Andrew Liptrot: We can build that kind of, more of an in-house capability, I think has been, has been really beneficial. It's a lot more challenging to do that when you've got a variety of different manufacturers, a variety of different connections, a variety of different tools and, and, and softwares. So, you know, really being able to take a kind of an ecosystem level approach is, has definitely benefited our operations team, but we've also been supporting them through continuous service improvement activities as well.

Tom Arbuthnot: Welcome back to the Teams Insider Podcast. This week we have a really interesting customer conversation on rooms and room strategy and moving to Microsoft Teams Rooms. We have Andrew Liptrot, who is Global Services lead for AV and Workplace Technology at Haleon on operating over at hundred markets, have more than 24,000 employees.

So really interesting environment and we talk about. His team's journey and choosing devices and strategy and best practices, uh, real interesting insights on how to maximize service and manage service. Many thanks to Andrew for jumping on the podcast and sharing his, uh, thoughts and insights and hope you enjoy the show.

Hi everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. As you know, we really like to have customer stories on the pod. It's a really great way to get real world perspective and this is gonna be a great conversation, really interesting organization. Got Andrew from, uh, Haleon. Andrew, you maybe Wanna introduce yourself a little bit about your role.

Brilliant. 

Andrew Liptrot: Thanks Tom. And uh, thanks for the opportunity today. So yeah, my name's Andrew Liptrot. Uh, I'm the service owner and, um, product lead for our Avian Workplace Technology Group in Haleon. Uh, for those of you don't know Haleon, we're a global, uh, consumer healthcare company, uh, listed in New York and London.

Tom Arbuthnot: Yeah, a lot, a large organization. And, and give us a feel for kind of your, uh, user base and, and your rooms. We're gonna get into the Teams Rooms conversation here, so it's good to get some context. 

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah. Yeah. So again, yeah. Global company, uh, there's over 24,000 employees. Uh, we're, we've got a locations in over a hundred different, um, different markets.

Um, a range of, uh, office based to frontline workers. Um, across, um, science manufacturing, uh, obviously in sort of commercial, um, um, you know, marketing, uh, spaces globally. 

Tom Arbuthnot: Awesome. And, uh, just for a little bit of context, what's, what's your background in our space? 

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah, so I, I, I, I've a, a really varied, um, career.

So I, um, I, I originally started out doing web development, um, moved into corporate communications, uh, and then, um, moved into a more of a pure IT role, um, probably just over 10 years ago. Um, so, um, and then within, within the AV side of it, then, uh, probably for the past sort of eight or nine. Um, nine years.

So, um, seeing the transitions in technology and the commoditization of technology for, uh, during that time, um, and it's been fascinating to see, uh, the pace of change and, and be part of that, that change within, uh, within different organizations. But, um, obviously fully focused on, uh, the journey we're, we're creating with, with Haley.

Um, over the past 12 months since I've been with the company. 

Tom Arbuthnot: Awesome. And you are looking at the, the rooms estate globally, the room strategy and uh, I think you said it was something like 450, uh, video rooms globally. 

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah. Yeah. So, um, the service that we, we offer is, is, is quite broad. So, uh, it's the, uh, within our digital workplace group, uh, within our global technology, uh, function.

So, uh, our avm workplace technology service to give it its full, full title. Um, we cover our av, our meeting room estate, um, but we also cover, uh, a broad range of other, um, services. Um, so principally where, where people work. So the, you know, meeting and collaboration spaces, um, events, boardrooms, you know, the traditional sort of av, uh, we'll probably focus more on today.

But we also have, um, some of the services that relate to how people manage their community, uh, in the, uh, in their workspaces. So that could be down to employee communications, through digital signage, you know, way finding. Um, through, into then how people manage the facility with, um, visitor management, space management, uh, obviously desk reservation.

Um, and we're also looking more broadly in terms of the smart building story as well. So how do we, um, activate more data points through different sensors, um, IOT capabilities to, to really make sure that we're. We're taking advantage of all the data that exists, both in terms of our meeting room estate, which are, you know, built into a number of our devices, but also, um, connected spaces, um, across, you know, which, which we work very closely with our facilities teams to support.

