AV Support Expectations

AV Support Scope:
AV Support is only provided for YSM AV spaces that have been refresh to current hybrid AV standards and have a current yearly AV support contract with YSM AV.  Department provided specialized equipment in AV spaces will not be supported.

AV Support Cost:
The YSM AV support team determines AV spaces support by tiers.  This is related to the space’s specific space’s size, occupancy, complexity,  configuration, and intended use.  This tier determines what the yearly AV support costs are for that fiscal year.

Comprehensive AV Support – AV Spaces that adhere to our hybrid AV standards:
Comprehensive support is available to AV spaces that have been refreshed to the current YSM/University AV support standards, and for departments that maintain a yearly support service contract with YSM AV.  These standards ensure proper hybrid functionality, unified AV interface across the university, room monitoring support, and an underlying system architecture that allows for the “hot swap” of AV components when they fail. 

These AV spaces have AV staff support ratios of approximately 1 AV tech per 50 AV spaces.  This support has a single yearly cost that provides comprehensive AV support.   This support is broken down into 4 categories:

YSM AV Technical Support
There are different types of support issues that can arise related to AV systems ranging from how-to and training requests to system conditioning and tuning, to emergency system failures.  

We differentiate general support from emergency support as follows along with our target response times:
General AV services provided – within 5 business days.

  • Maintenance of AV systems and equipment to ensure proper operational condition is maintained.  This includes batteries, lamps, filters, and other incidental supplies required for proper AV system function.
  • YSM AV support will conduct regular walkthroughs of all covered rooms to provide for proactive maintenance of the AV Systems. If systems are down or equipment is missing the AV staff will notify the client of the issue and provide a workaround of the system until repairs can be made.  
  • Orientation sessions for staff, faculty, and student assistants on operation of AV equipment prior to actual use of the AV space.
  • On-site audio-visual technical support if there is a system failure.
  • Remote monitoring of the AV spaces  - provided the space supports this capability. (Tier 1 spaces typically do not)

Remote control of network enabled AV systems - provided the space supports this capability. (Tier 1 spaces typically do not)

  • Emergency support services provided – within 15 minutes
  • Issues with AV systems that prevent a presentation from happening - within 15 minutes during our normal YSM AV hours of operation.
     

YSM AV Software Licensing

This covers any software licensing cost related to the AV spaces. Example: Zoom room licensing.
 

Remote Monitoring

Remote monitoring is provided by a combination of software and installed components in spaces to continuously monitor and alert the YSM AV staff to the health and status of the installed equipment - provided the space supports this capability.  (Tier 1 AV spaces typically do not)
 

Automatic Replacement of Broken Equipment

This is a yearly cost determined by the AV space’s size and provides immediate “hot swappable” replacement of failed or broken standard AV components.  This is a pooled fund across all supported AV spaces

*In some cases, if major components have failed, immediate replacement may not be possible.   Solutions in these cases may be workarounds such as portable projectors or speakers to get the AV space functional while the failed component is replaced.

Best Effort AV support – AV spaces that do not adhere to our hybrid AV standards:

This tier of support is for existing departmentally access AV spaces that have not been upgraded to YSM AV’s hybrid AV standards.  Or for departments that do not renew their yearly YSM AV comprehensive support contracts. 

Subject to staffing availability, we will do a “best effort” level of support to troubleshoot and repair an AV space.  Any equipment or vendor costs will be billed as needed to get the room functional again. Currently the support ratio for this support is about 1 AV support tech for every 150 AV spaces.

Fee-based AV Support Services

YSM AV services provides additional AV services on a fee basis.

  • Some of our fee for services are:

    • Public address system microphones
    • Video projection
    • Limited technical support for Zoom meetings, Yale Panopto recordings, and associated webcasts.
    • Podiums
    • Digital Audio Recording
    • Presentation aids (e.g., laser pointers, wireless PowerPoint remotes)
       
  • Any AV services provided outside of our normal support hours will be billed at a rate of $150 per hour and with a 4-hour minimum.  This covers AV staff overtime rates and project management costs.  Please note, due to liability, we can only support locations on the Yale campus.
     
  • In-person technical support for YSM AV events are billed at $75hr per event. This covers a pre-setup, and systems check of the av spaces 1/2 hour prior to the scheduled start of the event and for the AV tech to monitor operations for the first 15 minutes of the scheduled start of the event to ensure everything is operating normally. 

    Additional costs may apply depending on the complexity of the event and/or if the Tech is requested to remain present longer than 15 minutes from the scheduled start of the event.  If that is the case, then the hourly charge is $100/hour additional.
     

  • Additional costs may apply for any equipment requested outside the normal equipment already installed in the space along with additional setup and tear down of the additional equipment.  Those charges will be determined on a case-by-case basis and must be requested prior to the day of the event.
     
  • Any Fee-based AV support services requests are subject to the following policies and procedures:
    • Create a support ticket at AV Event Setup - IT at Yale to submit a request.
    • Provide a 15-business day lead time when requesting support for scheduled requests during normal business hours.
    • Provide a 20-business day lead time when requesting support for weekend events and evenings.
    • Requests are evaluated and confirmed based on available staff and equipment resources.
    • Requests will be confirmed within 2 business days of submission. 
    • Requests are not guaranteed until confirmed.
    • If YSM AV does not have the staffing capacity, your request (with client approval) will be forwarded to an external AV contractor.  Clients will be responsible for the AV vendor costs and are subject to their availability.
    • This fee for service does not provide:
      • Video recording services
      • Support at any off-campus (non-Yale) locations/venues
      • IT support
      • Live streaming

Roles and Responsibilities

YSM AV will work in partnership with departments.  The departments will:

  • Appoint a contact person who will be available to set priorities, provide event schedule details, assist with triaging issues, and otherwise act as a partner and liaison with YSM AV to best achieve the client’s goals. 
  • Provide access to the service areas and systems that YSM AV will be supporting.
  • Provide regular and candid feedback on YSM AV performance to its managers. 
  • Allow YSM AV to implement University Standards and best practices in audiovisual systems design in both hardware and software within the constraints of their programmatic needs and budgets.
  • Adhere to Yale IT’s AV standards for AV equipment and installations.