Background
Sometime in January 2019, an electrical contractor contacted Assurance Media to provide an estimate for the telecommunications infrastructure in a client's new Newark hub office and regional call center. The client was pricing out different locations for a large-scale consolidation of their Delaware call centers. The initial estimate was budgetary. The design was completed and Assurance Media was selected for the opportunity to complete the job, but the timeline for construction was the most aggressive that our company has seen in this our 10th year in business.
The client needed to have people working in the space by mid-July, approximately 6 months from the initial phone call. Usually, projects of this scale take 1 to two years from planning to completion. Our team was up for the challenge, even though the spring and summer seasons are our busiest time of the year. Because the design specifications we were given were for budgetary consideration initially, we were missing a lot of key details of the client's company-wide facility specification. As the client provided these specifications, we were effectively telling them what they could afford based on their budget and with long lead times for specialty materials. We ordered what we could get immediately, and our poor warehouse team had a huge challenge in finding space to store miles and miles of specialty cable in our warehouse during our busy season.
The Project
Our team had 4 months to install the entire network infrastructure for the three-floor, 150,000 square foot space retrofit call canter. The design called for 2,790 data cables for workstations and phones as well as another 250 cables for audiovisual solutions provided by another contractor. In addition to 16 data racks in 7 telecom closets and a central distribution frame on the ground floor. To provide added value, our team worked directly with the cable manufacturer for special pricing and expedited delivery of the components needed. We were able to discount approximately $100,000 in materials by partnering directly with the manufacturer.
The Solution
Structured Cabling, Audiovisual, and Access Control
This project required an all hands on deck approach; 30 of our 47 technicians were involved in installing the essential network infrastructure for the large call center. Our team installed voice and data cabling to all workstations, cabling to multiple video walls, displays, and access control systems. Our team worked in coordination with a multitude of trades on site due to the tight deadline.
The client's employees began arriving on-site for work before we were finished working. Our team would stagger efforts between sections of the building to get them ready for occupants and not inhibit productivity. In a beautiful display of teamwork with IT department and engineers, our team was performing testing and final checks in teams of two, followed by a team of customer IT technicians who were assembling the computers and monitors on desks and connecting them to the network for the first day of use in the morning.
“The project was large, complex, and aggressive. You and your team were dedicated, professional, and very communicative throughout the entire project.”
– Stan Twardus, Senior Project Manager
The Assurance Advantage
When our client found themselves moving to a new location with a tight deadline they turned to an electrical contractor. The contractor approached Assurance Media with the opportunity to ensure the end client would meet their deadline and be able to service their customers with optimal service at their new call center location.