Neat delivers a seamless Microsoft Teams experience for iconic German utilities provider, Stadtwerke Bochum, simplifying collaboration and dramatically reducing the burden on IT.

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Customer snapshot

Industry: Utilities and Energy

Location: Bochum, Germany

Platform: Microsoft Teams

Neat solutions: Neat Bar Pro, Neat Pad, Neat Center, Neat Pulse

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For Stadtwerke Bochum, reliability is more than a business objective—it’s a responsibility. Since 1855, the municipal utility has delivered essential services to the people of Bochum, from electricity, gas, heating and water to e-mobility infrastructure, including around 300 public EV charging points across the city. All while maintaining a strong commitment to sustainability, transparency, and community engagement.

With around 1,000 employees supporting customers and infrastructure across the region, effective communication is essential. As hybrid working became a permanent part of daily operations for many office-based teams, Stadtwerke Bochum recognized that its meeting room technology needed to evolve to keep pace.

Today, Neat helps the organization deliver a seamless Microsoft Teams experience across its meeting spaces, simplifying collaboration for employees while dramatically reducing the burden on IT.

Supporting a modern hybrid workforce

Like many organizations, Stadtwerke Bochum’s workforce is split between office-based employees and field teams. Around one-third of employees work in hybrid roles, balancing time between home and the office, while meeting spaces remain heavily used throughout the working week.

The organization’s culture is built around staying close to customers and serving the local community. As a result, collaboration technology must be intuitive, dependable, and accessible to everyone—regardless of where they work.

Too many devices, too much complexity

Before adopting Neat, Stadtwerke Bochum relied on a mix of meeting room technologies from several vendors. The systems covered the basics, but the experience was often frustrating for users and IT administrators alike. 

Multiple components, multiple vendors, and growing complexity meant meetings were frequently interrupted and troubleshooting regularly required on-site support. The IT team spent more time maintaining rooms than they wanted to.

Too many components. Too many points of failure.

Arthur Karzelek, IT Manager, Stadtwerke Bochum.

Without centralized monitoring, issues usually only surfaced when users reported them. That meant the IT team was always one step behind; fixing things after the fact, losing time, and disrupting the flow of work.

The IT team knew there had to be a simpler way.

Events that connect

The turning point came at the European Collaboration Summit in 2025, where the team encountered Neat for the first time.

A live demonstration immediately caught their attention. The experience felt faster, more responsive, and more refined than other solutions they had seen. Most importantly, Neat addressed the exact challenges they were trying to solve.

Following their initial evaluation, Stadtwerke Bochum began rolling out Neat across its Microsoft Teams meeting spaces. Today, Neat Bar Pro, Neat Pad, Neat Center, and Neat Pulse help power collaboration across the organization’s meeting rooms.

Simplicity that users embrace

Introducing new workplace technology can often create additional support demands. For Stadtwerke Bochum, the opposite happened.

Following a simple internal introduction and some basic guidance for employees, users quickly adopted the new meeting room experience. The intuitive Microsoft Teams interface, combined with Neat’s straightforward design, made the transition remarkably smooth.

The technology simply worked the way people expected it to.

We haven’t had a single support call from users. Not one.

Arthur Karzelek

For the IT team, that level of user adoption represented a significant shift. Time previously spent troubleshooting room issues could now be directed toward more strategic initiatives.

Creating a better experience for remote participants

As hybrid collaboration continues to evolve, ensuring remote attendees feel fully included has become increasingly important.

To support this goal, Stadtwerke Bochum deployed Neat Center in larger meeting spaces alongside Neat Bar Pro. The solution helps create a more equitable experience by giving remote participants a clearer view of everyone in the room, making conversations feel more natural and engaging.

Instead of struggling to follow discussions from a distant camera angle, remote employees can participate more effectively and feel more connected to the meeting.

The result is a collaboration experience that works equally well for people in the room and those joining remotely.

IT finally in the driver’s seat

The benefits of Neat extend beyond the meeting room itself.

For the IT team, Neat Pulse has transformed how meeting spaces are managed. Centralized device monitoring and remote management capabilities have eliminated much of the manual effort previously required to maintain room technology.

If I had to pick one thing for IT teams, it would be the stability and the administration through the Neat Pulse web app. Simple to use, yet powerful, whether they’re working from home or in the office.

Dmitrij Savcuk, IT Manager, Stadtwerke Bochum.

The IT team now spends far less time managing meeting rooms, and when people walk into a room, things just work.

The team particularly values Neat’s integrated approach, where hardware and software are designed together to deliver a consistent, streamlined experience. With fewer moving parts and fewer dependencies between vendors, there is simply less that can go wrong.

Reliability that builds confidence

For an organization responsible for delivering essential services to thousands of customers, reliability matters.

Nearly a year into its Neat deployment, Stadtwerke Bochum has experienced exactly the level of stability it was hoping for. The deployment has remained remarkably trouble-free.

It’s a lean solution, with so few devices that nothing breaks.

Dmitrij Savcuk

That reliability has reinforced confidence in the platform and strengthened the organization’s long-term commitment to Neat.

Built for the work that matters most

For an organization whose work touches the daily lives of thousands of people in Bochum, getting the internal foundations right matters. 

When employees can collaborate without friction, they can focus on what actually counts, delivering the services their community depends on.

For the IT team, the benefits are clear. Simplicity, stability, and straightforward administration have delivered tangible benefits across the organization.

Coming up to the one-year mark, we’ve had no problems with Neat devices so far. Nothing where Neat was the root cause.

Arthur Karzelek

For employees, the outcome is even simpler. Meetings start on time, technology stays out of the way, and collaboration happens naturally.

Discover Neat’s pioneering devices or book a demo and experience them for yourself.