Roger McArdell, head of global media services at Barclays Bank talks to AV's editor Bhavna Mistry

While at Barclays Capital, McArdell was responsible for all of the organisation's a-v staff, capital expenditure and recurring budgets. In 2006, he was asked to set up a global media services division at Barclays Group.

- What are your main responsibilities?

Barclays sees media technology as key to achieving carbon-neutrality goals and its global aspirations. As head of global media, I develop the global strategy for the organisation, formulating standard systems designs and user interfaces.

My department - I have a team of around 35, many of whom are outsourced - is responsible for all the a-v services required by the 180,000 people who work for this part of the bank. We also run a complete end-to-end service, taking in design, build, maintenance and service.

- Has your role changed since the credit crunch?

Yes and no. This year we've seen some projects disappear, but what has been apparent is the demand for vcon. A travel ban has seen travel costs reduced by 10-60 per cent in certain parts of the organisation, with sites such as Manchester, which has eight vc rooms, achieving a 95 per cent occupancy. Vcon is seen as a key enabler to globalisation. Three years ago, it was a disaster - we had 120 calls month. Now we have 6000.

That's partly down to standardisation - rooms are the same wherever you are - and providing a mature service that includes introducing HD kit.

- Has the role of AV changed in high-street banking?

Most definitely, and if it wasn't for the credit crunch, we'd be doing more. Just look at our Piccadilly branch (AV, March 2009), which uses many technologies. Some have nothing to do with banking - for example, the videowall - but it is to do with what people do and how they live their lives. That's real creative a-v.

We've also introduced digital signage across 12 branches in Manchester. And we're starting to talk about some sort of vcon pilot in-brand. I think the time is right as there's a greater green emphasis and the public are more comfortable with the tech.

- What's the most impressive piece of kit you've seen?

After more than 20 years, I have a list (SEE BELOW), but top of it has to be HD vcon. The first I saw was the LifeSize HD system and it blew me away.

- What makes you tick?

I'm an end-to-end engineer. I'm interested in human/machine interaction and how machines help humans communicate, whether it's customers or internal clients. It's all-consuming - I have a house full of Crestron equipment and program it for fun. I also own a 1931 theatre organ with 700 pipes that I've been restoring.

20 years of Equipment that has shaped the AV industry:

Having now been in the AV industry for twenty years, I've seen AV grow from a luxury "nice to have" to a mission critical communication tool.  There have been many technology changes and the way we provide services today is very different to back then.

While many technology changes have been incremental developments, every now and then a technology or product has come along that has fundamentally changed the industry or the way we work. Here is my list of "industry changers":

Gentner AP800.

In the bad old days of video conferencing, it was almost impossible to deliver a system into a boardroom or large space without bad echo. External echo cancellers existed but were single channel devices that had to be manually "trained" for each environment. In large spaces with gating microphones the environment continually changed so these rudimentary devices didn't stand a chance!

The AP800 was the first unit to provide discrete echo cancellation on each channel together with real time adaptive training and suddenly the whole echo problem disappeared! - Well it did if your contractor understood how to program it!

Crestron e-control

Today, supporting global VC and AV networks using remote control is very easy, but its only 10 years ago that control systems were first deployed with Ethernet sockets and put onto the network. Ethernet control and inter-system communications are so fundamental to the way we support systems today, it's impossible to imagine how we could survive without it

The LCD Projector

When I was a young AV technician I would spend hours lining up 3 tube CRT projectors. Every time someone arrived with an odd resolution laptop or different refresh rate, the projector had to be aligned all over again! Today with LCD and DLP technology we enjoy mega-bright, crystal-clear images from tiny boxes that cost a fraction of their CRT ancestors.

Plasma

Like the old 3 tube projectors it was hard to perceive any kind of display device that did not have a cathode ray tube (CRT), but when plasma became available it became possible to deliver large images and computer material to locations and not possible with the projectors. Flat screen technology is now everywhere of course, at astonishingly cheap prices.

High Definition VC

I've been delivering Video Conferencing services for over twenty years now and for the first 17, while the technology developed in small incremental steps, fundamentally it was the same. Then came the announcement of Lifesize Communications with the first ever High Definition VC system designed for corporate users and the entire industry was turned on its head overnight. A few years on and all manufacturer's have HD systems as standard and key IT players such as Cisco have entered the market. Video Conferencing is finally the key communications tool that it promised to be for so long.

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