Tom Arbuthnot: Awesome. And you are kind of on a transition journey from uh, uh, on-prem classic set meeting room type scenarios to Microsoft Teams. I know you've been a Cisco shop for quite a while on, on the traditional stuff and now on the MTRs as well. Maybe you can talk us through that, that journey from traditional into the teams world.

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah, no, it's, it, it is been a great, a great journey. So as I say, I, I, I've been with the company just over a year now. Um, a big part of the attraction for, for joining and, and being part of this, uh, you know, part of the broader digital workplace group is, is the opportunity to influence how our business works and how it can be successful in, in the future.

So, um, Haleon has. Had a, a, a series of sort of legacy devices, uh, that we would, as we would determine as legacy devices now. Yeah. It's interesting language, isn't it, 

Tom Arbuthnot: when you're in transition, you're like, well, they, they maybe they can still be used, some use cases. 

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah, absolutely. So, um, and I think, you know, part of that opportunity is, is.

Showing people how that, um, uh, how, how, how we can alter people's expectations around what, uh, the meeting room can, can provide them. So, uh, when we talk about a legacy estate, I, I mean, you know, as, as you mentioned, typically would've been on-premise video estate, um, sort of, um, that are now connecting via CVI into Microsoft Teams.

Uh, Microsoft Teams is our sort of company, um, platform where you're very much, uh, you know, a key partner with, with Microsoft. Across our O365 estate. Um, but the, uh, yeah, we've got a number of meeting rooms, you know, probably, um, you know, two, 300 globally, which are in need of that, um, that uplift. Um, both in terms of the, the hardware lifecycle and expectancy, but most importantly, how we can, uh, support our teams be more successful in, in, in, in the office.

So we've got, um, we've got, we've got that estate to manage. Um, the, obviously, the exciting part of is, is how do we position that for them to be. F to make the most of their, um, commercial goals, the, the, the requirements on, on site. Um, but we've also had, um, Microsoft Teams journeys has been, you know, it started before my, uh, my tenure with, with Haley.

Um, so I've, I, the, you know, the privilege of sort of picking up some of those, um, uh, those, those great starting points, but also then being able to build a, a service, um, that I say is, is quite broad in terms of the, the reach. Um, but obviously just trying to build that maturity in terms of how we take the, um, you know, take the company forward.

So we've, um, you know, we've, we've developed a new set of standards. We are, uh, doing a, a broad set of business engagements at the moment around that, that lifecycle planning. Um, and, and as I say, we're just really, um, you know, keen to, to work across the business to really, you know, position what we do and, and kind of demonstrate, um, how we're, um, you know, wanting to partner with the business to, to be part of that success story.

Tom Arbuthnot: Yeah, I definitely wanna get into that. Talking to the business and your, your kind of. Business engagement and design philosophy. 'cause that's really interesting. Let's talk about those standards though. 'cause that's interesting as well. So, uh, I, I know you've looked at different options and different room types and different kit.

Um, kind of maybe talk us through the, the, the, the, the standards approach first and then the kind of the kit choices that have matched up. 

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah. So, so, so when I joined, um, I say getting on for a year ago now, it was, it was, it was very clear that there was some uncertainty around, which is the. Uh, the, the right approach for, for, for Haleon.

And, um, I think the, the, the priority that we had, you know, as, as a, as a team was very much, um, focused on reliability, um, supportability and obviously leveraging the, the partnerships that Haleon has, has globally with a number of different, um, different vendors. So that's. They, they really helped us kind of double down on what were the, what were the urgent things that we needed to improve on?

And ultimately going back, um, sort of further in the, the initial stages of ha's Microsoft Teams journey, um, maybe what didn't go so well, why did that not go so well? And, and what were we, what were we doing to, um, to resolve that? So at, at the, had the great fortune to work with a, a number of fantastic colleagues as I joined who were.

We're well on the way to, um, establishing, um, some of the kind of the ground foundations that we needed to, to really, um, lock in a, a new set of standards. So, um, so really, you know, we, we worked through to you get that prioritization complete, define what those, those standards were. But, um, again, I was really keen to make sure that we were putting into a business context.

