How much does AV support and maintenance cost?
AV support and maintenance typically costs 8 to 15 per cent of the installed AV value per year, or roughly £150 to £600 per room per year, depending on the response-time SLA, whether cover is remote or on-site, and whether proactive monitoring is included. A small estate on a basic remote tier sits at the lower end; a multi-site estate with a 4-hour on-site SLA and 24/7 monitoring sits at the top.
From the floor. The cheapest support contract is almost always the one with the softest SLA, and that is exactly the line that matters when a board meeting is 10 minutes from starting and the room is dark. Compare like for like: response time, whether parts and labour are included, and whether anyone is actually monitoring the estate or just waiting for you to log a ticket. A slightly higher number with a real SLA and remote monitoring pays for itself the first time it saves a meeting. — Mark Brooks, Commercial Director
Support is usually priced one of two ways: as an annual percentage of the installed AV value, or per room or per device. Beyond room count, the cost is driven by the SLA (a next-business-day response is far cheaper than a guaranteed 4-hour on-site attendance), the split between remote and on-site cover, and whether the contract includes proactive remote monitoring that catches faults before users report them. Parts cover, loan equipment, firmware and licence management, and periodic health checks all sit inside the better contracts and are worth confirming line by line.
As a rough guide, a 10-room estate on a mid tier commonly runs £2,000 to £6,000 per year, and a 50-room multi-site estate with monitoring and a firm SLA £15,000 to £40,000 per year. The right figure depends on how much downtime the business can tolerate, so it is worth pricing the SLA against the cost of a failed meeting rather than to the lowest headline number.
Quick reference: roughly 8-15% of installed value per year, or £150-£600 per room per year; SLA, on-site cover and monitoring drive the price.
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