Five Reasons AV Needs to Become More IT

Last week, I read a very good article titled The Five Reasons Why AV is Not IT by Ernie Beck. The article discussed in a very compelling way how AV has considerable value in systems integration and will continued to for a long time to come. One of the great points in this article is […]

Five Reasons AV Needs to Become More IT

Five Reasons Why AV Is Not IT

For the past few years the conversation of AV and IT convergence has been discussed ad-nauseam. While this article is no different in subject matter, I’m writing to pose a counter-argument. Before the AV nerds of the inter-webs declare this blasphemy, this should be taken as a tongue and cheek observation. Obviously, AV systems today […]

Five Reasons Why AV Is Not IT

Say Cheese! The Past and Future of the Videoconference Room Camera

By David Danto IMCCA This article originally ran in my my Network World column “Workspaces for Tomorrow” earlier in the year. Enterprise videoconferencing has been around in one form or another for decades. The space has been – and continues to be — owned by many diverse silos (facilities, AV, IT, UC) which is one […]

Say Cheese! The Past and Future of the Videoconference Room Camera

It’s More Than the Network

By TJ Adams Director of Installed Systems Products Management, QSC Let’s be honest — there are a million ways one could describe AV and IT integration. It’s true that in this day and age, we can now control just about every device via the network, make our phone calls via the network and route our […]

It’s More Than the Network

Collaboration Technology Principles

By David Wolf Video Architect at Capital One Many in the AV industry are emphasizing collaboration standards focused on an professional IT approach keying in on specific strategic solutions. While this might be an easy approach to apply to collaboration solutions in organizations starting with small inventories or doing complete refreshes; I find this is […]

Collaboration Technology Principles

InfoComm: The Evolution of Higher Ed AV

By Dan Daley InfoComm International When tech managers and AV pros gather in Pittsburgh this October for the annual conference of the Consortium of College and University Media Centers (CCUMC), they’ll have a lot to talk about. The use of AV is evolving rapidly in the higher-education space, but experiences vary widely, based on everything […]

InfoComm: The Evolution of Higher Ed AV

con·ver·gence — Part 3: Partnerships and a Technology Spectrum View

It’s mid-2015 and I believe in terms of what I’m hearing lately we have arrived at convergence, although I’m not sure that all in the industry agree quite yet. However, in supposing that we have arrived closer to that point of being there, it’s still only part of the overall equation. As an industry — […]

con·ver·gence — Part 3: Partnerships and a Technology Spectrum View

What is in the Value Sweet Spot in Converged AV and IT?

What is really the return when you combine AV and IT? To answer this question you have to better define what AV and IT convergence is. AV and IT convergence is when AV and IT can be deployed where collaboration, control (ease of use), connectivity, conferencing and sending content can all be enhanced by integrating […]

What is in the Value Sweet Spot in Converged AV and IT?

InfoComm 2015 – The Results are In, Power Point Will Rule For Some Time

Will this be the year that PowerPoint disappears? Well… no. And as was pointed out to me prior to arriving at InfoComm, even if new software comes into play tomorrow, PowerPoint will be here for a long, long time. Much like the demise of analog and the conversion to digital, we in IT/AV need to […]

InfoComm 2015 – The Results are In, Power Point Will Rule For Some Time

InfoComm: What CIOs Should Know About AV (and Vice Versa)

By Tim Kridel Special to InfoComm International Face time with a client’s CIO or IT director can be important to everything from cinching big-ticket, organization-wide AV projects to getting the network access necessary for remote management services. And thanks to AV/IT convergence, those executives increasingly have the ultimate say over AV projects. Of course, old […]

InfoComm: What CIOs Should Know About AV (and Vice Versa)

Are We There Yet?

By Ron DeVoe Successful Sales Consulting “Are we there yet?” is a repeated question that was seen on an episode of The Simpsons brought a knowing nod from everyone who has chauffeured children on long trips. “Are we there yet?” is a question that can be applied to many areas, because it indicates a journey […]

Are We There Yet?