You know, we're building a service here. Um, for, for two, two people really, there's the owners of the, the, the technology. We need to make sure as stewards that we, we manage it correctly and securely, but actually the consumers of the service are, are business colleagues, you know, whether they're frontline workers in the office in a range of different spaces.

We wanna make sure that they're aware of what we do. Um, so making sure that our service was really clearly defined. Um, make sure that the devices were, were fully, um. Uh, supported, you know, so again, making sure that they were connecting to the right systems, they were, um, gonna be, you know, supportable for the, for the long term.

And then obviously they're making sure that they were compliant to all of the, um, internal, you know, security policies and everything that, that, that we had. So, um, that's, that's been a, you know, a, a good journey to be on. You know, it's, it's really helped us focus on, on some key, key areas and, and as I say, then make sure that we work.

Delivering a, a compliance set of standards that fits within our sort of technology group, but also then is, is future proof and fit for purpose for the, for the long term. 

Tom Arbuthnot: Yeah. And you said you'd ended up on kind of, uh, four principle room types. Maybe you can talk us through the different scenarios within the organization.

Yeah, 

Andrew Liptrot: yeah. I think, again, focusing on how we make it commercially relevant to our, our, our business teams. You know, we wanted to really, um, not just. When we talk about standards, talk about it in a way that feels like we're talking about a, you know, a cost to the business. It's, it's about how do we present that, that value?

Um, how do we, how do we show the outcome that's, that's, that's possible. And I think, again, you know, the, the, the, the opportunity that we have as, as, as an organization here is. Because we've got a, a range of different, um, products and a range of different standards that we need to move forward from, we've got the opportunity to really kind of get that right now and, um, you know, engage with the business for what, what they need.

So our initial, um, sort of set of, of, of room types really falls into four categories. So we've defined a, a, a meet category, um, a create category and influence and also engage. And they really kind of represent the, the broad strokes of our, um, uh, of our identified room types today. Um, so I mean, they, they'd rather do what they say on the tin.

Obviously meat is, is very much about bringing people together, uh, in a smaller sort of style way so that people can catch up and, and have a, you know, a good quality, um, meeting and, and, and connect, you know, globally with the, with the teams that they work with. Um, create is, is really something that I really believe is, is probably the, the, the next, the next step.

And I think if I look at the, the roadmaps that we're seeing from, um, a number of different, um, manufacturers, but certainly in terms of software, um, partners in, in Microsoft, um, you know, M 3 6, 5. Is, is getting people to actually do more in the meeting room. You know what? Don't just present the work that, um, has happened in the, the previous, uh, days or weeks running up to that particular, um, time to bring people together.

Why not book that space to actually do the work? So whether that's create a business plan, project plan, marketing plan, whatever, whatever that could be, um, you know, again, we wanna be able to sort of show how. That space in, in an office or on a, you know, frontline, um, you know, w work environment can actually have that creation capability.

And that's, yeah, it's, it's 

Tom Arbuthnot: moving from kind of, uh, video room to content collaboration rooms. So thinking about touch surfaces and, and apps and, and, and content as much as a video. 

Andrew Liptrot: And it's, and it's, and it, it's, it's a, it's a complicated concept for, I guess for people to, to sort of see, you know, it's very much reliant on how we, um.

Show people the opportunity and then show people the, the, the potential, but also recognize the need for good quality change management, good quality, um, in terms of the, the, the, the support applications that people rely on, whether that's in Microsoft or in, you know, other, um, other tools that we have, um, available.

Being able to just. Work differently. And that's a big part of that cultural shift that I think, you know, is, is a challenge for, for anyone in our industry as we move from, I guess, sort of hardware and, and room types that people have, have, have been used to seeing over, over many years. And actually being able to help people understand actually the, the rooms and the technologies now in a position with the software that can actually change how people work.

And obviously we, you know, you, you, you add that into the, the AI stories that are coming out through all of our, you know, um, you know, across the industry, um, you know, users have got a difficult job Right. To understand exactly. Well, what, what are they being asked to do? How do they do it? Yeah. How do they make sure that they can adjust themselves to, to do that?

