Volume 11, Issue 13 — July 13, 2020

rAVe UCC — Volume 11, Issue 13

July 13, 2020 | Volume: 11 | Issue: 13

Hey everybody. It’s been a long year. But somehow, we’ve made it over halfway! And while it seems like we are all the dog in that meme where everything is on fire and he’s just trying to keep it together — you over in the UCC corner have not let it stop you from creating the things that we need now. Gary Kayye reminds us of this in one of his columns featured in this issue and he hit the nail on the head: It really is like Barco somehow knew we’d need an easy-peezy videoconferencing solution as we all go back into the office (one day). No one wants to touch the same pieces of equipment to log into a meeting! So, BYOMs — y’all did that.

Not to say that Barco is the only company making money moves right now. There are plenty of others, and a lot of them can be found right below. Other than product releases, there is also plenty of worthy news. The AVIXA Foundation awarded its 2020 scholarships, there’s a new name in the trade show game and an InfoComm Connected roundup because yes, there were many sessions, so we will walk you through what you missed and what’s next.

Keep holding down the fort, #AVtweeps.

— Steph Beckett

COLUMNS

+ ClickShare Conference Is As If the Barco UCC Engineers Saw COVID-19 Coming [Gary Kayye]

Pre-COVID, we integrated two Zoom Rooms here at THE rAVe Agency. And, both have nifty touch-based panels to launch into a meeting anywhere in the world. Everyone loved the simplicity, reliability and quality of the Zoom Room experience. However, making Microsoft Teams calls was tough in those rooms — it required me, Jacob, or someone technical to “pre” set up the room. Then came Barco’s ClickShare Conference in February.

+ The Good (and Bad) of Virtual Events [Mark Coxon]

2020 is the year of remote everything. It has been a work from home, webinar heavy, travel light year for the whole country and, of course, for us in the AV industry as well. As such, our biggest events of the year have all been canceled or shifted into the ether.

+ New Zoom Hardware-as-a-Service Program Will Boost AVaaS; Get Into AVaaS Now! [Gary Kayye]

I’ve been writing about offering AVaaS for over 4 years. Heck, I’ve even done two different webinars about it — and how to do it — for Almo Pro A/V since 2016. Yes, barely any AV integrators are offering it. But, now’s your chance. And, thanks to Zoom’s recent HaaS (Hardware-as-a-Service) announcement yesterday, you have a more straightforward path to success as the end users will understand it better, and you can copy Zoom’s model!