By Kate Couch How will smart devices be used in the corporate world in years and months to come? Last year, the corporate office took a large turn as many of us had to begin working remotely from home. This created an entirely new world for audiovisual — Zoom. Zoom, as most companies are aware, […]
Audio Visual Glossary Written By: Kate Couch and Tony Sprando Whether you’re new to the audio-visual world or an old pro, a glossary of words to help you understand what we’re referencing in our articles and communications with you is a helpful tool. Below is some common audio-visual lingo with its proper definitions. It’s […]
Image and Graphics By: Kate Couch with Canva When cleaning out spaces and redesigning how to decided what AV systems to reuse and what ones need new life. Written By: Kate Couch and Tony Sprando With spring just around the corner and the days becoming more consistently in the 50s it’s time […]
By: Tony Sprando and Kate Couch Like many other people, I enjoy listening to (somewhat loud) music while I work. I can zone out of the background noise and get to the important stuff. I have noticed something recently that it is a shared interest, as I also hear others’ loud music while I work. […]
Photo By: Robert H. Pexels.com Solving problems of outdoor electronic screens and touch screens. Written By: Kate Couch with collaboration with Tony Sprando Outdoor TVs, touch screens, and monitors are nothing new. They’ve been used for decades to display things like game scores, travel plans, city maps, advertisements, bus and train routes, and general outdoor […]
By: Kate Couch Solving audio problems in commercial buildings with multiple uses. In last week’s article, we focused on solving audio problems in a residential home. However, AV Bend works primarily with commercial buildings. Though there are a lot of the same principles, working and solving commercial problems looks drastically different than solving problems in […]
Solving Volume and Noise Problems in a Home By: Kate Couch and Tony Sprando When most people contact Audio Visual for noise control and noise solutions they often don’t realize what’s truly contributing to the volume of the sound. When you’re in your home trying to get work done and you can hear the birds […]
Things to keep in mind when establishing the reputation of your company. By: Tony Sprando and Kate Couch Most people fall under the assumption that reputation can only be built over time. The mom-and-pop shop that’s been around since the ‘50s doing things the good old-fashioned way. Or the tried-and-true Google ratings. Though these things […]
By Tony Sprando and Kate Couch “Age appears to be best in four things — old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.” — Alonso Of Aragon Age is something we have been redefining for many years as a human race. In the ’40s […]
Earlier this year I found myself in predicament. Late at night, I would like to lift weights, work out, and do a bit of overtime, all while blasting music to keep the energy up. This quickly caused a problem as the rest of the household didn’t appreciate the concerts I held in the middle of […]
Upon researching definitions for the “wow factor,” I came across the following descriptions: A set of properties belonging to an object or service that pleasantly surprises a consumer. From commercials to cool electronics, the wow factor is an important aspect to consider. A striking or impressive feature We create entertaining and interactive experiences that result […]
The arrival of 5G is transforming technology and our AV industry. You can barely scan your News Feed or watch television without some type of news or advertisement about 5G and its impending impact on your life. And while this whole 5G thing sounds like amazing hype, I’ve found that many of our customers and […]
Thank you for joining us for Part 4 in our series. So far, we’ve presented: Part 1 – The Key Players in AVL Design Part 2 – The Key Tools in AVL Design Part 3 – The Key Phases in AVL Design Now, we’ll finish our series by addressing the final phase of AVL Design […]
InfoComm is the largest, most exciting event in North America focused on the pro-AV industry, with 1,000 exhibitors, thousands of products, and 44,000 attendees from 110 countries. I had the pleasure of attending this year, and it was a blast! The following is a list (not in any particular order) of my favorite booths, […]
In Part 1 of our AVL Design series, we listed and summarized the key players in AVL design. Then in Part 2, we shared about the key tools that those key players may interact with and use. For Part 3, we will move forward to discuss the important phases of the design process. Let’s begin […]
By Erik Byer Guest Blogger for Tony the AV Guy & AV Bend In part 1 of our AVL Design series, we listed and summarized The Key Players in AVL Design including the architect, the consultants, the engineers, an owner’s representative, and a general contractor. And depending on the complexity of your AVL project, these […]
