Conferencing and the benefits derived from more effective communications growing in the future.