Recording of the presentation at SIM Detroit’s February 2024 Dinner event, hosted at Cabinetworks and sponsored by Apex Digital Solutions. The presentation contains a comprehensive break-down of the Cabinetworks Teams Rooms deployment case study.
In today’s hybrid work era, large organizations face significant challenges in creating a cohesive and efficient environment for their dispersed workforce. A common struggle is establishing consistent, reliable meeting technology that bridges the gap between in-office and remote participants.
Cabinetworks Group, a leading manufacturer of comprehensive kitchen cabinetry, encountered these issues as they navigated the complexities of hybrid meetings and legacy meeting rooms. Partnering with Apex Digital Solutions, a trusted Microsoft Solutions Partner in Modern Work, Cabinetworks was able to transform these challenges into opportunities, paving the way for a more connected and productive workforce.
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Qualifying organizations may qualify for a free Microsoft Teams Rooms system when engaging in a Teams Rooms Pilot.
Who is Cabinetworks?
Cabinetworks Group, headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, is the largest privately held manufacturer of cabinets in the United States and the second-largest in the industry. The company operates 18 manufacturing facilities across the country, encompassing over 6 million square feet of space dedicated to production and distribution. These strategically located plants support Cabinetworks’ commitment to efficiency, speed, and delivering value, catering to a diverse market with varying consumer needs.
With a workforce of over 8,000 employees, Cabinetworks manages a complex network characterized by a collaborative culture and a wide-reaching brand portfolio, including names like KraftMaid, Merillat, and Medallion. This extensive operation enables Cabinetworks to maintain a significant presence in both the repair and remodel sectors and new home construction, distributing products through over 10,000 locations nationwide.
Challenge: How to overcome legacy conference rooms for a unified workforce
As Cabinetworks expanded its operations, the opening of a new Headquarters in Livonia marked a significant milestone. This new facility was to become a central hub for over 200 local employees, with an additional reach impacting over 8,000 employees across the United States. Such a vast network necessitated a departure from conventional methods to ensure seamless collaboration and communication.
The pandemic gave remote meeting attendees an advantage, resulting in an awkward return-to-work
Cabinetworks was faced with a challenge that many organizations across the industry also faced: an unlevel playing field with meeting technology. Prior to the pandemic and shift to remote work, personal meeting technology like webcams and headset rarely compared to the often-superior conference room meeting technology. It often left remote attendees feeling disconnected and not a part of the meeting. The pandemic leveled the playing field by forcing businesses to prioritize high-quality personal meeting equipment.
However, once employees started to return to the office, they found that the existing legacy conference room solutions were no longer sufficient. These systems could not meet the increasing demands for flexibility, scalability, and seamless integration required by a modern, dynamic workforce.
For Cabinetworks, the need for a robust, reliable, and cutting-edge communication infrastructure was imperative to support the company’s ongoing growth and to facilitate efficient teamwork among team members, regardless of their location.
Solution: Deploying standardized Microsoft Teams Rooms across 50+ rooms of various types, sizes, and functions
In addressing the challenges of hybrid work, Cabinetworks Group partnered with Apex Digital Solutions to revolutionize their meeting environments. This collaboration kicked off with an in-depth analysis during the initial floor plan review, well before the construction of most rooms.
Identifying archetypes and applying Apex Digital’s standardized Teams Rooms packages
By understanding the diverse needs of Cabinetworks’ workforce, Apex helped categorize meeting spaces into key archetypes: small, medium, large, extra-large, and open/flex collaboration areas. This classification was crucial for providing a tailored approach to each type of meeting scenario Cabinetworks envisioned.
Apex Digital Solutions’ approach was strategic and user-centric, focusing on creating a standardized solution that would ensure a consistent user experience across all meeting spaces. The team selected the right Microsoft Teams Rooms Devices for each room archetype, balancing the need for modularity, integration, and boardroom functionality.