And I say part of our role as, as, as, as product owners is, is to help with that. Um, we're not gonna be able to take huge strides every single time. But nudging people's. Mm-hmm. Um, view and perspective is really important. And, and I think the creation create spaces with say, interactive touch the right software.

Um, even just doing co CoLab on, you know, in in office apps and things like that, shows people how they can work differently. And, and kind of our goal here is to how can people get work done quicker? You know, how can we shorten that time to. Um, create the project plan, create that. Um, and as I say, it's, it's, it's fascinating to see where, uh, the industry can, can go with that.

Tom Arbuthnot: Awesome. And so that's create, what about influence and engage? What's the kind of thinking behind those? 

Andrew Liptrot: Engage. Engage is very much a, uh, I guess a, a broad category relating to some of the event and collaboration spaces that, that the people have. Again, you know, aliens a fascinating company with lots of different, um, examples of, uh, where people wanna come together in a traditional town hall format or they've got spaces where, um, they want to do more.

Um. Uh, external influencing with new consumers, whether that's, um, consumer products, um, sort of investigation, you know, sort of being able to bring consumers in and get some feedback on. Um, product materials or, or things like that. Yeah. And I imagine 

Tom Arbuthnot: different, different cultures and approaches globally as well, because you've got brands Yeah, exactly.

Andrew Liptrot: All over the world, which is really interesting. Exactly. Yeah. So, so the engaged, the engaged spaces are very much around the, the kind of recognition that, um, there isn't a one size fits all approach for that. But fundamentally, we're trying to bring people together to, to, you know, to have that kind of hub in their, in their space, either for internal or for external use.

Um, and then influence is very much just recognizing work. Where there needs to be the kind of the, the, the gatherings in, in, whether it's in larger boardrooms or whether that's in, um, uh, you know, the, the one meeting room that is really where people come together and, and do the prioritization for the, for the, for the quarter or for, for the, for the year is making sure that, that, um.

Discussion, um, can be equitable for basically everyone in the room, but also for the important people connecting remotely. So the influence is very much making sure that the, the technology and the room types really allow for that. Um, uh, you know, that that influence in from, you know, decision making to really happen.

So that's where we're looking at, um, you know, multi-camera systems, you know, again, looking at slightly different room layouts, room types. Um, that, that fit within that. But the, the key thing here is, is what we, what we don't wanna be is, is prescriptive, right? I don't wanna sit here and have a, a cookie cutter approach for rooms because users don't work like that.

And certainly that's not what we're expecting from our colleagues globally. So, so really this is just all of those categories. Uh, it's just a hook to be able to Yeah, like a, a provoking, a provoking 

Tom Arbuthnot: conversation with the business. Like what are you actually trying to achieve with the space as opposed to.

Okay. This is a 10 desk, uh, 10 seat space. We typically go Exactly. Yeah. This bar, this, this, this board. 

Andrew Liptrot: And I think, you know, one of our other challenges is making sure that, that, um, that that hook into that conversation also occurs with the, the facilities groups, the architects, the, the, the, the construction partners that we have as we're planning new spaces so that, you know, the default doesn't just return to.

Well, actually, because of a size and space requirement, that's a, a four person room, a six person room, an eight person room, you know, we really wanna be influencing that about, well, what's the, what, what's the intended use? You know, who are the users? What are they trying to do? Um, and then ultimately then the, the space and the technology can, can fit because I would much rather put no technology in a room if that's the, the right thing for the users than, uh, you know, overload it with, with different technology.

Yeah. That doesn't get, doesn't get 

Tom Arbuthnot: utilized. And let's talk about the overloading it. 'cause you, you, you've done a lot internally to kind of. Set standards in a way that your operations team can actually manage these. So you talked about, you know, reliability, sustainability, supportability, those seem like core tenants.

I know you've looked at different options. You'd like, Cisco seems to be your default kind of in terms of being those, they're quite different room types. So can, can you minimize the number of partners and still kind of achieve those different goals? 

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah, certainly, certainly. We hope so. Um, you know, we believe so.

So again, very fortunate to have existing strong partnership with, with a number of vendors within Haleon. As I as as I joined, um, we, we did do a broader review of, of a number of different technologies and, and solutions. And as I mentioned before, there had been. Um, some initial sort of, um, work with relating to, uh, teams room journey, you know, prior to, to my joining.

