Another quote has come in lower. It happens on almost every AV project.
Two proposals are on the table. One is cheaper. The saving looks real, budgets are tight, and both quotes promise the same outcome. Cheaper AV installation proposals rarely deliver it.
The costs generated by under-specifying tend to arrive months after the installer has left. In the support callouts, the replacement components, the wasted meeting time, and sometimes a full reinstallation bill eighteen months down the line. This article explains what those costs actually look like and what to watch for when comparing proposals.
What under-specifying actually means in AV installation
Under-specifying means buying the right equipment for the wrong room, or selecting products without accounting for how a space will actually be used.
Undersized systems and the hidden capacity problem
A display sized for a six-person meeting room will struggle in a ten-person boardroom. A sound system specified for a single-zone office falls short in a multi-room venue. The gap looks small on paper. In practice, it shows up every working day.
Good AV specification accounts for screen size relative to room depth, participants’ viewing distances and ambient light, audio coverage for the acoustic properties of the space, camera field of view, and compatibility with the platforms a team already uses. When any of these is overlooked or not fully considered, issues potentially follow.
Missing commissioning and the works-in-theory trap
Commissioning is the process of configuring and testing an AV system once installed. It is one of the first items cut from a low-cost proposal.
A system can pass a basic power-on test and still fail in real use. Audio feedback on a video call. A display that washes out under natural light at 11am. A control panel that connects to one device but not the others in the building. These failures are straightforward to prevent at installation. They are expensive to fix after the fact.
The real cost of AV installation done cheaply
The financial case for proper AV specification has hard numbers behind it.
Lost time in meeting rooms adds up fast
According to Owl Labs’ 2025 State of Hybrid Work Report, 79% of UK employees have lost time to technical difficulties in hybrid meetings. The average is 6.5 minutes of setup time per meeting, with nearly one in three workers losing more than ten minutes. For a team of ten meeting twice a week, that is over 56 hours of productive time lost every year.
The same report found that 71% of UK workers have given up trying to get video technology working and abandoned the attempt altogether. Missed participants, delayed decisions, and lost momentum all carry a cost that never appeared in the original proposal.
Technology and staff retention are connected
Mitie’s 2025 Productivity Reset report, based on research from over 3,000 UK employees, found that inadequate workplace technology costs the UK economy an estimated £71.4 billion in GDP every year. Workers lose an average of 68 minutes a week to workplace frictions, including finding a meeting room with technology that works — a weekly salary cost of £485 million to UK employers.
The research also found a direct link to retention. Among employees satisfied with their workplace technology, 89% were satisfied with their employer. Among those who were not, satisfaction with their employer dropped to 23%. Put simply, AV specification can affect how people feel about where they work.
The reinstatement cost nobody budgets for
The true cost of a low-specification AV installation is usually spread across its working life: the original price, the unplanned support visits, replacement components, and in many cases a partial reinstallation once the gaps in the original design become clear. Pyramid AV works with clients who have been through this process. The reinstatement cost routinely exceeds the original saving between proposals.
What a properly specified AV installation includes
Design before equipment
A well-specified AV installation starts with a site survey and design consultation. Room dimensions, ceiling height, acoustics, and how the space is actually used all shape the specification. A low-cost proposal may skip some of these considerations and select products from a standard list.
Pyramid AV’s design process starts with questions: What problems are you trying to solve? How does your team use this space? What future requirements do we need to be aware of? The answers shape a specification built around the room, not a catalogue.
Support built into the specification
A well-specified system includes a defined support structure from day one. Clear response times, documented support tickets, remote monitoring where appropriate, and a single point of contact for support questions.
Low-cost proposals often exclude ongoing support entirely or include terms too broad to offer real accountability. Over the working life of any system, a clear support agreement makes a measurable difference.
How to compare AV proposals properly
A few questions help separate a well-specified proposal from a low-cost one. Does it include a formal site survey and design stage? Does it specify equipment by room and use case? Is commissioning and client handover listed as line items? Does the supplier offer a clear support structure with explicit response times? Do they hold AVIXA or CEDIA certification?
A reputable AV installation company will answer all of these directly. Comparing proposals this way takes an hour. Recovering from a poor specification will take considerably longer.
Making the right AV investment
A properly specified AV installation costs more upfront. Over its working life, it costs considerably less. The gap between proposals is rarely the gap in actual cost once support visits, replacements, and lost productivity are factored in.
Pyramid AV works with organisations across the UK. Every project starts with understanding what reliable technology looks like for that specific space and the people who use it daily.
If you are comparing AV installation proposals and want to understand what the differences mean in practice, the team at Pyramid AV is happy to talk through both.
Book a free site assessment or speak with our team today.