Any readers who’ve never been asked by a client, “Will it be wireless?” — raise your hand. That’s what I thought. It’s true that today we have a huge number of wireless options for AV and control. There are solid working options today that were glitch and disappointing five years ago, and only wishful thinking […]

Everybody knows that there need to be differences between the products that AV pros specify into projects and the products retailers stock on their shelves. Obviously AV pros want to avoid products in their bill of materials that can be showroomed by customers who double check stuff on Amazon.com (in fact, you don’t want customers […]

If you’re called back for a second interview for a job, the fact is that they’ve already decided to hire you: The second interview is simply your last chance to screw it up. You just have to reinforce the good impression you made in the first interview and you’re good to go.By that same token, […]

AV pros need to make the best use of their clients’ budgets. At the same time, AV pros need to make the best use of their own resources: time, money and expertise. One aspect of that resource management is weighing the decision to subcontract out some business functions. I’ve previously discussed choosing to subcontract programming, […]

What matters most to all those expensive black boxes neatly connected and stitched up in the rack, connected via other expensive black boxes to displays throughout the project aren’t buzzwords like resolution or bit-rate but one single, simple thing: electricity. As even small (fewer than ten rooms or displays) systems depend on more sophisticated technology […]

If there’s anything that I’ve done more often than attending trade shows, it’s been writing about attending trade shows. That includes both editorials and blog posts about how to work the show as an exhibitor to get the maximum return on your company’s investment, as well as suggestions on how, as a member of the […]

Success doesn’t mean that you don’t have problems; it just means that your problems have changed. Quite frankly, it’s preferable to face the problems associated with having a booming business than the ones that you have when business is slow. As your company’s client base grows, and both the number of projects in your funnel […]

I’ve never met an AV pro who didn’t love tools and gadgets. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that of all the AV pros I’ve known all these years, their love of tools and gadgets vary only by degree. Some, like my friend and former co-worker Mike, one of the most talented […]

There are two key ways that real AV pros set their work apart from the offerings of both the big box retailers and the hang-and-bang guys. The first one is that their integration of multiple devices, sources, display and controls actually work. The second is that they know how to set the stage. A really […]

One of my old bosses and business mentors had a key motto that he ran the company by: “I believe that we have the capability to design a home automation system to fit any of our qualified client’s needs.” The key word in this case was “qualified” and uniquely, he wasn’t referring to the usual […]

If there’s any one trend that residential AV integrators need to come to grips with, it’s the fact that what’s driving the business today isn’t hardware, it’s content. Time was you could tell a great AV system on sight not just by the quality of the gear, but the number of source devices involved. At […]

In order to differentiate themselves from the big box stores on the one side and the trunk-slammers on the other AV pros set themselves up as systems specialists. They present themselves to clients as consultants who will deliver a complete solution. People who just want to watch TV can go to a big box store […]

Here’s a look back in case you missed these news stories this week including: Almo Pro A/V’s new digital signage content creation services, the latest gaming column from Matt Cooper, Extron does BYOD via LinkLicense, Digital Signage Poised to Change the Restaurant Industry and more. Enjoy! And, if you think we missed something, let us […]

If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, then the road to progress is paved with technologies that never lived up to their hype. For every technology or product category that changed the industry, the world, or both, there’s always one or more losers; they were marketed just as hard, with tons of […]

Speaking broadly, there are two kinds of residential AV companies: There are the ones that have been in business for a decade or more, and there are the new companies, just started, most of whom fold in their first three years. With the latter group, eventually the company reaches the point where there are dozens, […]

Not long ago, I received a phone call, out of the blue, from a friend who owns a distributor for Hi-Fi and automation system brands. The reason for the call was even more unexpected. My friend was calling for what I would call a retroactive reference check on a dealer that I know, both personally […]

Perhaps the biggest story to come out of CES 2014 was the announcement of the Steam Boxes. Within hours of the initial press coverage, I was getting messages via social media from gamer friends who were, um, excited, to put it mildly. If you’re even half a gamer (or your kids are), you’re already aware […]

