It was revealed yesterday, in an announcement from the FBI, that North Korea was responsible for the recent cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment. The attack resulted in the public release of thousands of confidential (and embarrassing) email messages and documents involving Sony, its executives, popular celebrities, and many of the entertainment company’s business partners — […]

Profile: Ofer Shapiro, Vidyo co-founder and CEO, has been an innovative force at the heart of major architectural transformations in the videoconferencing industry since 1996 and led the successful commercialization and go-to-market strategies. Vidyo is a 300-person company with worldwide sales to the leading enterprise, service providers and vertical solution providers. Ofer’s backstory: Ofer was integrally involved […]

This time of year always makes me think about relationships, both personal and professional. Just like personal life, business relationships are a two-way street, and you’ll get out of them what you put in. Lasting, loyal client relationships don’t just happen by accident. You have to put in the time, and build the trust necessary […]

The life of an integrator can appear to be ‘all business,’ as there’s so much that goes into getting it right. But at the end of the day, we can all relate to the joyful feeling of seeing a completed project that we have worked on come to life. In the spirit of the most […]

Since I put out the blog Sony-pocalypse Round 2 — Sony Pictures Fights Back… the other day, new major developments have taken place since it published. Thus a necessary edit to the blog. We’ll start from the top: If you haven’t already heard, Sony Pictures was recently breached, and it was brutal. If you need […]

After completing four episodes of The cAValry Rides! Show on rAVe RADIO, we have received accolades from many — in fact our show has been called everything from Drive Time to Morning Zoo. Our guests Tweet out after every show recording in excitement telling about their show experiences. For our latest Episode 4: Rabbits, Potholes […]

Most middle class homes have multiple mobile devices floating around. From iPod Touches to smartphones, tablets and laptops, the average family has quite a few gadgets relying on its Wi-Fi wireless connectivity to get to the internet and consume social media and streaming content like video and music. Many consumers don’t realize that there’s an alternative to Wi-Fi called Ethernet. […]

Retail sales associates have a term of endearment for the people who often visit the store, ask lots of time of the various salespeople, but seldom, if ever, buy anything: Tire kickers. Many times they visit the store on such a regular basis that they’re practically a fixture, similar to how neighborhood bars and taverns […]

As we wind down 2014 and get geared up for the year ahead, it is a time for reflection and resolutions.  For many integrators and manufacturers alike, that may mean thinking of ways to help promote and grow our businesses.  One way that many businesses are generating buzz is through blogging. Some companies have hesitated […]

Now that I own a home out in suburbia, I have cause to sample the residential side of the tech market. As winter approaches, I’m making a two-pronged attack on the elements — low tech (weatherstripping and better attic insulation) and high (a new fancy thermostat). As this is a half-technology blog we’ll focus on […]

Tony Stark — Iron Man Technology can make or break you. We learn that Tony Stark can invent anything and often invents things just because he can. Similarly, in the AV industry we implement technology for technology’s sake. From the comics and movies we learn that if we implement technology without fully researching it and […]

For those who may remember Catch Me If You Can, the movie is based on the story of a young man, a clever forger, who becomes a lawyer, a doctor and a pilot — all while still in high school avoiding the FBI by continuously staying one step ahead. For those who don’t know the story, watch […]

2014 has been a banner year in the A/V/L tech world. We’ve seen more innovations — deep, significant changes that are still reverberating. It’s certainly exciting, but as much as there’s been change, some things never change, including the need for better training for the operators of all this marvelous technology. With a new year […]

Profile: Jan Zanetis is the chief executive officer at The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC), a not for profit that serves educators, learners and content providers. Jan’s Backstory: As an educator and university administrator, Jan Zanetis spent 20 years in K-12 and Higher Education. In 2005, she moved into the corporate sector as an education specialist, […]

I get a lot of press releases. All of them get skimmed, believe it or not, but most of them don’t pass through the first filer (“Is this interesting?”) and end up in the deleted folder. One that I recently received declared in breathless tones that “42% OF AMERICANS ARE SUFFERING FROM EXTREME GADGET OBESITY!” […]

Do you like to cruise the high seas? You may not know that some of the newer cruise ships to hit the water can hold nearly 4,000 passengers and weigh close to 150,000 tons.  These new ships have water slides, host Broadway-style shows, and can offer up to 30 dining options or more. The new […]

