What's the difference between reactive and preventative AV maintenance?
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Reactive AV maintenance responds to faults when they happen, while preventative maintenance (PPM, Planned Preventative Maintenance) schedules regular servicing to stop faults occurring in the first place. Most 2026 UK contracts are hybrid: both under one agreement, with preventative visits reducing reactive callouts by typically 40 to 60 per cent.
| Maintenance type | What it is | When you call | Typical cost (UK, per meeting room) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reactive (break-fix) | Engineer attends after a fault is reported. SLA-based response: 4 hour critical, next-business-day standard. | Display dead, mic not working, Teams Room won't join | £600 to £1,200 per year pay-per-incident or fixed annual |
| Preventative (PPM) | Scheduled servicing every 3 or 6 months: firmware updates, cable check, mic and camera calibration, network test, asset register update | Never (the engineer arrives on a diary date) | £1,200 to £2,400 per year for two visits plus reactive |
| Hybrid with remote monitoring | PPM plus reactive plus 24/7 remote monitoring catching faults before users do | Mostly the platform alerts before a user notices | £1,800 to £3,500 per year all-inclusive |
What a PPM visit actually covers. A proper preventative visit reconciles firmware versions across every device in the room (security patches are the load-bearing reason), inspects connectors and cables for movement damage, recalibrates microphone gating and camera framing, runs a network and bandwidth test, reconciles software licences against the asset register, and logs the visit against the room's service history.
When PPM is effectively mandatory. Regulated sectors (financial services, healthcare, public sector) often require evidence of scheduled servicing as part of audit and ISO compliance. High-availability boardrooms where a failed call has board-level visibility justify PPM on its own. Multi-site estates need PPM to keep configuration consistent across rooms, otherwise drift between sites becomes unmanageable inside 18 months.
Strive AV runs hybrid contracts as standard across support and maintenance engagements, with PPM frequency calibrated to room criticality rather than a flat schedule. Subscription clients on AV-as-a-Service get PPM rolled into the monthly fee.
Quick reference: reactive responds after faults £600-£1.2k/yr/room; PPM schedules quarterly servicing £1.2-£2.4k/yr; hybrid with remote monitoring £1.8-£3.5k/yr and cuts callouts 40-60%.
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