Camping Out on the Bridge — Is HDBaseT Here to Stay?

Last week I appeared on the AV Powerup podcast to discuss, amongst other things, HDBaseT. Taking the time to listen to myself (this is a sign of responsibility to monitor messaging and personal branding, not at all vanity. Honestly) it seemed that I was quite negative on HDBaseT as a technology — I described it […]

Camping Out on the Bridge — Is HDBaseT Here to Stay?

UCC and the Road To InfoComm 2015

After what I considered a highly successful trip to Enterprise Connect last month as media for rAVe, it’s time to turn focus to InfoComm and UCC in the audio visual space. When you consider the realm of Unified Communications and Collaboration, it is no doubt one of the (if not the) most visible sectors of […]

UCC and the Road To InfoComm 2015

con·ver·gence — Part 2: Going Way Beyond the Talk

I wrote a blog back in September of last year, con·ver·gence, which began this way: The premise of AV and IT convergence is simple, two separate realms of technology come together as a single entity to expand the industry’s capabilities to satisfy full-scale technology needs of the end user. In this day and age the […]

con·ver·gence — Part 2: Going Way Beyond the Talk

AVPhenom’s Inbox: Is AV Really a Subset of the IT Industry?

As often happens, I have found myself in the middle of a small debate on AV and IT.  This one happens to deal with whether or not AV has become a subset of the IT industry.  I wrote a blog on HDBaseT last week that referenced a quote by Dave Labuskes of Infocomm. Many times […]

AVPhenom’s Inbox: Is AV Really a Subset of the IT Industry?

If You Build It, They Will Hack It

There’s a great quote from an article by John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, about hacking into systems: “There are two types of companies: Those who have been hacked, and those who don’t yet know they have been hacked.” While Mr. Chambers point is about securing data, networks, and storage, the quote prompted a different […]

If You Build It, They Will Hack It

ISE 2015: The Executive Tech Talk Show

The show is over and it looked to be a very successful venture for many of the manufacturers and solutions providers in the industry. Collaboration, digital signage, high end projection, interactive display technologies and more seemed to be the major focus and the largest draw looked to be Microsoft with their 84″ Surface Hub interactive […]

ISE 2015: The Executive Tech Talk Show

Medialon to Launch New Overture Control System at ISE

Medialon’s new Overture is being marketed as a first of its kind “enterprise-class AV Control Software.” Medialon Overture is an effective enterprise-wide AV control software. It controls, monitors, and automates thousands of AV devices in multiple locations, integrates with IT services, and delivers a dedicated person-based user interface. Overture eliminates the cost and burden of […]

Medialon to Launch New Overture Control System at ISE

Convergent Tech: The Series

After a successful run with the Disruptive Forces series, I had decided halfway through “The Leaders Speak” series that it was time to bring a close to it at the end of 2014 and create a new project-based series called Convergent Tech. The Convergent Tech Project was something I had begun considering a few months […]

Convergent Tech: The Series

Plugfest Shows AES67 Is “Not Vaporware”

We know what you’re thinking: What’s AES67? AES67, a standard for audio over IP, promises interoperability between previously competing audio-over-IP systems and could solve network interoperation between systems. AES67 is a “Switzerland” of standards so the different IP based audio networking products currently fighting it out in the market, such as Dante, Livewire, Q-LAN and […]

Plugfest Shows AES67 Is “Not Vaporware”

Gefen Unveils Syner-G Suite

In a new foray into the software side of signal management, Gefen has launched its Syner-G software suite, a signal management solution that Gefen claims is “indicative of its belief that the future will be IP connected products.” The new Gefen Syner-G suite can discover, control, monitor, manage and upgrade Gefen products over a local […]

Gefen Unveils Syner-G Suite

Ten Years: Pro AV Integrators in a Networked World

By Bob Snyder Editor, rAVe Europe Editor’s Note: This story was taken from our European publication (rAVe Europe) from last week’s issue. Wow, it doesn’t seem long ago but rAVe EUROPE is finishing 10 years of publishing with its original tagline still in place: pro AV integrators in a networked world. Ten years on and […]

