If you work in either the audiovisual (AV) or information technology (IT) sectors of our economy — you’ve probably heard the term ‘AV/IT convergence.’ It’s a term that gets overused and unless you’ve been installing cables on Mars, you’re probably as tired of hearing about it as I am. What AV/IT convergence really means, in short, […]

In 2016 some industry self-appointed pundits in the AV-industry were overusing the trite term known as the “Internet of Things” (aka IoT) way, way too much last year. I keep seeing content marketing and blogs using the term — as if we are really part of it. We aren’t. Thank God we are in 2017 […]

It’s time to fire up the legendary waaaay-back machine once again to go to the year 1982. Why? Because it was in that year that the National Sound Contractors Association was formed and held its first convention/meeting. (On a side note, that was also the year I launched Sound & Video Contractor Magazine (S&VC) and […]

In 2016 some industry self-appointed pundits in the AV-industry were overusing the trite term known as the “Internet of Things” (aka IoT) way, way too much last year. I keep seeing content marketing and blogs using the term — as if we are really part of it. We aren’t. Thank God we are in 2017 […]

HARMAN Pro today announced AMX Rapid Project Maker v3.0 has new features including a redesigned HTML5 interface and a new enhanced and intuitive touch panel UI, RPM v3.0. AMX Rapid Project Maker configuration software is designed to simplify the deployment of AV room systems for thousands of customers worldwide. As the Industry’s first cloud-based configuration tool for simplified configuration […]

Kramer Electronics will be presenting a unique and diverse array of cutting-edge software-based AV solutions designed for IT professionals at ISE 2017 in Amsterdam in Booth 1-F20. Kramer’s complete pro AV portfolio of products and solutions will be on display, featuring presentation, control, collaboration, connectivity and audio along with new and innovative products and technologies. […]

After years of a terrible world economy and very little innovation, 2016 was a boon for new technology — especially in the world of AV. And, some of it crossed both high-end residential as well as commercial. Let’s take a look at a little of what was 2016 and then I’ll tell you want to […]

Installation Issues for Converged AV/IT Systems Presented by Andre LeJeune, CTS for InfoComm Academy To view or download the full presentation, click here. Installation Issues for Converged AV/IT Systems from rAVe [Publications]

InfoComm International has partnered with information and communication technology association BICSI to develop a new online education course titled, How to Install and Validate Category Cable, foundational training for AV and IT professionals working with high-resolution video and real-time audio. The new course provides fundamental education for installation technicians working with category cable in the […]

As I ponder each day’s occurrences in the audio visual industry, the one thing that has come to mind lately with all of the articles and blogs I read, as well as podcasts that I listen to, is whether the industry really has an understanding of where it actually is in terms of that so-called […]

“Include Kodak in this room.” That’s the line in the client’s system review memo which confused me, and one with which I eventually opened an internal training seminar at SMW. What were they talking about? And what was the bigger message? Read on! The memo in question came in a fairly late design phase of […]

Last month, I wrote about the ITIL guidelines and the powerful changes implementing them can drive. As I wrote, ITIL is divided into five lifecycles. As one begins to look into the learning and certification process, it can be a bit confusing. How do you know which lifecycle you should look into? What about certain […]

Headline: Channel Partners – 3/10/16: Network Security Incidents High Among World’s Largest Companies Story: A new survey of IT and security professionals reveals that 72 percent of organizations have experienced five or more network security incidents in the past 12 months. Regardless of region or technology, IT and security administrators revealed that their networks have significant blind […]

Years ago, we used to talk about IT and AV convergence. I think that most of us would agree that the “convergence” is over. AV is part of IT. As we went through the process of convergence we, discussed how best to prepare for this eventual converged state. Many AV specialists went on to get […]

Dan Daley Special to InfoComm International The pro-AV business landscape has been fluid for some time. The tectonic shift from analog to digital as the technological foundation of the industry set the tone for constant change, as new platforms and formats, from digital audio to 4K video, have generated relentless technical churn. At the same […]

The first four-day Integrated Systems Europe exhibition came to a close on 12 February with a final count of 65,686 registered attendees. This represents a 6,338 (10.7 percent) increase on the 2015 edition and officially positions ISE as the world’s largest AV and systems integration tradeshow. “The volume of attendee traffic and its spread over […]