The solution included large meeting rooms with multiple cameras and interactive whiteboards, individual executive offices with Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) functionality, state-of-the-art Signature Rooms, large hybrid classroom-style training rooms, and more. Each choice was made with the goal of enabling easy management and control of meetings, ensuring participants could focus on collaboration rather than technology.
Emphasizing the importance of Teams Rooms certified devices and commercial displays
For Cabinetworks, this meant deploying an array of Microsoft Teams Rooms certified devices, which are held to high standards of audio and video quality, ensuring a reliable and cohesive meeting experience. The deployment also emphasized ease of use, with solutions like center of room touch panels for effortless meeting management, integrated content camera with the Logitech Scribe, and modular collaboration devices in the Surface Hub 2S.
Apex Digital also prioritized the use of commercial displays within the Teams Rooms. These displays are designed for prolonged use and can be locked to specific inputs, eliminating potential distractions and simplifying the user experience. This focus ensures that every participant, whether in-room or joining remotely, is greeted with a “One Touch Join” experience, free from the hassle of unnecessary navigation or technical issues. Additionally, the warranties for commercial displays remain intact when mounted in a commercial space, unlike consumer-grade displays.
By integrating these solutions, Cabinetworks’ meeting rooms were transformed into versatile spaces suitable for the diverse array of collaboration needs within the company. From intimate small group discussions to large-scale collaborative sessions, each space was equipped to support seamless, engaging, and productive hybrid meetings.
Outcomes: Maximizing efficiency and collaboration post-deployment with monitoring and support
Following the strategic implementation of over 50 Microsoft Teams Rooms by Apex Digital solutions in Cabinetworks’ new HQ, the outcomes were transformative. To sustain and enhance these results, Cabinetworks engaged with Apex Digital’s Empower for Microsoft Teams Rooms, a comprehensive remote Managed Services offering. Empower ensures ongoing success by providing a dedicated Customer Success Team for regular insights and best practices, proactive monitoring, and device management, thus enabling the internal support team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than day-to-day issues. This continuous support aids in quickly diagnosing and resolving any Teams Rooms challenges, ensuring alignment with Service Level Objectives.
Advanced reporting and analytics with Teams Rooms Pro Portal
The utilization of the Teams Rooms Pro Portal proves to be a cornerstone in managing this new ecosystem. It provides a comprehensive inventory of all rooms, enabling the monitoring of room health and facilitating preemptive resolutions to potential issues. This level of oversight is crucial in maintaining the reliability and security of meeting spaces, ensuring they remain up-to-date and ready for use.
Meeting and room health metrics
The results continue to speak for themselves. Within January 2024, Cabinetworks scheduled nearly 1,500 meetings in these Teams Rooms, with 86% of these gatherings incorporating remote participants, showcasing the newfound ease in bridging in-office and remote collaboration.
Perhaps most telling of the success was the call health metric, which stood at an impressive 98.7%. This figure not only demonstrates the reliability and functionality of the Teams Rooms but also highlights the effectiveness of the deployment in creating a cohesive, unified workforce. This near-perfect performance metric underscores the elimination of technical barriers that once hindered seamless communication, fostering an environment where every meeting could proceed without technical hindrances.
Conclusion
The strategic partnership between Cabinetworks and Apex Digital Solutions exemplifies how modern technology can redefine collaborative workspaces. By implementing Microsoft Teams Rooms and leveraging Apex Digital’s Empower Managed Services, Cabinetworks has set a new standard for hybrid meetings, fostering a unified, productive, and seamlessly connected workforce across all levels of operation.
This case study was just a part of a larger narrative shared during the event hosted by Cabinetworks and put on by Apex Digital Solutions for SIM Detroit’s February Dinner meeting. Attendees were treated to a self-guided tour, witnessing firsthand the transformative power of the new meeting environments.
Inspired by the success of Cabinetworks Group? Discover how your organization can also revolutionize its meeting spaces with Microsoft Teams Rooms. Qualifying organizations may be eligible to receive a Free Microsoft Teams Room system when participating in a partially-funded Pilot Program:
