By Tim Bailey, CTS-D, CTS-I

What is Firstwave?

Firstwave© is Waveguide’s branded multimedia support service, which we provide nationwide on corporate and higher education client sites, where we often complement the work of Compass Group USA and FLIK Hospitality’s conference and foodservice support operations. We started Firstwave in 2003 as an innovative way to ensure our consulting clients were receiving the maximum return on their technology investments. Over the course of the past 16 years, we have seen Firstwave grow to be a critical element in many of our clients’ workplace facilities management plans because we focus first on customer service and then on technical proficiency. Each on-site team’s structure is built around client culture, because no matter how advanced a technology solution may be, that solution requires the right level of culture-aware support for it to be of value to our clients’ businesses.

How does Firstwave bring value to your team?

Most of our clients are not trained as technologists, but your offices are filled with technology to help your businesses perform. We’ve found the use of workplace technology is directly proportional to your employees’ confidence in using the technology, and we know from many years of delivering advanced technology systems that creating consistency in your users’ experience is the gateway to building that confidence. Through testing, training and oversight, Firstwave maintains a consistent technology environment that enables you and your users to thrive. And as you engage more fully with your technology systems, we gather, analyze and share usage data with you to demonstrate how your commitment to this service model protects your investment. With this data, you can clearly see how the value of your expenditure is realized when your technology investments are used to the fullest and intended effect.

How can Firstwave bring innovation to your project?

We know technology is a primary driver and indicator of innovation in the workplace, and we pride ourselves on developing technological, process and support solutions with you and your workplace partners to measure and drive innovation. Yet, the breadth of decisions you make about your technology systems and how to run them is staggering. Your facilities and IT teams know the technologies you deploy are essential to the overall success of your facilities plan – impacting recruiting, retention and productivity – but they may not always be equipped with the experience they need to help you achieve optimum performance from your systems. Fortunately, we are. We have extensive experience helping modern workplace teams achieve success, and through Firstwave, we are committed to life beyond facilities design, making sure the environments we helped create innovate the lives and processes of the people who use them.