Delivering remote monitoring and management for Bluesound Professional's comprehensive commercial sound systems
Bluesound Professional develops a range of streaming audio devices designed for commercial spaces such as retail shops, bars, restaurants, hotels, gyms, hospitals, and any space in which music is streamed. As the world’s first modern music distribution ecosystem for commercial spaces, this includes components from streaming sources to loudspeakers to facilitate easy design, installation, setup and use of complete music systems in installations from one zone to large multi-zone facilities.
Industry
Audiovisual
Audio&Video
Challenge
Bluesound Professional’s devices actively pull content from the Internet to stream the music into the commercial spaces of their customers. The integrators working with Bluesound Profession did not have a way to see whether the sound systems they’d installed were online or working. While some of Bluesound Professional’s larger customers (such as retail chains) had installed remote VPNs, or subnets, in many cases it was impossible to check on the status of the audio devices. The company also lacked a streamlined way for its partners to escalate problems as they arose.
Approach
Bluesound Professional explored a variety of options as it sought a robust remote monitoring and management (RMM) solution that would enable its installers and integrators to provide first-line monitoring and triage capabilities for their devices without having to go on-site. In addition, Bluesound Professional wanted to provide its channel partners with a single pane of glass from which to monitor the entire sound system, including equipment made by other manufacturers.
Solution
Bluesound Professional appreciated Xyte’s expertise in the AV market. “Xyte offers the best solution for a commercial audio or video manufacturer to be part of a whole ecosystem,” explains Graeme Harrison, Vice-President and General Manager for Bluesound Professional.
In the first phase of Bluesound Professional’s rollout, the company’s integrators will use Xyte Device Cloud to offer remote monitoring and initial triage for Bluesound Professional products. The integrators will be able to send remote commands, such as reboot, update firmware or change device state, all without rolling trucks.
“Our integrators have been vocal about the need for remote monitoring, both as a way to reduce costs and create new revenue streams,” says Harrison. “We recognize that integrators are looking to brands like ours to provide complete solutions and not just hardware, so we are pleased to have Xyte become a part of what Bluesound Professional offers as a comprehensive and rounded solutions ecosystem.”
In phase 2 of the rollout, Bluesound Professional will enable its integrators and end customers like music curators to have full control capabilities of its devices, such as the ability to update playlists or change volume or manage other controls remotely. Additionally, the company will also pull data from its devices and send the data to its own support teams, both for product development purposes and when its channels cannot resolve an issue.
“Xyte has made it very easy for us,” Harrison concludes.
Results
- Improves collaboration on escalations and triage procedures, resulting in faster troubleshooting and improved uptime
- Collects critical device data such as uptime and mean time between failure, enabling more data-driven product development decisions
- Reduces integrator truck rolls and on-site visits for support tasks
- Provides a visual, intuitive single pane of glass from which integrators or end customers can quickly monitor the status of their devices, according to space
- Easily identifies which component of sound system is having an issue
- Enables remote monitoring and management of devices including proactive maintenance
Xyte offers the best solution for a commercial audio or video manufacturer to be part of a whole ecosystem. We looked at various remote monitoring platforms and we even looked at doing it ourselves. Xyte made the integration process easy for us.
