The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) was formed in 1958 to represent America’s biopharmaceutical research companies and seek essential alignment between public policy and medical research to address patient needs. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with offices in leading biopharmaceutical research communities, PhRMA advocates in the U.S. and around the world on public policy issues critical to the discovery and development of innovative medicines.
With such important and far-reaching goals as PhRMA has, it is important that the organization keep up-to-date with their technology to help stay on the cutting edge of research and discoveries in the biopharmaceutical and biotechnology fields. Recently, the San Jose, CA office decided to upgrade their boardroom from the dual rear projection system being utilized.
“Their words to me were, ‘We want to upgrade the room,'” says David Sheggrud, director of the Mid-Atlantic region for TRITECH Communications, the systems integrator on this project. “‘We want to bring the technology up to today’s standards. We want people to come in here to be impressed with what they see, and really walk away with a positive feeling about this room and the technology that has been deployed.'”
PhRMA left it up to TRITECH to decide how that would be accomplished. PhRMA gave TRITECH a general range for their budget, and asked them to return with a design with a wow-factor that would impress guests in the boardroom. Off the bat, the company knew that upgrading from projection to video display was the way to go, as video walls generally deliver higher resolutions, brighter displays, and significant color spectrums. TRITECH decided that a Prysm video wall would give them the amount of excitement they were looking for, solidifying the boardroom as a high-end technological work environment.
The Cascade 190 not only offers powerful collaboration capabilities, but also meets the challenging AV and facility requirements specified by PhRMA. For this installation, the display had to utilize the building’s existing infrastructure including in-ceiling audio and HVAC systems. Designed for easy deployment, Cascade video walls are free standing, integrate with existing IT and AV services, run cool to the touch (eliminating the need for HVAC upgrades), and plug into standard electrical outlets. Built on Laser Phosphor Display technology, the wall delivers beauty, scalability and image quality while boasting an impressive amount of energy efficiency.
“We are extremely excited to have the Cascade 190 video wall in our executive boardroom,” said Doug Compton, chief information officer and vice president of operations for PhRMA. “Its touch-enabled, 190″-diagonal screen adds a dynamic element to the many high-profile meetings we have in this room. When our staff walk into the room, they are connected and actively participate and engage in meetings.”
Previously the PhRMA boardroom, with its dual projection system, was a fixed room with little maneuverability. The addition of the Prysm video wall allows for the boardroom to become a multipurpose area, with mobile chairs and table that can be rearranged and even taken out of the room. The company is currently using the boardroom not only for meetings, but for training sessions and even yoga classes. Removing the projection equipment has allowed the room to gain additional storage in the areas where the hardware used to be, which is a big plus for PhRMA.
In addition, the new video wall has solved the problem of the noise level that the HVAC system had once caused. “One of the things they do in this room is a lot of intensive audio conferencing,” says Sheggrud. “There were frequent complaints from end users that couldn’t make out what people were saying where they heard a loud background noise.” Rather than refitting the entire area, including updating the air handlers and such to reduce the background noise, TRITECH was able to improve the intelligibility of the space without a lot of architectural updates. The Prysm wall fit into an opening with little alterations needed.
Today, PhRMA is enjoying presentations, audio calls, touchscreen interaction with content, monitoring of status updates for those on conference calls, and even calming background music and images on their new video wall. Staff and visitors alike are impressed with the new system.
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