Tom Arbuthnot: Yeah. 

Andrew Liptrot: But I think, um, you know, I feel fortunate to see that the advancement in technology, as I mentioned earlier, um, you know, Cisco's Microsoft Teams room journey has really come on hugely, um, in the, in the past, um, you know, two, two and a half years. And, and I think then that's really fitted in with a recognition, certainly from what suits our businesses.

You know, we, we can, we can do a lot with, with fewer components. So all of the, um, the four categories I mentioned, and, um, probably more that we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll we'll gather from other business engagement that we do, um, effectively is drawing from the same set of ingredients, um, across the different rooms.

So whether that's, you know, screens, camera bars, microphones, um, multi-camera systems, you know, what we're, what we're trying to be able to do is, is how can we use the fewest. Sets of components within that to achieve that, um, uh, you know, uh, you know, achieve that balance of the right solution for the right reason, but also, again, not making it so it's so complicated that there's multiple points of failure and, you know, we wanna make it right on day one.

And still be good at day a hundred. Yeah. And obviously then have, have confidence in the life cycle through, you know, five, six years plus, um, with all of the components so that we're, you know, we're, we're able to, you know, to run these for, for, for the long term. 

Tom Arbuthnot: And, and it feels like you've done a, like there's sort different approaches to this in different organizations, but it feels like rather than going to partners and, and outsourcing the, like the entire design and saying, you do what you wanna do, you, it seems like you spent a lot of time in house to be like.

This is our approach. Yes, yes. We can tweak it, but actually this is our preferred partner. This is our preferred setup. Yeah. Like we, we'll we welcome your input, but like this is our standard. 

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah. Yeah. So I, I think there's probably two points I'd I'd focus in on that. So, um, again, you know, uh, previous career experience is, is, has taught me that.

Actually having a a, you know, a, a good conversation with effectively sort of colleague to colleague has, has been really a good way to have a, a, a good level of influence in that discussion to, you know, either to help educate. At both sides in terms of the priorities and, and potentially the technology solutions.

And I think sometimes if that, um, discussion has come, comes through a, a supplier and the business owner, there is more of a, a, a examples where I think that ends up being the supplier is told what, what to do as opposed to it actually being a, a, a, a sort of a negotiation and an influence discussion.

Mm-hmm. So we've, we've made an active, um. Um, focus this year to sort of create an internal design capability. So, um, we, we do that in two ways. Really, is, is to focus on the user requirements. So be really, really focused on what the user needs upfront, you know, so we don't, we don't progress any further until we've got, um, clear, uh, user requirements defined, and that's, that's agreed by, by the business.

And then, um, and then we have a, a, a, you know, a designer within our team. Um, who could again, take that user requirements, take the, um, the insight from, from the business, and then actually recommend the solutions based on, um, our, and you're literally your in, in your team. 

Tom Arbuthnot: You've got someone using the Cisco room design tool and kind of presenting that to your internal customer saying, this is our thinking.

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah, I mean the, the room design is, is one example of, of, of, again, how we can have that positive, um, influential, um, you know, discussion. 'cause it's, it's very visual, it's very simple. But we, we, we do have obviously, um, you know, detailed diagrams, detailed schematics that actually once the, the solution is kind of approved and recognize, then we can then basically package that up and then we can then work with.

Um, a, a range of partners depending on location and, you know, sort of, you know, prioritization in terms of when that demand. Yeah. And that, that's then key for this sort of, the second point then is around service maturity. So, um, in order for us to be flexible with different partners and obviously make sure that we have design, um, compliance, if you like, for all of our demand items.

Um, we've, you know, we've, we've gotta work on the governance, the maturity of our own internal, um, processes. And I'm fortunate, fortunate to work with a fantastic colleague, um, who, who lives and breathes this. He's done a, a, a tremendous job in helping us document the, the right, um. Hierarchy of structures from policies to procedures to sort of, you know, you know, governance, which we then measure on, uh, you know, literally a, a daily basis.