HDBaseT has been described as a bridge technology between traditional video transport and IP-based systems, the time for which is rapidly arriving. It’s a technology about which I’ve not been excited for some time; every manufacturer not only uses the same chipset (produced by Valens), but appears to have settled on the same form-factor and […]

For quite some time now, Microsoft Lync has grown as a unified communications and collaboration platform for the enterprise, and certain video conferencing and collaboration companies have put together major strategy for Lync interoperability, as well as creating a path for their partners to expand on their collaboration-focused capabilities.. The intro article of this series, The […]

By Mario Porto Director of Strategic Accounts, HB Communications “THIS SYSTEM SUCKS! NOTHING WORKS!!!” How many times have you heard that comment? If you’re like most of the people I’ve spoken to over the years, you’ve heard it more times than any of us would have liked. I recall meeting an architect from a very […]

Thanks to my colleague Brett Tipton for his contribution to today’s blog post. Brett is a writer, teacher, and public speaker. He brings a great in-the-trenches perspective to the topic of higher education, how well it prepares students for the real world of corporate America, and how corporations themselves — and IT departments, in particular — […]

Thanks to my colleague Brett Tipton for his contribution to my first rAVe Pubs blog post. Brett is a writer, teacher and public speaker. He brings a great in-the-trenches perspective to the topic of higher education, how well it prepares students for the real world of corporate America, and how corporations themselves — and IT departments, in […]

In a recent Twitter conversation, the Microsoft Lync handle @msftLync was tagged, and after a few back and forth messages with others, I received this: @Cbmoss We recommend reading our blog for additional information. Stay tuned for #Skype4B updates. And with this, I decided to write an article about Skype for business. When Skype entered the […]

So you’re telling me hardware is dead… Every time a new software video conferencing product hits the market, I hear the cries that hardware is dead in our industry. Cloud (Internet) services are all the rage, but the continual cry of hardware being dead from software vendors is stale and has run its course. Maybe […]

“Stop selling my products” — This would be my new tagline if I were to move back into sales. This may sound like a stupid statement for a sales person to say but bear with me for a little bit.  I can think of a million resellers that can sell my products exactly the way […]

First congratulations Mark Coxon for writing the blog on writing your 100th rAVe [Publications] blog. Happy anniversary — all have been great. My turn… It all started for me in April of 2013 and the story in itself is interesting. Gary Kayye, who we know is the owner of rAVe, sent out a tweet one […]

Let me start by saying that English was never one of my favorite subjects.  As a kid I loved and was drawn to science, I excelled at math, and I dreaded English.  This is why I am surprised to be celebrating my 100th rAVe Publications blog within the first 19 months here. It seems amazing that someone who […]

A month or so ago, a participant in an upcoming article that I have written about Google Glass and wearables usage in higher education (coming in December) and I started another discussion, this one touching on beacon technology. I have to say that it was so enlightening, I decide that we should have a followup […]

So just as the celebration of Native Americans and Pilgrims eating together way back when has become an annual tradition in the United States for most people, Blessings and Turkeys has become an annual blog tradition for me.  It’s the time of year when I give thanks for developments in the AV industry as well […]

One of my personal weaknesses is the lengths I will go for a joke. Sometimes it’s gotten me into trouble. I used to work at a place that had a monstrous, top-heavy bureaucracy. Like all monstrous, top-heavy bureaucracies it generated mountains of paperwork. Mind boggling amounts, stuffed into bankers boxes and squirreled away into filing […]

If your firm had the goal of growing the bottom line by 10 percent next year, would you consider the possibility that you might just be able to do that by selling into and serving the House of Worship market? It’s true, and there are manufacturers and systems integrators focusing on this underserved vertical market […]

I often take a look at where major grant funding is being spent as a way to keep tabs on major technology trends over the next five to 10 years. After all, when NSF or DARPA puts millions of dollars of taxpayers money to work, it’s a bit like watching the Vegas line for college […]

Profile: Craig Malloy is the Founder and CEO of Lifesize. Prior to founding Lifesize, Craig was also the founder of ViaVideo, which was ultimately the backbone of Polycom’s video business. Craig’s backstory: Craig started Lifesize in 2003, oversaw its acquisition by Logitech in 2009 and served as CEO until 2012. Drawn back by his unceasing passion for […]