Before the intervention of Interactive Audio Visual (IAV), the operations centre for Ottawa Paramedic Service had screens that were dark and inaccessible for dispatchers co-ordinating responses.
Employees found it difficult to read the screens on which emergency calls were displayed because the monitors were dark and dingy. It was also hard to see from different angles of the office space. And perhaps most alarmingly, the reliability of the old system was not as dependable as it should have been. When dealing with urgent and potentially life-saving calls, this is not an ideal situation.
So two years ago, the OPS decided to call on IAV to upgrade its 911 dispatch co-ordination visualization system.
With these challenges in mind, IAV optimized a setup with solutions that addressed each issue with a 28-foot, DirectView LED video wall.
For those people who were finding the dark screens a problem, IAV provided a customized screen for which the brightness levels can be adjusted. “The screen is actually easy to see and read with the lights in the room at a brighter level, which is very helpful for people that are working long shifts, with reduced eye strain,” says Ryan Armitage, the account manager for this project.
In order to accommodate a variety of vantage points, IAV realized the video wall itself necessitated a very specific placement, Armitage says. As a result, preset layouts were programmed to accommodate varying locations. The size and brightness of the video wall was optimized for highest impact. 
The video wall is also easy to view from all angles for those working in the space. Creation of multiple customizable layouts allows fast switching from one to another, and makes it easy to see different operator computers and video sources on demand.
“They can segment the wall and show information the way they want, and then with a button push, they can change the layout to something different. You have many different computer workstations, and any of them can be displayed anywhere on the video wall on demand,” Armitage says.
The screens are also equipped to showcase footage from 10 security cameras if necessary, as well as streamed video sources for City of Ottawa traffic cameras, Armitage adds. This function was enabled by IAV’s installation of a quantum video wall processor. “So you set up different layouts that show different computers side-by-side, and they can adapt it over time, and the users can control which layouts are required and then control various video sources via a control touch panel in the room,” Armitage says.
Most importantly, the system could never fail, and to date, it has not. Nevertheless, in order to maintain 100 per cent uptime, IAV provides service-level agreements for fast response times should something go down as well as spare kits that can be swapped out in an emergency.
“It is high-performance, with 24-7 reliability, and it hasn’t given any troubles since it went in,” Armitage says.
While IAV has done projects like this in the past, this one had a unique set of circumstances. This has led to a significantly improved overall experience for employees, and ultimately an improved service for Ottawa residents, and the OPS has been singing the praises of the new system, says IAV president Ian Smith. “It is high-performance, with 24-7 reliability, and it hasn’t given any troubles since it went in,” he says.
“We put in a high-quality, direct-view LED with an imaging processor that lets them present things the way they want, and they can just switch between different types of content to whatever they want,” Smith says.
The 28-foot video wall’s DirectView LED differentiates it from other screens as it is seamless, an important factor for the OPS, since a seam on a flat screen can sometimes prove distracting.
The successful installation of the video wall for Ottawa Paramedic Service is emblematic of IAV’s service, which is to embrace a holistic approach. “My approach is on three pillars, which we do intentionally,” Smith says. There is the environment, the technology and the people, and the people are always in the middle, he says. “It’s a matter of balancing the technology and the environment to get the best user experiences through a more holistic approach.”
Smith always considers the general context of office space, which includes the environment. For example, how bright is it? Are things illuminated sufficiently? How distracting the space is must also be considered, as well as the acoustics. Can employees hear well enough, or is it too loud? Can content be read and understood by all users in the space?
Samantha Dougall, IAV’s account manager for the interior design market vertical, says the company is not there to design office space, but rather to collaborate with project stakeholders to optimize the technology for the area to improve the user’s experience.
“We help enhance their design by adding in the AV for a better user experience, so that’s where the marriage is, between the designer’s look and feel of the office space, and we just add to that and to ensure that it works with the touch of a button when they walk in without detracting from what the designers have intended and accomplished for the space,” Dougall says. 
IAV, which was started more than two decades ago by Smith, provides clients with experts who take the time to listen to their needs. IAV provides integrated technology solutions such as systems design, turnkey sales and integration of professional level presentation on conferencing, network-streaming and command-and-control environments. IAV has provided integrated solutions for clients in private industry, government, education, health care, entertainment, front-line emergency services and the wider community.
This article first appeared in the September 2024 special “Best Offices Ottawa” issue of the Ottawa Business Journal. That publication is available in its digital edition below.
