Banking On EYTE

Mumbai Based AV Consultancy Firm Secures UBS with State-Of-Art AV Solutions

Published in July-August Issue

EYTE Technologies Pvt. Ltd. spearheaded by Abdul Waheed was instrumental in helping realise a vision for UBS’ new Pune Office; automates and streamlines Collaboration, smart meetings and IT system and security of the multinational investment bank through seamless integration and deployment. AV-ICN reports.

Headquartered in Switzerland UBS is a multinational investment bank and financial services company with presence in all major financial centres worldwide. As one of the largest Swiss banking institution in the world, the 900 billion company boasts of 1250 offices in 50 countries across the globe with almost 70,000 employees worldwide.

Underlining its commitment to India, UBS has expanded exponentially in the country with offices in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. As part of a strategic relocation programme, UBS acquired its fourth office in India at the EON IT Park in Pune, which is a SEZ building. Occupying 200,000 sq. ft. and the top three floors of the building, the organisation now accommodates its entire workforce and partners in a central location from which it can provide a high-quality working and collaborative environment for staff and clients. The modern and agile workspace, will provide UBS businesses with support in the development of advanced technology and business processes.

EYTE has enjoyed a long and rewarding partnership with UBS having completed some exciting integrated AV projects in the past. Having worked with EYTE for past projects and experiencing the company’s smooth and efficient service from proposal to completion in the past, the client turned to EYTE for their new office project at EON in Pune’s suburb of Kharadi  too. 

The Project Brief

Following a successful tender process, EYTE was recruited to design and supervise implementation of a sophisticated professional AV solution into the client’s new premises in EON in Kharadi, Pune, architecture of which was helmed by Concept Architect. EYTE was commissioned to design a host of pioneering technologies that would transform UBS’ working space. Arif Patil, Head of the technical department at EYTE was the Sr. Project Designer for this project. For integrating the AV infrastructure, Mumbai based systems integrator & AV solutions provider – Allwave AV was brought on board.

The comprehensive brief called for a scheme that would equip business space on floors eight to eleven with pioneering audio visual technologies, including digital signage, IPTV distribution, dynamic display systems, large format video walls, projection system, conferencing systems, room scheduling, control and automation technologies, asset management, a town hall event with streaming on UBS network.

EYTE was appointed to deliver wide-ranging AV technologies in major areas across the site. The areas covered by EYTE’s integrated AV scheme include multiple types of meeting rooms, video conferencing rooms, collaboration areas and a flexible collaboration space, Amphitheatre,  cafe breakout space and public areas as well as executive meeting rooms.

The project called for increasingly sophisticated AV systems architecture that would enhance the company’s technological  experience and ensure it would maintain its position as one of the most dynamic financial services company in the world.

A key feature of the project was the town hall facility on the 10th floor, a facility that supports the company initiative to help participating clients from across sectors unlock creative potential within a vibrant, flexible environment through close collaboration and rapid learning techniques. This space now boasts the UBS office space with video walls and interactive screen 4k display screens. A vast presentation space forms part of the town hall facility and by projecting content onto the video wall and projector screens, users are able to interact with it and then revert to collaborate in pre-defined areas.

The Challenges

“The global standards of any company are always good to follow as standardisation throughout their offices provides comfort to users but at the same time it becomes challenging as designers have to work with limited choices and have to meet local availability of products and face support issues. Also, local rules regulations, norms, environmental conditions make it a challenge,” says Abdul Waheed, Managing Director of Eyte.

According to Waheed, fixed installations in locations like walls and tables are normal, but to accommodate Pro AV solutions in flexible and collaborative environment is challenging. “Operable walls, sliding partitions and portable tables, make it difficult to fix the location of devices and cabling becomes challenging. The dilemma for the designer is whether to go wireless, which is not advisable in many situations, or to go with flexible patch cables. Modern offices are more of collaborative and flexible seating and meeting rooms,” he says.

Commenting on Centralized Deployment of solutions, Waheed says, “Individual room designs and dedicated control devices for distinct spaces is always simple and easy to achieve, but for large offices and systems, individual controls not only become expensive but difficult to manage. In such scenarios the centralised system, common processors, and shared devices though preferable are challenging to deploy. Consultants and integrators have to not only design and lay long cable routes but also the programming becomes complex. For users however, it is fun and easy to manage. At UBS, we have not only used centralised Digital Signage but centralised automation systems as well. That makes this project very unique.”

