Case Study -- Furniture Manufacturer

Case Studies

Prominent French Furniture Manufacturer Chooses HD Video Conferencing to Connect Stores Across the Country

Organization

Furniture and Accessories Manufacturer, France

Furniture and décor that is simple, original and accessible. This is the driving vision behind one of France’s largest furniture and accessory manufactures. Guided by the ambition of giving individuals the décor of their dreams, the company provides everything consumers need to create a personalized living space including tableware, linens, sofas, armchairs, wall art and accessories.

Founded in the 1980’s by four young design enthusiasts, the company has since expanded to over 25 stores across France and employs over 2,000 associates. In the future, it plans to open its largest store yet of almost 13,000 square feet.

With over 15,000 products, the company has outfitted homes across the country, from Noyelles-Godault to Montpellier - Pérols. Now a household name, this furniture and design manufacturer is poised for exponential growth in the years to come.

Challenge

Because the company is expanding at a rapid rate, management needed a way to connect geographically-dispersed locations.

“We need to be closer to our customers, from a geographical point of view, without losing the necessary proximity between the headquarters and our employees,” said an executive with the company.

Understanding the value of face-to-face communications, the furniture manufacturer decided to evaluate various video conferencing solutions from the top vendors. The team focused on key attributes, including HD picture quality, ease of use and affordability.

Additionally, bandwidth was a concern for executive decision makers.

“It was important that the system perform well regardless of the bandwidth, as some of our stores have more than others,” they noted.

The company's key requirements were:

Ease of Use: A video system that was so simple to use that it could utilized on a daily basis by anyone in the company.
HD Quality: Crystal clear HD quality for lifelike collaboration across locations.
Bandwidth Flexibility: Some store locations have a higher bandwidth than others, so it was a necessity that the company’s video system could accommodate any speed.

Solution

After evaluating all of the major video conferencing solutions, the company purchased LifeSize Express 200 endpoints for their stores. Not only did the product provide the HD quality they were seeking, it also had data-sharing capabilities, so the teams can display presentations to each other within seconds.

Along with the endpoints, the manufacturer also purchased LifeSize Bridge, an HD Multipoint Control Unit (MCU), to facilitate 16 or 48-way conference calls. LifeSize Bridge provides organizations with unmatched flexibility. The solution can provide superior quality with any standards-based offering at any speed, resolution, layout or port without losing HD capability. With LifeSize Bridge, the company now can connect all of the stores on the same call in crystal-clear quality, simply and effectively.

With the help of LifeSize technology, the company now had an effective tool to communicate with stores, vendors and other constituents.

Results

Because the large company still considers itself to be like one big family, communication is better than ever over HD video. Employees and management teams can collaborate face to face as if they were all in one room together.

Whether the staff members are working on a catalog, designing an innovative new product or providing training to employees or vendors, all of the communication can now be done easily and efficiently over video.

The transition from audio to video calls was easy for employees since LifeSize technology is simple and intuitive. As a result, video conferencing is being used for several hours a day and productivity has never been higher.

“We are very pleased with video conferencing and the benefits it provides us,” said a store manager. “The bandwidth optimization is excellent and we are very glad we chose LifeSize.”