AVCOM

About AVCOM

AVCOM is a premium production agency based in Ireland, with 45 years of AV heritage behind them. They handle corporate events of any size, nationally and internationally, bringing strategy, creativity, and technical expertise together for every production.

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Paul Murphy is the owner and managing director of AVCOM, while also leading the sales and production teams on a daily basis. Ciarán Shortall is Operations Director, responsible for technician scheduling, warehousing, and inventory. Both played a key role in bringing Rentman to AVCOM and sat down with us to share how the platform has shaped their operations since.

The Challenge: The need for modernization

AVCOM started using Rentman in 2017. Before that, they relied on multiple separate systems to run their operations, leaving them with scattered information and too much manual work. At that time, smartphones were changing how field teams worked.

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Most software was still tied to local servers, making remote access difficult and keeping the manual workload high. "We were doing so much manual printing, texting, and emailing. The admin was absolutely massive," says Ciarán.

Getting started with Rentman

Ciarán came across Rentman at Prolight + Sound, and quickly realized it stood out from everything else he'd been evaluating. It was already cloud-based, had a mobile app, and brought crew scheduling and equipment management under one roof. No other platform at the time came close.

"If we were going to make a big change, we needed everything all under one roof. That was the big selling point with Rentman."
_{- Ciarán Shortall, Operations Director at AVCOM}

From day one, Ciarán led the switch to Rentman, working closely with the team through those early years. Being an early user meant he had a real hand in shaping the product. Over the years, his feedback fed directly into the platform's development and roadmap.

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Nearly 10 years later, that relationship still holds. Rentman has continued to develop alongside the needs of the industry, and for AVCOM, that continuity matters. 

"One of the biggest benefits of Rentman is its constant innovation and regular updates."
_{- Ciarán Shortall, Operations Director at AVCOM}

How AVCOM uses Rentman in their operations

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Crew Scheduling 

Crew scheduling was one of the original reasons AVCOM made the switch. With Rentman, planning crew has become significantly less time-consuming. 

"The ability to send out a lot of invitations at the end of your day and come in the next morning with a number of jobs already planned is brilliant. I can remember the days when I was texting all night and manually printing out things the next day."
_{- Ciarán Shortall, Operations Director at AVCOM}

Every freelancer who works with AVCOM gets access to the app. Since freelance profiles are free, there’s no cost barrier to getting the whole crew on board. All briefing materials live in one place, and the crew can access everything they need directly from their phone. 

"All our briefing is done through the app. Show slips, layouts, plans, agendas, they're all attached to the project in Rentman. The crew can download everything themselves and review it."
_{- Ciarán Shortall, Operations Director at AVCOM}

AVCOM also uses the app to send post-event feedback surveys to the crew, so they can fill out the form easily, with responses feeding straight back into the platform. Paul noticed that return rates have increased significantly compared to their previous paper-based process.

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The Rentman app has also played a huge role in getting freelance technicians up and running faster. "It's a huge asset to engage with our freelance technicians. It makes them easier to onboard and quicker to get up to speed," says Paul.

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Equipment Management

For Paul, inventory tracking is the one feature the business couldn't function without. 

"It's the core function of a rental management system. Without visibility of when equipment is available or not available, your business would collapse."
_{- Paul Murphy, Owner & Managing Director, AVCOM}

Being able to see real-time equipment availability and plan across multiple projects at once gives the warehouse team the visibility they need to stay on top of things and avoid conflicts. They also use Rentman's sub-rental functionality to manage equipment shortages when needed.

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The app plays a role here as well. When a crew member spots a faulty piece of kit on site, they can scan a QR code and send it directly to the repairs department. The warehouse team is automatically notified not to put the item back on the shelf once it returns.

Integrations and Reporting

For Paul, the project dashboard is his weekly reference point. "That gives me a quick overview of the status of where our projects are, from quoting through to financials and production organization," says Paul. Having that full visibility across all projects in one place means the sales and production teams are always aligned. For deeper reporting, AVCOM exports data into Power BI for a more visual dashboard view.

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Beyond project work, all full-time staff also use the time registration function. "That's an HR bonus that Rentman gives to the business, not just to the projects that we do." says Ciarán.

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Rentman also connects to the other tools AVCOM uses. They have Xero handling financial workflows and use Zapier where needed, making sure the platform fits into their existing way of working rather than the other way around.

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What's next for AVCOM

AVCOM is currently in the process of implementing RFID across their inventory. The focus is on the return process, where they expect to see the biggest gains. "The biggest gain is when returning equipment. When it comes back, you can establish exactly what you got back. That is where the real speed will be." says Ciarán.

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Looking further ahead, AVCOM is excited about the rollout of Rentman's MCP and what AI integration could bring. For AVCOM, the opportunity is clear: fewer repetitive tasks and more time for the sales team to sell.

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