The Solution

For banks, video conferencing is an essential tool to facilitate regular meetings with clients and partners across the globe; hence, EYTE recommended a solution with high definition voice and video conferencing with easy screen sharing and extensive interoperability to enable users to communicate with any smart system. “Wired multiport connectivity in meeting spaces for users to connect & present on Display, and automation systems are also provided for easy operations to detect the signal to switch the source at switcher & Display device, also it is a part of Asset management with Centralized system,” says Waheed.

Room schedulers placed outside rooms like meeting rooms, conference rooms, boardrooms and training rooms enable users to check availability of rooms, book rooms remotely and generate utilization reports, etc.

Since Information security in banks is a prime area of concern, security aspects were on top of EYTE’s priority list while designing the solution. EYTE maintained security policies & norms and to mitigate risks, designed a solution, by creating separate VLAN for AV devices connected in the Client network & registered device details in the network. EYTE also provided access for Remote Programming support through Client network to load & test the program in live environment. “Client got a seamless working experience as per their AV standards across all global offices,” says Waheed.

According to Saurabh Saroj, PMP, ITIL, CloudU ISE - Facility Technology Services, “I rate EYTE very high on their technical expertise. Having hands on install and programming experience helps them understand issues and guide integrators on how to fix these issues.”

Nowadays cafeterias are not only used as dining areas but also used for Town hall sessions and much more. A well-run town hall could boost productivity, engage employees, and develop organisational culture. In order to fulfil these requirements, EYTE recommended a solution with motorized projection screen, QSC for Audio systems, Cisco SX80 for Video conferencing, Crestron for Automation, Live Streaming, Triple play for IPTV playback, etc. The solution also allows VC collaboration through PTV distribution over Corporate network to any branch location or within the office as well. This way the entire branch office is now a part of the town hall sessions. “They know our standard, framework and terminologies so well that we reach them at all time to understand it. They completely justify the role of the consultant on board,” says Saroj.

As per the brief provided by the client, the requirement was for a cloud-based digital signage platform that could help design and schedule easily from the web and which would come with features like Use and reuse content, Security, Content Adaption, Custom Widgets, Plug and play, Straightforward Dashboard, Mobile Enable Management, Drag and Drop layout editing etc. EYTE recommended a solution, which runs digital signage or IPTV content on areas like Workstations, Collaborative Spaces, Social hub, Transportation, SOC Rooms with just displays, and multimedia players operated from a centralized location while also taking care of security norms. “I compliment Abdul and everyone at EYTE.”

“Equipments used in the project are as per the UBS global standards guidelines, that includes Crestron for automation, Lutron for lighting and dimming control, Shure ceiling tiles enabling audio pickup from room as per the lobes designs along with QSC digital sound processors. Bright sign digital signages equipments interacting with centralised server making it possible to have content anywhere in the workplace. Panasonic projector are used with Dalite screen in town hall areas, video reinforcements are done with Samsung displays of various sizes according to room designs. Small meeting rooms are equipped with Jabra USB microphones for sound making it soft VC rooms,” says Abdul Waheed.
Having them on board makes our life a lot easier in the AV area which by and large is unknown territory for us,” reiterates Saroj.

End Result
The project to equip UBS office in Pune was completed in March 2020, within the time constraints set and within budget and has resulted in a number of benefits for the client.
The outstanding service and support from EYTE as the AV Consultant on board, ensured state-of-the-art AV solution installation in the UBS office, with minimal challenges and great results.

“The overall vibe of the office impresses clients when they walk in and employees are excited to experience a more interactive environment that shares the creative nature of the company,” says Waheed.

Considering the success and efficiency of the solution and the quality of EYTE’s services, UBS has now offered a second project to the AV consultancy in its Hyderabad office.
“EYTE’s integrated AV solution has produced a cutting-edge, collaborative working environment for employees, partners and clients to communicate and trade across our client’s global network of financial operations. We completed this landmark project on time, within the budget and according to the strict specification of the client’s global team,” enthuses Waheed.

“Technology is moving at very fast pace. Installs done 5 years ago look outdated. From conventional VC to soft codecs, from wired table microphones to ceiling microphone arrays, from 1.2-megapixel cameras to 20 megapixel cameras, everything has changed and has beent adopted very quickly. At EYTE, our designers are always on their toes, learning new technologies and implementing them in their designs. At UBS large videowalls, softcodec VC, Wireless ceiling microphones, centralised push of content etc. makes it at one of the best technology installs,” he concludes.