Ten Years: Pro AV Integrators in a Networked World

Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak – Ofer Shapiro, Vidyo

Profile: Ofer Shapiro, Vidyo co-founder and CEO, has been an innovative force at the heart of major architectural transformations in the videoconferencing industry since 1996 and led the successful commercialization and go-to-market strategies. Vidyo is a 300-person company with worldwide sales to the leading enterprise, service providers and vertical solution providers. Ofer’s backstory: Ofer was integrally involved […]

Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak – Ofer Shapiro, Vidyo

Networked AV in Depth: Securing AV Devices

By Tim Kridel Special to InfoComm International Videoconferences frequently include confidential information, so the last thing clients want is someone eavesdropping. Meanwhile, digital signage done right can attract lots of eyeballs, which actually makes it attractive to hackers looking to embarrass a company by putting inappropriate content on-screen. “Digital signage content is increasingly Web-based; the […]

Networked AV in Depth: Securing AV Devices

The Microsoft Lync Strategy Interview Files – Part 1

For quite some time now, Microsoft Lync has grown as a unified communications and collaboration platform for the enterprise, and certain video conferencing and collaboration companies have put together major strategy for Lync interoperability, as well as creating a path for their partners to expand on their collaboration-focused capabilities.. The intro article of this series, The […]

The Microsoft Lync Strategy Interview Files – Part 1

The New Future of Collaboration — Skype for Business

In a recent Twitter conversation, the Microsoft Lync handle @msftLync was tagged, and after a few back and forth messages with others, I received this: @Cbmoss We recommend reading our blog for additional information. Stay tuned for #Skype4B updates. And with this, I decided to write an article about Skype for business. When Skype entered the […]

The New Future of Collaboration — Skype for Business

Stop Selling My Products

“Stop selling my products” — This would be my new tagline if I were to move back into sales. This may sound like a stupid statement for a sales person to say but bear with me for a little bit.  I can think of a million resellers that can sell my products exactly the way […]

Stop Selling My Products

IT: A Broader Topic of Conversation

We have seen numerous blogs and articles written defining IT terms (and in some cases coinciding AV terms) as well as some discussion concerning them. Some have been direct approaches and some a little more than that. But all in all many are trying to focus on helping the industry to understand more about what […]

IT: A Broader Topic of Conversation

Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak — Tom-Erik Lia, Videxio

This is the fourth blog in the series Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak. Profile: Tom-Erik Lia is the CEO of Videxio, which he co-founded in 2011. Tom-Erik’s backstory: As a former vice president of research and development at TANDBERG (now Cisco), Tom-Erik Lia has 20 years of experience managing, creating and building video collaboration product portfolios, including working on […]

Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak — Tom-Erik Lia, Videxio

Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak — Mark Blake, Acano

This is the third blog in the series Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak. Profile: Dr. Mark Blake is one of the founders of Acano. Mark brings extensive technology expertise to the team and serves as its Chief Technology Officer. Mark’s backstory: Mark Blake is an expert in high performance computing and distributed media processing architectures and has created media […]

Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak — Mark Blake, Acano

Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak – Eric Yuan, Zoom

This is the second blog in the series Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak. Profile: Eric Yuan is the Founder and CEO of Zoom Video Communications. Prior to founding Zoom, Eric was Corporate Vice President of Engineering at Cisco, where he was responsible for Cisco’s collaboration software development. Eric’s backstory: As one of the founding engineers and vice […]

Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak – Eric Yuan, Zoom

Avoiding “A Failure to Communicate” to IT

I recently read a blog in one of the other AV trade publications that left me scratching my head.  It was meant to be a primer for our industry in learning the language of our IT counterparts, and as the subject is something I think is very important for us to continue learning about, I […]

Avoiding “A Failure to Communicate” to IT