The real estate market is booming, with headlines every week announcing new multi-use commercial developments and rapid-fire sales of private homes.
Helping real estate professionals succeed in every aspect of this fast-paced business is a primary goal of Columbus REALTORS®, headquartered just minutes from downtown Columbus at 2700 Airport Drive.
110 Years and 8,000 members
Established 110 years ago, Columbus REALTORS® is a nonprofit professional trade association serving Franklin, Fayette, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway, and Union counties. This organization serves 8,000 real estate professionals engaged in residential sales and leasing, commercial sales and leasing, property management, appraisal, land development, and more.
Every month, Columbus REALTORS® offers dozens of classes and events to keep its members informed on topics ranging from ethics to affordable housing. But even though the content of the courses remained fresh, the training rooms and meeting spaces—especially the audio-visual (A/V) technology systems—needed an update.
How customers and employees experience technology in a facility – using mobile applications, connecting to a wireless network, or navigating audio-visual displays and collaboration tools – impacts their perception of the organization.
To help them create a vibrant, collaborative atmosphere in their meeting spaces, Columbus REALTORS® chose WSA Studio to provide architectural and interior design services, and Integrated Building Systems to design and integrate new A/V solutions.
“It was a refreshing change for a vendor to work with us not with the intent of selling us what they thought we needed, but helping us find what we really needed. ”
For the new technology, Columbus REALTORS® asked Integrated Building Systems to identify A/V systems that would help them solve three main problems:
Outdated interfaces that did not offer easy connection with mobile devices.
Low-quality images from an old projector and televisions.
Unreliable connectivity due to improper cabling.
According to Bryan Dean, Director of MLS at Columbus REALTORS®, Integrated Building Systems delivered. “It was a refreshing change for a vendor to work with us not with the intent of selling us what they thought we needed, but helping us find what we really needed,” he said.
“With Integrated Building Systems it has always seemed to be more about the relationship and not all about an easy, quick transaction,” Dean explained. “From the initial sales staff to the project development staff to the installers, the IBS staff were all professional, friendly, and most important of all, competent through the whole process.”
Training center seats 84, offers clear audio and video projection
The Galbreath Classroom seats up to 84 people, who can easily charge their mobile devices with outlets on every table (a favorite feature). Audio-visual upgrades in this space included a touch panel with wireless display interface, an audio system with DSP engine, new amplifiers, tall room ceiling speakers, and a wireless lavalier microphone system.
A new LED-based DLP projector provides the desired brightness for presentations, and a special ceiling shock mount keeps the projection steady on-screen (the HVAC system had been vibrating the projector). Integrated Building Systems recommended that Columbus REALTORS® keep their existing projection screen, and simply have it cleaned, which saved thousands of dollars in replacement costs.
Wireless presentation system easy to use for board meetings
The Donald W. Kelley Boardroom features a 36-foot-long custom table used for committee, officer, and director meetings. New commercial-grade TVs mounted on swing-arm mounts offer clear visibility from every seat. The wireless display interface makes it easy for anyone to share content on the room’s large screens (it’s one of the most-used features), with an intuitive button-panel control system for on/off, source routing, and audio-playback.
“Many vendors seem to become the Invisible Man after a project is done. Nothing could be further from the truth with the IBS staff,” Dean said. For example, Integrated Building Systems provides onsite training to ensure customers fully understand the set up and operation of their new systems.
Perfect for smaller groups, this conference room also offers a high-definition display and plug-and-play connectivity.
New spaces: computer lab, flexible meeting room
Computer lab
Flexible training/meeting space
Columbus REALTORS® decided to build out unused space in their facility’s lower level and create a new computer lab and another flexible training/meeting room. Each space offers wireless presentation systems; in the computer lab, an instructor can enjoy full room controls on the wall-arm-mounted touch screen.
Tucked out of view in a plenum-rated ceiling box, the Kramer VIA offers a wireless presentation and collaboration solution that doesn’t clutter the room with additional wires and cables. With any laptop or mobile device, users can view, edit, and comment on documents in real time, share files, and chat with individuals or multiple participants simultaneously.
get ideas for your technology project
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