AVaaS for Rentals: The R&D Factor

For many years, the joke in the rental and staging industry has been that we exist as the unpaid (and uncredited) research and development arm of the manufacturers that we buy from. Often, we are the first buyers of new technologies for a number of reasons. First, because of the technological pressure to stay ahead […]

AVaaS for Rentals: The R&D Factor

Lean Model to Determine Designs

We have all heard, “Well that is how it was designed.” Or, “the integrators made this more complicated than it needed to be.” I, as much as anyone like to pass the buck, but when dealing with customers we need to make sure we provide the end result they want. A lean model of looking […]

Lean Model to Determine Designs

Service Opportunities for Integrators

Last month in my column, The Dog Days of Summer, I wrote about a project we did in one of our classrooms. The title of the column spoke a bit about what June and early July is for us in the education world — a bit snoozy. Our budgets don’t start until July 1st, so […]

Service Opportunities for Integrators

500 Million Smart Home Sensors to be Installed by 2018 — But Not By Us!

A new study by ABI Research forecasts that over 500 billion smart sensors will be integrated into homes by the end of 2018. Half a billion. This is good and bad news for the HomeAV community. As the home automation world becomes less of an art and more of a science, it also becomes commoditized. […]

500 Million Smart Home Sensors to be Installed by 2018 — But Not By Us!

Integrator vs. Facilitator

By Matthew Thompson Integrated Commercial Design There have been many statements made comparing and contrasting the IT industry and the AV industry. The main reasoning has been the collective technical industry acknowledgement that something needs to change, particularly in the AV industry. For AV integrators, the change has meant the call for IT competency in […]

Integrator vs. Facilitator