The Challenge
The Bayer Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power while staying committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen.
Within this ethos of innovation and growth, Bayer began a project to revamp its UK headquarters to help bring about a cultural change and encourage a more agile way of working. One of the goals was to upgrade its dated audio and video communication and presentation infrastructures to create new collaborative spaces, meeting rooms and presentation suites connecting staff both internally and to colleagues and partners around the globe.
One of the key considerations was the universality of the technologies, as well as the equipment’s connectivity and functionality. The aim was to make all the consistent systems simple to install and operate while focusing on delivering confidence to users and helping to promote innovation within the business.
The Solution
Systems Integrator Focus 21 was selected by design consultancy MiX to carry out the extensive upgrade project. Completed in February 2017, the technology transformation spans four floors of the Bayer UK HQ building and includes over 60 meeting rooms, presentation suites and collaborative working spaces, all combining integrated AV technologies.
The system consists of VITEC (originally Exterity, acquired by VITEC in 2021), dual Gateways, H.264 Encoders and Media Players, used to stream world news to displays in meeting rooms, reception and waiting areas. The solution is also in use in the staff restaurant, which doubles up as a large town hall space for quarterly employee meetings, while sports channels are delivered to screens in the staff games area. The VITEC system also delivers BayerHub digital signage, which includes company updates, RSS feeds, event information and an intranet feed to displays throughout the office.
The Result
Speaking about the project to a respected industry trade magazine, Glynn Seymour, Innovation & Infrastructure Coordinator for Bayer UK & IE said: “The Bayer UK headquarters move was part of a wider culture change to a more agile way of working, and our new home had to reflect and support this, whilst adhering to corporate standards in many areas. We were challenged to create a variety of meeting spaces that were versatile but retained ease of use and bolstered the image of Bayer as an innovation-driven life science organisation. It’s clear the overall effect of the new environment has both inspired and engaged colleagues, and the AV provision has been pivotal in enabling that change.”
Colin Farquhar, SVP Sales at VITEC added: “Bayer UK headquarters now boasts a wide-range of AV/IT technology to increase employee engagement and improve overall business operations, and video is a key part of this. IP video is both flexible and scalable, and can distribute content to any connected device on the IP network. New TV and video sources and users can be added anywhere there is a network connection, so it’s easy to extend the system.”
