Volume 11, Issue 6 — March 30, 2020

UCC — Volume 11, Issue 6 — March 30, 2020

March 30, 2020 | Volume: 11 | Issue: 6

Welcome to the last UCC newsletter of March! It’s been a stressful few weeks — COVID-19 has turned our world upside down — and with it, the AV world too. InfoComm was officially canceled today. I know it’s disappointing, but AVIXA is working to keep everyone safe during these difficult and confusing times. Not to change the subject, but I’d like to hear from you UCC #AVtweeps, because rumor has it, many of your companies are helping out in the community, whether it’s with free trials of software, sending products to teachers and educators, etc. If you and your company are doing #AVgood, I want to write about you! Connect with me on LinkedIn and tell me what you’re doing.

Today we have four columns on a range of topics to keep you busy reading through the week. Anthony Coppedge writes about how we can be using AI to our advantage in the AV industry. Gary Kayye wrote a blog post to correspond with his “Exclusive Best UCC Webinar Ever.” Mark Coxon offers some advice on the integration space during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, Gary Kayye includes his coverage of the Sharp WCD launch.

In other news, Yamaha’s CS-700 sound bar is Zoom-certified. Peerless-AV has a new bundled solution — created in response to COVID-19, AtlasIED has a new sound-masking speaker and more.

Rather than a regular Disney song, I would instead like to offer you this Hercules parody about social distancing. It’s timely. And funny.

Ok bye!

— Steph Beckett

By the way, don’t forget to sign up to be a beta tester for LAVNCH Week! We are excited to bring this to you the week of April 27. Join the LAVNCH Week Beta program here: https://vip.theraveagency.com

COLUMNS

+ Five Ways to Keep Your Integration Business on Track [Mark Coxon]

If you’re like me, you’ve seen a slew of articles about “opportunities” for the AV industry during the current pandemic. Most of these are marketing pieces, meant to promote a manufacturer’s products or to promote services by addressing the fear, uncertainty and doubt that is part of the current Zeitgeist. I’m offering up five pieces of advice for my counterparts in the integration space that may help you find business continuity in the current pandemic environment and perhaps keep your business afloat and your technicians employed in the next 60-90 days.

+ The Exclusive Best UCC Blog Ever [Gary Kayye]

I’m starting a trend of releasing a corresponding blog with my webinars, and this will be the second of that series. On Wednesday, I hosted a webinar in conjunction with Almo Pro A/V and Dana Corey of Avocor, in which I took you on a tour of the UCC world! But, in case you weren’t able to join, here’s the low-down.

+ AI for AV Is Opportunistic for Service, Support and Sales [Anthony Coppedge]

Whether your firm has joined the chorus touting “AI” or is more conservatively accurate in the programming of “machine learning,” there’s a non-stop buzz in the industry around the advancements of computing power and advanced algorithms used to analyze dizzying amounts of data from an ever-expanding networked technology install base. Either way, an opportunity for the audiovisual (AV) industry is the chance to both connect to these devices and capture useful information for providing next-level service, support and even new sales from data trends and insights.

+ My Day with Sharp and Its Windows Collaboration Board Launch, Plus an Interview with CEO Mike Marusic [Gary Kayye]

I was honored to be the only member of the AV press invited to cover the live, global (it was streamed live from Seattle, Washington, New York City, Amsterdam and Madrid) streaming video launch of the Sharp WCD (Windows Collaboration Display) last week. Although those in attendance, live, saw it as a technical marvel (connecting and streaming a video launch from three countries and four locations at the same time), it was completely driven from via actual 70″ Sharp WCD boards — from all four sites!