By Erik Beyer Guest Blogger for Tony the AV Guy & AV Bend Whether it’s a major project around your home or a major project you have been assigned to manage at work, when it comes time to find people and companies to get the job done, the choices and process can seem overwhelming. The […]
As we all know, the IT world is converging with the AV world more and more every day. For most of us, this is quite exciting. For others, this can be daunting. In facilities where the IT and AV world are working together, if something goes wrong whom do you call? If you don’t have […]
There are going to be moments when we all just feel dumb and clumsy…argh! And it feels so awful. For me, this photo really brings those feelings to life. Whether it’s an ice cream cone or the latest technology, many people feel inept, gawky, and awkward when handling something potentially fragile and easy to drop. […]
How do you navigate the barrage of tech available for purchase? When a problem arises with AV tech, most people simply Google a product or service then follow the digital trail to the nearest retail store. If you’re unlucky, you will be sold the newest fandangled gadget on the spot. But if you’re lucky, someone […]
We live in society where newer equals better. Every month, if not every week, tech companies race to create and release newer, faster, sleeker, sexier gadgets. And while some of them really are worth their weight in gold, most are flash-in-the-pan trends. So, as AV experts looking to guide our customers to not just a […]
Recently, a friend came to visit and left “The Economist” magazine on my table. He said he tried to give it to his sons. But as I opened them up, the pages were stiff, as if they had just been retrieved from the printing press. I flipped to the Editor’s page titled, “The World in […]
In 2010, my dad bought each of my sons an iPad. This was also the same year the iPad first generation was shipping (my dad was always on top of the latest tech trend — runs in the family 😊). These iPads were disruptive but in a good way. My town was listed as #5 […]
This past January, Las Vegas hosted the Consumer Electronics Show where Speech Technology was the bright shining star and a definite win in the consumer market. With examples like Alexa, Siri, Cortana and Google Assistant, speech technology is sure to be a major player in the audiovisual industry soon. What is speech technology? According to […]
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” Henry Ford There was an era when a person could expect a job to last a lifetime. But this era is now long past and long over. Today, the average worker changes jobs ten to fifteen times during […]
The Dilemma – You are Lost When you visit a large school campus, or a hospital, or a large corporate center for the first time you do your best to find the main entrance. Sometimes it is easy to spot, but other times you end up in the wrong place or across the campus from […]
In the AV industry, for as long as I can remember, the idea of being able to have an AV system of some kind and making it as invisible as possible has been a request of clients. At the end of the day, can you ever really hide all of the equipment in a system? […]
Imagine that you have just moved into a new home and you continue to hear a disturbing, pulsating, low frequency rumbling noise. You think it is coming from outside. It is drowned out during the day time. But at night, when the neighborhood is quiet, you can hear it. Actually, it is noise that you […]
You bought a security system. Good idea. So, you go to recover that footage of the shop lifter or an employee stealing from the cash drawer… doh! You go back to recover the video but it’s not there. Or it is there, but you can’t seem to figure out how to find it. And just […]
Over the years of designing AVL systems, I have had the pleasure of walking into many churches of all denominations, shapes and sizes. It is always a treat because I get to see the wide variety of equipment used, both new and especially old. Because digital pianos are quite good these days, I don’t get […]
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Everyone is familiar with this quote by Benjamin Franklin. But how does it apply to your digital projector? Every machine needs maintenance. We either pay a little up front to maintain, or we kick the snowball down the hill and pay a lot later to […]
Just send it! It means, “Just Do It,” say yes to something, don’t think about it, have confidence and just Send It! I finished reading a book by Jonah Lehrer called, “How We Decide”, (spoiler alert!) and early on, Lehrer introduces his main theme: “Sometimes we need to reason through our options and carefully analyze the […]