AMX’s new SVSI NMX-WP-N3510 is an H.264 multi-channel windowing processor that works with the N3000 Series family of video over IP encoders and decoders. This rack-mount appliance accepts up to nine video streams as inputs from SVSI N3000 Series H.264 Encoders (or other third-party main- or high-profile H.264 streams) and outputs one windowed HD video […]

Medialon first exhibited at ISE 2015 to launch into the EMEA market. Medialon Overture is a cloud-based control system that allows you to control from one to hundreds of rooms, see real-time data from devices, and serve dynamically generated HTML interfaces (GUIs that are user-specific). The convergence of AV and IT is no longer just […]

By Leah McCann This year’s 2016 ISE opening panel began with a nice “thank you for being here” and a warm welcome from Mike Blackman, managing director of Integrated Systems Events and head organizer of ISE 2016. But the primary topic of Monday evening’s keynote — and a recurring theme of this year’s show — […]

As stated in my previous blog, “Baffling” Backdoor Cyber-Talks, numerous people in the industry through discussion as well as writing got right out and on top of a major story in the industry. Again, my hats off to them and this now leads to my next discussion on the matter of security. With the AMX […]

The Internet of Things (IoT) just got one step closer to reality. The Wi-Fi Alliance recently approved a new low-powered long-range Wi-Fi standard they are calling 802.11ah or HaLow for short. Announced at CES this year, this new standard promises to make IoT possible on a large scale. One of the biggest hurdles to IoT […]

Recently there have been a few people who would have you believe that “Networked AV is the single biggest threat to cyber security today.”  Are the people who are saying this seriously stating that Networked AV poses a bigger threat to cybersecurity than social engineering or the other countless cyber security issues that end users […]

The AV industry received some unsettling news last week regarding a potential security vulnerability in Harman’s control processors. It was a rare moment when we as a group were all in the news, though not in a good way. For those who’ve not seen it by now, Ars Technica reported that AMX (now Harman) Netlinx […]

It’s well known that discussion in the AV/IT industry concerning education has continued to build to a crescendo in terms of determining such things as value, efficiency, coverage and more. We certainly discuss CTS certification and all that it means – as well as the teaching process that goes along with it – however beyond […]

As we look at future prospects of the AV/IT industry, we discuss technology, markets, manufacturer, integrator and consultant perspectives and more. The Millennial generation has become entrenched in the technology space for several years now and while there has been much conjecture as to what their standing really is (in certain consternation to some of […]

(It’s a long post – but I think it might be a good one) In my last blog I talked about the vision of Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) and how UC&C can be better than being there. I of course acknowledged the importance of face-to-face meetings. To recap, I emphasized that when you use […]

I have known about this AV/IT and collaborative (could even be videoconferencing) solution for a long time, but I was recently reminded of it and thought I should write a little something about it.  This is an AV solution in a medical environment. Sweet right?  What can be more purpose driven or allow someone to […]

By Cory Schaeffer The world of AV is quickly tilting toward a more IT-focused environment, as AV products evolve to better integrate with existing IP, wireless and mobile infrastructures. These advances require AV professionals to gain a deeper understanding of IT technologies and to work more closely with IT departments to deploy AV solutions. Still, […]

OK, so before you go saying AV/IT and the -c- word (over ten years going now) is here, hold on a minute. I read in many corners of the industry, as well as hear the discussions that AV – we still have a problem. IT is laying in wait and even moving into our territory to do […]

As it turns out, a new year comes with some new perspectives. As you know I have for the most part of the last year been writing about numerous technologies along with AV/IT (?) –  Cloud, IoT, Virtual Reality and more, as well as features like Convergent TechWeek and This Week (in AV and IT), […]

I want to preface this by stating an important point. Nothing will ever replace the value of face-to-face meetings. A firm handshake to close a deal or the ability to spend time with people building strong relationships is incredibly important. The emphasis of this article is on the building and adding to the personal nature […]

When we discuss the ways that AV can become more IT, It is important to emphasize that the transition to becoming more IT is not one that should take AV away from their core competencies. I have had a lot of discussions lately with some of the best minds in AV and we seem to […]