And obviously where we're want to work with partners, they, they won't understand well what are our s SOPs? So we've been working to, to backfill those kind of gaps so we're not just doing the frontend kind of engagement and, and deployment. We're actually building a. A framework, which that means it's, it's repeatable and, and, and high quality.

Um, we've still got lots of work to go, um, as ever. These are, these are continually improving, you know, iterating kind of things. But, but those, those two things have been huge for us in terms of just being able to establish what, what we are as a service, how we do it, and ultimately the, you know, continuing that discussion with the business on the value that we can, we can help 'em achieve.

Tom Arbuthnot: Yeah, I think it's really, I mean, two big things I'm taking away from this conversation. One is the level of your conversation is so much more about the business and the business outcomes and kind of provoking the business into, yes, you've got 12, 12 rooms in Paris, but what are you trying to achieve? Um, how, how do you find that conversation with the business?

'cause it's, it's, it is, I I feel like sometimes that's the challenge is like a, getting to the business owners and b, them having a vision for what they wanna do. 

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah, it's, I mean, I mean, as a, as a global organization, clearly we've got a lot of business partners who can help us navigate the internal organization to get to the, the correct team members who can, who can help us with that.

Tom Arbuthnot: Yeah. But I 

Andrew Liptrot: think, um, I think a lot of it is just, is just having that conversation. You know, we're, we're running a project at the moment with, with one of our, um, external partners to, to help us deliver that, that business engagement. And, and a lot of it, we, we, we don't know what we don't know to use that kind of phrase, but.

Um, you know, we're having that conversation around, well just, you know, tell me about your users, tell me how people are working, and that, that then gleans with some themes about how, you know, how what's the reality, you know, on, on the ground. And, and as I said before, you know, um, unfortunately, um, because some of our technology has been sort of, um, un uh, without refresh for, for a little bit of time.

People's expectations of meeting rooms are very much in the kind of the lower, the lower end of the capability. So yeah, you know, access, access challenges with lots of pin codes and passwords and, and button pressing to, to something now, which obviously we want to make, you know, completely, you know, as, as, as simple as as possible.

So, you know, the, the, the, the conversation has to start very simply. Um, but ultimately what we're trying to be able to demonstrate is, we'll look at the, the table stakes have moved on hugely. Yeah. So that's, you know, that, that, that's a big reassurance. But actually what we're trying to do is just listen for those prompts.

Um, and, and Haley as an organization has some, um, you know, fantastic, um, goals, you know, set out for the next, uh, you know, five, six years and beyond. And, and, you know, I want, I, you know, it's interesting for me to hear a general manager or CFO. How they interpret that, what that means for their business, um, commercially.

And as I say, then our, our challenge is product owners is then is, okay, well how can we contribute to that? Um, and if we can help people be more efficient or actually be, um, less focused on. Certain areas of their role so that you can focus on that, that whether it's an extra sale or uh, an extra bit of scientific innovation that that helps them, then that's, that's our contribution to how our business is gonna succeed.

Tom Arbuthnot: Yeah, that's great. And then the second thing is the operational, the, the way you're approaching operation. I'd love to understand moving from kind of traditional base rooms into MTRs and kind of new types of operations, how has that affected how you think about operations in your operations team? So, uh, yeah, 

Andrew Liptrot: I mean, again, we've, we've got a great partnership with, um, with our, you know, our, our operations teams, both internally and, and with some external, external partners.

I think, um, really showing, um, how we can, you know, we, we can build that kind of, more of an in-house capability, I think has been, has been really beneficial. Um, it, it's, it's a lot more challenging to do that when you've got. Uh, a variety of different manufacturers, a variety of different connections, a variety of different tools and, and, and softwares.

Um, so, you know, really being able to take a kind of an ecosystem level approach is, is definitely benefited our, um, operations team. Um, but we've also been supporting them through continuous service improvement activities as well. So again, going back to the, the, the service maturity. You know, how are we treating problems?

How are we treating change? How do we make sure that we are. You know, learning from the, um, from effectively the, you know, the, the tickets that get raised, but also more, more importantly, the tickets that don't get raised. So how do we. Um, how do we create more of that kind of, uh, alerting? Yeah. The pro, the proactive monitoring, 

Tom Arbuthnot: the alerting, the knowing the room is, is, is offline or has an issue before the user gets to it.

