“At Vaillant Group, we believe it is important to work with ‘best in class’ solutions and suppliers,” said Klaus Scheid, Head of Group IT Infrastructure, Vaillant Group. “We opted to work with Polycom for several reasons. Polycom’s close relationship with HP and Microsoft was important to us and influential. The quality of Polycom’s video solutions and their ease of use were equally important. Additionally, the Polycom RealPresence Platform provides the flexibility we need as we grow, enabling us to install more video systems or add mobility devices such as tablets and smartphones, with limited upgrades to our existing infrastructure, helping to control cost.”
“With the Polycom RealPresence video collaboration we aim to reduce one day business trips out of the office by 15% and two day trips by 5%. That will lead to a reduction of 700 trips per year, which is equivalent to 450 days of unproductive travel time saved. The video collaboration network will also have an environmental impact with a reduction of 400 tons in carbon dioxide emissions,” says Gürdal Ergüven, Group IT Director.
The Vaillant Group has realized several additional benefits from Polycom including:
Reduced travel – Several departments including Purchasing, Finance and IT, hold regular monthly meetings connecting to up to 10 sites by video. Prior to Polycom video solutions, each attendee would travel to one location to meet for half a day.
Increased team engagement - Today dispersed teams meet face-to-face on a more regular basis. Everyone is encouraged to meet via Polycom RealPresence video and are able to connect from multiple locations.
Reduced carbon footprint – As a sustainable company the Vaillant Group’s environmental policy goes beyond their products and packaging to controlling and reducing travel to further protect the environment.
Improved work-life balance - Employees who previously travelled often now have a better quality of life. “With the Polycom RealPresence Platform, I can be in London at 10am, Paris at 2pm, Istanbul at 4pm and home for dinner,” said Christoph Schneir, Group Purchaser IT and telecommunications.