The client
KPMG’s cutting-edge office at 80 Ann St in Brisbane is a beacon of innovation in modern workspace design. The fit-out is more than just an office; it's a centralised, networked hub with attention put into every detail including the audiovisual technology that’s been carefully chosen to fully support KPMG’s corporate culture and the way their people want to work.
Coming out of covid, KPMG led corporate Australia in its speed and determination to transform all of its meeting spaces into Teams rooms. Sennheiser’s TeamConnect Ceiling 2 (TCC 2) microphone has proven to be a key piece of KPMG’s Teams strategy, according to Workplace Portfolio Project Manager, Rhona Duncanson.
KPMG has been a Microsoft house for a long time. Prior to the covid shutdowns, every KPMG employee was running Teams, but audio-only. Then, with staff locked down at home, the decision was made to throw the ‘video switch’. All 10,000 Australian staff were instructed to log out at a preordained time then log back in with Teams video now activated. The network handled the load and the Big 4 professional services provider turned the page on a brand new chapter of working from home and hybrid meetings.
“These days, it’s very rare to have a meeting with everyone present in the room. Invariably there’s always someone off site.” Rhona Duncanson is the Workplace Portfolio Project Manager and oversees the roll out of KPMG Teams rooms.
The challenge
KPMG was a covid-era trailblazer. When other big corporates took more of a wait-and-see approach, KPMG lost no time in upgrading spaces, transforming them all into Teams rooms.
“During 2020 and 2021, when all of our buildings were shut to staff, my main project was to Teams-enable every single meeting room,” Duncanson explains. “I refitted 250 meeting rooms while our offices were closed.”
“Undertaking that work during lockdowns was opportune, we were achieving in a two-week period what would have taken three months or more. We got the whole project done in six months – 250 rooms that would normally have taken two years.”
The way Christopher Watson of Alder Technology describes it, the tender process was about as intensive as he’s ever experienced. KPMG was intent on turning a new technology chapter for all its meeting rooms across Australia and wanted to leave nothing to chance. Finding the right AV consultant was crucial to breaking out of a cycle of running into technology dead-ends and bandaid fixes. As Project Director, Christopher has followed the journey as closely as anyone.
“Alder Technology has been collaborating with KPMG for several years, initially engaging with them to transition from traditional codec-based conferencing to Microsoft Teams,” Watson explains. “This shift was driven by the need to modernise and streamline KPMG’s meeting room technologies. The collaboration began with the Canberra office fitout project, which involved extensive design, planning, and delivery phases spanning two-three years.”
“Microsoft Teams became the core platform for handling various aspects of meetings at KPMG. About 90% of the meeting spaces were designed to operate within the Teams ecosystem, simplifying the user experience. This approach helped demystify meeting room technology for users, making it as straightforward as using Teams on a desktop or mobile device. Teams was used for sharing, conferencing, and other meeting functionalities, reducing the need for complex control systems or other third-party collaboration products.”
The Ci Group was the technology integrator for the project. The technical team speaks of their pride in what was accomplished at KPMG Brisbane: “KPMG is the most technologically complex system we have implemented to date in Brisbane, integrating and networking both Q-SYS and Crestron systems.”
The solution
Moving the Brisbane office to four floors of the new Suncorp building was a different proposition but Rhona and her team were ‘match fit’ and ready for the challenge.
“We already had our personas – our room designs – created in 2020. On top of the five or six room personas, we’ve got bespoke rooms, which are all the large client-facing rooms, and will have more Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 microphones and more loudspeakers in the room. They’ll have a lectern in the room with additional Sennheiser SpeechLine Digital wireless.”
The largest bespoke space is an open-kitchen, Connect space which doubles as a gathering place for town halls and events. It features a large dropdown projection screen for visuals. Sennheiser SpeechLine Digital wireless microphones combine with pendant and in-ceiling loudspeakers for sound reinforcement.
For Rhona Duncanson, choosing technology partners is an important part of ensuring consistent, reproducible results: “Security features are a given and the usability piece is important,” confirms Rhona. “I sometimes get my 13 year old in to stress test the ease of use!
“What’s also very important from our technology partners is support. KPMG is a service provider and we understand good service, and it’s essential when you’re dealing with technology.
“All our microphone systems are from Sennheiser, including 44 TCC 2 ceiling microphones in the new Brisbane office. The performance of the TCC 2 is outstanding and they look beautiful.”
Christopher Watson comments, “The Sennheiser TCC 2 microphone array played a crucial role in the AV designs for KPMG’s meeting rooms. It was particularly effective in larger, multifunction rooms where advanced audio tracking and clarity were essential. The TCC 2’s ability to provide precise positional data for camera tracking was a milestone, enhancing the functionality of these spaces and ensuring a seamless user experience. Alder was one of the first to beta test Sennheiser’s ACPR (Automatic Camera Preset Recall) system and it formed a key role in the roll out of the larger meeting spaces, along with Q-SYS Core Nano audio DSP, Q-SYS PTZ cameras, and Crestron control.”
With a national footprint and expertise in high level meeting room technology, the team at Ci Group engineered a solution for KPMG’s boardroom which features two cameras, one for participants seated at the table and one for anyone presenting in front of the dual screens. The room can be controlled via the table-based Crestron touchpanel or via the wallpanel when the table is removed to accommodate a function. Sennheiser TCC 2 systems capture speech for the far end on the Teams calls as well as positional data for the PTZ cameras. Presenters can utilise Sennheiser Speechline Digital wireless microphones.
Any meeting space regardless of size includes a dedicated camera, soundbar, and Sennheiser TCC 2 mic array, and can be accessed by remote participants.
Photographer: ©jaseimagesnoosa
