Customer Success Story: UK-Based Visavvi Streamlines AV Integration with D-Tools SI

Tracing its lineage back nearly 90 years, Visavvi has grown into a premier provider of audiovisual integration across the UK. The company, now part of IT services giant SCC, handles large-scale corporate, educational, and government projects—such as video walls, auditoriums, boardrooms, and town halls.

Before adopting D-Tools System Integrator (SI) software, Visavvi’s sales and operations relied on outdated Excel spreadsheets, which often led to broken formulas and quoting errors.

“Quotes were going out with incorrect figures,” recalls Sandra Ruscoe, Sales Operations Manager at Visavvi. “It was how everyone used to do it, but it just wasn’t reliable.”

Ruscoe notes that the adoption of D-Tools SI allowed the sales support team to operate with fewer staff members due to the speed and efficiency of producing quotations and proposals.

Visavvi began using D-Tools SI about 10 years ago, initially attracted by its ability to centralize quoting and documentation.

“We were first attracted to it by the ability to use this not only as a quoting tool, but also as a means to track projects and products and produce first-class documentation,” Ruscoe says.

D-Tools SI’s integration with Visio enables Visavvi to create schematics and elevations that can be easily converted to CAD, aligning with client expectations. The platform also serves as a centralized hub for all project documentation, allowing project managers to quickly access drawings, costings, and supplier data.

Speed, Consistency, Fewer Staff & Business Intelligence

One of the most tangible benefits for Visavvi has been workforce efficiency.

“We can run the sales support team with fewer members of staff because it’s so quick for us to produce quotations and turn around proposals.”

Where five or six people were once needed, now just three handle the load—an annual cost saving of approximately £60,000, according to Ruscoe. Templates are a major driver of this efficiency.

“We can quickly set up a template for various room sizes—small, medium, large, boardroom—and easily replicate that when a new building or room is needed. We just update the costs and clone the whole thing over. It makes quoting much faster.”

D-Tools SI has also empowered Visavvi with data-driven decision-making. The software’s Business Analytics tool lets the company track quotes, monitor margins, and identify top-selling manufacturers and products. It also assists in inventory management, enabling staff to find unused or canceled stock and reallocate it to new projects.

For international projects, SI’s multi-currency quoting features are particularly useful.

“We undertake numerous projects across Europe and further afield,” Ruscoe explains. “Being able to switch currencies quickly—whether GBP, USD, or AUD—is very useful.”

Real-World Impact: A £1.2 Million Project Simplified

D-Tools SI proves its value in complex, high-stakes projects.

“We had a £1.2 million project with lots of locations. The client needed the quote split by funding source. Instead of creating multiple quotes, we used the filter tool to break the project down by area, then ran reports for each. But the project stayed unified in D-Tools, so we could manage it as one job.”

This unified approach simplified everything—from matching purchase orders to project tracking and reporting.

“At any one point, we can see where we are in the project lifecycle.”

Advice to Integrators: Put in the Front-End Work

Ruscoe advises companies evaluating D-Tools SI:

“It’s a great tool and can offer many advantages—not only for quoting but for other project-related needs. Put in the work upfront. Make sure your product catalog, customer data, and contacts are accurate. That will make everything faster and more efficient.”

She also emphasizes the importance of training:

“There are lots of shortcuts and tools—like the Gantt charts, resource charts, and business analytics—you’ll only get the most out of it if you learn the system.”

Visavvi didn’t just replace spreadsheets—it gained a streamlined workflow, tighter resource management, and substantial cost savings. With D-Tools SI, this AV integrator is building on a rich history with a sharp eye on the future.