'cause you, like, you can argue you've, you know, you've impacted the user. If the user had to raise a ticket, the aspiration is you, you know, before they do, right? 

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah. And I'm, and you know, we've, we've, we've, we've got a way to go on, on, on that. And as I say, I think, I think having a, a relatively consolidated environment will, will, will help us with that.

Um, and I think, you know, Cisco's got a good story in, in the control hub system to, to help with APIs and, and cross, you know, cross connectivity. Um, you know, so, uh, there's still very much an emerging improvement area for us. But, um, you know, I, I, I'm, I'm confident that we can get to a point where, as I say, we are genuinely, um, you know, seeing the rooms that are.

Self-healing, or at least being able to sort of help our operational teams Yeah. Um, actually get to a point where they can, they can intervene, um, you know, potentially out of hours. And then it's, it's ready for ready for the business, uh, ready for the business day. That's, yeah. When you're talking 

Tom Arbuthnot: for as many as four 50 rooms, so you, like, you, it can't be a, a person only LED thing.

There has to be good, good tooling and visibility and, and I'm really excited about some of the. AI innovations of like surfacing things that need, need insight. 

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah. And, and, and that's something that I've, I've learned a lot in this, in this past year as well. So, you know, the. Uh, the, the opportunities that, um, you know, that a digital experience tooling can, can give us and actually how we can contribute into that overall digital experience.

Because, you know, uh, you know, our, our, our services I mentioned before, covers things much broader than meeting rooms. You know, we've got, um, app space through visitor management, space reservation. We've got building sensors, we've got signage and, and communication platforms. You know, someone could be having an awesome day in a meeting room, but actually their digital experience and their, their actual employee experience has actually really not been that great because maybe the, uh, the, you know, the platform to book a desk hasn't been, hasn't been as efficient as it ought to be.

Yeah. It's all well and good, the room 

Tom Arbuthnot: being online, but if they can't book the room or, or they get kicked outta the room, that's not the, that's a different problem, isn't it? Yeah, 

Andrew Liptrot: exactly. So, so, you know, uh, another area of focus within our, within the, you know, the broader team that I. That I work within is, is how do we, how do we continue to push that digital employee experience?

So how can, um, our services contribute toward that kind of employee experience score. So we can say, well, do you know what, at, at our London office or our office in, um, in New Jersey or, or wherever in the world. You know, um, tickets are below par. You know, the, the signaling from our meeting rooms is good.

The networking quality has been good. We're not seeing any kind of bad, you know, you know, challenging calls, et cetera. Um, you know, the, the walkups to the tech lounges have been down. They're all kind of, um, hints that toward that people are having a, a, you know, a good day if, if you will. Yeah. And, and actually that can help then have that analytics to say, well, actually where that spiked out of, uh, bounds, if you will.

Then, you know, we, we can, you know, we can look, look into that. And I say that, that then influences the, the operational sort of, you know, focus. So, you know, where we've, you know, we've come in this year and, and, and developed hugely our, our processes. It's important that we look beyond the, the, you know, the, the, the breadth of our immediate services and get into a, um.

A wider conversation about the experience. Basically that wider conversation on actually is, is are we actually helping people be more efficient? That's the, that's the goal. Technology experience in, in the work. And as I said before, if we can help 'em be more efficient, then actually they can focus on the, the role that really makes, makes the difference for them, you know?

Tom Arbuthnot: That's awesome. Andrew, thanks so much for sharing so much about the, the Journey. It's really interesting, like super interesting organization with obviously massive. Massive goals, but I love, I love the level of, of, of business engagement in this conversation. Like it's, it's what are we looking to achieve?

And, and, and that coupled with the service standardization, I think is really interesting as well. Like if you, uh, bringing this stuff in house as much as you can in terms of operations and best practices, then not, not having a, a dozen different vendors and a dozen different things to do. I can see how that can definitely help.

Andrew Liptrot: Yeah. No, it's brilliant. I, I say I'm delighted to, to share. We've got lots of exciting things to come as well, so I appreciate the opportunity to speak today. So thank you, Tom. Awesome. Thanks so much.

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