For the entirety of my various careers I’ve been inordinately keen on solutions in the form of small pieces: widgets, adapters and assorted doo-dads. Often my keenness for such pieces has been greater than my love of large, shiny, expensive flagship products, or even complete systems as a whole; with me showing more love for […]

There are those who say that the greatest curse is remembering. Occasionally, I’ll go back into the archive on my hard drives of AV articles I’ve written in years past and browse. And I cringe when I read stories and editorials I wrote where, with the perspective of time, I can see that I was […]

If pressed, I’d have to say that my two favorite tools in my toolbox are my multimeter and my SPL meter. The multimeter is a favorite because, as it’s name implies, it’s versatility allows you to measure everything electrical that needs measuring: voltage, amperage and wattage. Conversely, unlike the versatility of the multimeter, the SPL […]

Extended warranties are commonplace with CE and computer retailers, as well as in the IT industry. However, they are less prevalent in the AV integration channel. That’s changed somewhat over time: Back in the day it was something often suggested in CEDIA courses I attended, but ten years ago the practice of AV company maintenance […]

If you’re not a licensed electrician you won’t be working on high voltage wiring on a job site, but if you’re an AV Pro odds are that you’re working near them on a regular basis. The current in a 120- or 220-volt circuit can kill you, and even the much lower power of 24v and […]

Gary just wrote a very persuasive post, detailing the synergies to be had if Apple were to purchase Sony. I’m not entirely sure that I can agree. The root of my disagreement is that Gary’s argument focused on why a buyout would be good for Sony, but didn’t really address why it would be good […]

I’ve never met an AV Pro who didn’t love tools and gadgets. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that of all the AV pros I’ve known all these years, their love of tools and gadgets vary only by degree. Some, like my friend and former co-worker Mike, one of the most talented […]

Well, as happens many other times, I drew inspiration for this post from a fellow “Blog Squadder”, Lee Distad.  (That’s “Blog SquaDDer” as in Blog Squad Member as opposed to “Blog SquaTTer”, which is someone who reserves a bunch of WordPress addresses that may be popular and sits on them). Lee wrote about sales pitches, […]

If you’ve spent any time at all in AV then you will be familiar with control interfaces that are commonplace to the CE channel: IR control, IR over RF and, if you’ve worked with automation systems, serial control — RS232 and RS485. But being a true integrator means being able to, you know, actually integrate […]

If there’s any one theme that strings together the editorials I’ve been writing for rAVe in the past few years, it’s how important it is for AV pros to both develop effective processes, both on the jobsite and off, and to differentiate themselves from their competitors. In the last ten years, I’ve witnessed the AV […]

Despite the fact that cost-is-no-object HomeAV projects occupy only the smallest top percentile of all the work done in the channel, they garner the most attention: features in magazines (both AV and architectural), awards like CEDIA’s annual systems competition, and of course the press releases of the manufacturers whose gear took center stage in the […]

So it’s been a couple of years now, and Apple’s AirPlay has reached, while not ubiquity, certainly a presence in the marketplace. For those of you who just awoke from a spell cast upon you by a wicked witch, AirPlay is Apple’s vehicle for streaming through networked devices. Beyond just Apple TV and devices running […]

So fellow blogger Lee Distad just released a blog on LinkedIn and why, as he says, “it sucks”. In the spirit of offering praise first and criticism second, I can’t disagree with Lee’s premise that LinkedIn endorsements, in all of their glory, are virtually worthless.  Given that LinkedIn prompts users to endorse their friends for […]

In the prior installment, I had discussed the surprising growth of headphones in home AV, including how, for some retailers and distributors, their sales now eclipse stereos and surround sound AV equipment. I also touched on the importance of determining which price level your company should focus on: whether your customers are looking for entry […]

Last week I was talking with a rep I had just met from another channel. He mentioned that he had been employed with the manufacturer for almost four years now. These days that makes him a rarity on two counts: working directly for a manufacturer rather than a distributor or agent, and holding the same […]