InfoComm International announced its intent to become a recognized standards-setting body and will seek accreditation through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). These standards will be developed as international standards and, as warranted, will be presented for adoption by the International Standards Organization (ISO).

Standards define a profession, allow a profession to regulate itself and the activities of its members, and help express the profession’s responsibility to the public. This new program will provide the industry with performance standards that AV companies can build their systems to meet and give the industry’s customers clear industry standards they can rely on. It is also part of a larger effort by InfoComm to promote quality improvement programs in the industry and to associate itself with world-class organizations. The ANSI standards program and the recently announced ANSI/ISO certification accreditation program, along with InfoComm’s education, exhibitions, information services, and membership programs all strive to help the AV communications industry grow.

“Standards development is an integral part of the development of professions seeking to be recognized as legitimate and distinct,” said Randal A. Lemke, Ph.D., Executive Director, InfoComm International. “As the AV industry works closely with industries that use standards, such as architecture, IT, telecommunications and more, it became obvious that AV standards are necessary to grow the profession to the next level. InfoComm has already assembled a substantial body of knowledge through the development of its courses and Best Practices manuals, which makes becoming an ANSI Standards-Setting organization a logical next step.”

The AV standards InfoComm intends to develop will focus on the physical measurements of systems performance, such as sound pressure levels and contrast ratios. The emphasis will be on system performance, not on individual product or technology standards. With these standards, designers can specify the output performance of systems and subsystems for customers, so that when the facility is put in use system performance can be verified against these standards.

InfoComm will lead this activity, but the standards created will benefit the whole industry and its customers. These standards will be developed through a disciplined ANSI process to reach consensus among everyone involved with AV systems. Through rigorous debate and compromise the industry will be able to establish standards that will guide designers, installers, and customers for years to come. To conduct this activity InfoComm will be establishing a Standards Committee and Joseph Bocchiaro, III, Ph.D., CTS-D, CTS-I, has accepted the position as Director of the InfoComm Performance Standards program.

ANSI is a private, nonprofit membership organization focused on meeting the standards and conformity assessment requirements of its diverse constituency. It serves as a neutral, unbiased forum for the development of consensus agreements on technical, political, and policy issues and is a representative of U.S. interests to national, regional, and international bodies. Founded in 1918, ANSI serves as the coordinator for the development of voluntary standards by a broad variety of business, industrial, professional, testing, and governmental organizations. ANSI is also the U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). In its international role, ANSI carries forward U.S. technical, political, and policy messages to the ISO and facilitates the development of allied relationships with regional organizations such as the Pan American Standards Commission and the Pacific Area Standards Congress.

ISO is a network of national standards institutes from 157 countries, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. It is a non-governmental organization that acts as a consensus-builder, striving to reach solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society, including consumers and end users.

InfoComm also announced the organization’s new website design.