Asia School of Business (ASB) is a premier school of management in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that is committed to developing transformative and principled world leaders. By challenging conventional thinking and creating change beyond business, ASB is building a diverse community of curious and collaborative go-getters driven to create a better, more positive future. Established in 2015, ASB combines the expansive global outlook of its founders, Bank Negara Malaysia and MIT Sloan, with regional expertise, insight, and research from across Asia and the emerging world.
THE CHALLENGE
To create a learning environment that would best serve students and faculty, ASB needed to expand its technological capabilities. The ASB campus has over 71 locations equipped with AV equipment, including classrooms, auditoriums, study rooms, and meeting rooms to demo labs, lounges, boardrooms, and a multipurpose hall. No two spaces are identical, and ASB needed customized technological solutions that could bend to their requirements, not the other way round.
THE SOLUTION
Building out ASB’s technological capabilities was a significant undertaking, and several teams from across the world pitched in. After the initial design was adapted by a local consultant, it was awarded to Integrated Audio Visual (IAV), who completed the installation while working closely with the ASB IT team to ensure the system would be cost-efficient, scalable, and flexible. Crestron DM NVX® AV-over-IP technology and Crestron control systems were deployed to unify control and content distribution in a way that would drive a more connected campus.
THE TECHNOLOGY
By leveraging Crestron’s DM NVX AV-over-IP solution, ASB can now confidently stream and share content across auditoriums and classrooms. Crestron DM NVX technology has been used in close to 200 auditoriums and classrooms, enabling lecturers to stream content efficiently and reliably in the highest resolution. It’s an especially useful tool to manage student overflow when content needs to be shared across multiple spaces, and when students are tuning in remotely. AV-over-IP has given ASB the flexibility they need to route their AV signals to multiple locations, and they can now integrate different video production devices (such as multicamera production switchers) on demand. Video signals can be routed remotely from the control room using the Crestron app, and it can also be streamed independently to a conferencing platform which was a great benefit during the Covid-19 pandemic when ASB implemented hybrid classrooms.
Minimal disruption was of paramount importance to ASB. If technicians needed to enter classrooms to troubleshoot systems, this would interrupt learning and would have required considerable manpower to ensure problems could be dealt with quickly and efficiently. Instead, they needed a system with a central control facility that would allow for remote monitoring.
At the heart of ASB’s upgraded systems is the AV central control room. From here, operators can control, monitor, and troubleshoot the vast majority of issues remotely. When on-site assistance is required, local classroom AV racks are located in a separate room outside of the classroom-no interruption to the class or event is necessary. ASB also uses Crestron control systems to manage display and audio settings within individual rooms, making it straightforward and time-efficient for staff to set up a room for a given class or event.
“Crestron’s control systems are intuitive and accessible, and our ability to manage display and audio settings has created a better in-room experience for teaching staff and students alike,” said Yusalman.
The DM NVX Director® virtual switching appliance facilitates the configuration, control, and management of large-scale AV networks, making it perfect for ASB’s needs. The AV team can now manage all endpoints-online and offline-from a single web portal. Furthermore with DM NVX Director, the team can configure systems remotely. Logistical challenges, such as managing routing and monitoring all devices, have become simple, centralized processes.
RESULTS
Today, the ASB campus is a hub of dynamic and flexible learning with seamlessly integrated technology, establishing a great education environment as the norm. With Crestron control systems, staff can focus on teaching, not technology, while the AV team efficiently and effectively serves users campus-wide. Crestron has made ASB more resilient, too-when faced with the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the school was able to quickly evolve to a hybrid classroom model.
Since the successful installation of Crestron’s products across campus, ASB has found them to be extremely reliable with minimal downtime. In addition, the support from Crestron’s representative has been excellent, far exceeding ASB’s expectations of a customer-buyer relationship.
