Systems Contractor News - December 2022

Welcome to the December Issue of

By Mark J. Pescatore

By Douglas Kleeger

By Mark J.

DN-300

The Future of AV Distribution is Here

The DisplayNet ® DN-300 delivers an unprecedented level of AVoIP performance, versatility and reliability; at a price point that defines a new industry benchmark for value. Based on the latest SDVoE technology, the DN-300 provides 4K/60 (4:4:4) video distribution with limitless scalability, zero-frame latency and zero image artifacts.

This single unit offers several unique features that provide system designers with exceptional versatility:

Switchable Transmitter /  Receiver operation

Dual (copper /  fiber) network interfaces

Auxiliary H.264/5 video output streams

Powerful network security features

PoE+ support

Silent, fanless operation

Versatile KVM Routing

Full-bandwidth USB 2.0 support

DisplayNet also provides software-defined MultiViewer and Advanced Video Wall engines that power a wide range of applications without the expense and complexity of ancillary products. A highly intuitive web-based UI and API greatly simplifies setup and installation, as well as integration into third-party control systems.

Contact us today to see how DisplayNet can move your next AV system into the future.

POSSIBILITIES

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sales@dvigear.com | (888) 463-9927 | www.displaynet.com

Better Doctor Visits with Digital Signage

By Mark J. Pescatore

There’s nothing quite like a visit to the doctor’s office to make you feel unwell or at least unclean (as if that exam table paper will prevent me from getting shingles). Add to that the general feeling of unease that accompanies most visits—I don’t know about you, but I don’t stop by the doctor’s office to swap cookie recipes—and it’s fair to say any distraction would be a welcome distraction.

During my most recent routine visit, I encountered such a diversion. Every once in a while, men of a certain age need to visit the dermatologist, point to various freckles and assorted skin tags, and let the professionals sort it out. So, there I sat, silently pondering the adequacy of my sunscreen use, when what to my wondering eyes did appear but an interactive touchscreen in portrait mode. Now, I could cinch up my paper modesty kilt and read about psoriasis, chronic hives, and cold sores.

It was a hypochondriac’s dream!

All kidding aside, healthcare digital signage, particularly in patient rooms, is a great idea. Patients can peruse a variety of health topics while they wait. That kind of engagement might lead to questions about other offerings, such as cosmetic surgery, or even referrals.

My dermatologist told me it’s been a very popular addition to their practice. However, the touchscreens are about more than sharing health tips. Doctors can access anatomy images, so it’s easier to illustrate issues like acne to teenagers. There’s even a whiteboard function, which can be used to annotate over images on the screen or keep the kids amused while the adults talk.

CONTENT

VP/Content Creation Anthony Savona

Content Director Mark J. Pescatore, Ph.D. mark.pescatore@futurenet.com

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Art Editor Rob Crossland

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I know what you’re thinking: Who needs interactive digital signage when we have smartphones? Well, according to Statista, smartphone ownership for U.S. seniors (65+) more than doubled from 2015 to 2021—but it’s still only at 61%. That’s a lot of older folks waiting to be served who aren’t playing Roblox. You’ve got a captive audience, why not give them the opportunity to gain some knowledge and not focus on how long they’ve been sitting there?

Not only are interactive displays great for patients, they also represent a potential ongoing revenue stream for integrators. As we all know, content is king. PatientPoint was the communication platform at the office I visited, but there are plenty of options out there. Sure, some practices will be more hands-on than others, but I’m betting most would rather have someone else (read: you) manage the content.

Installation, maintenance, content creation, managed services—healthcare digital signage could be just what the doctor ordered for a healthy systems integration business.

Not only are interactive displays great for patients, they also represent a potential ongoing revenue stream for integrators.

The interactive digital signage in my dermatologist’s office provides information on a variety of topics.

CCUMC Rebrands as Educational Technology Collaborative

One of the leading associations of tech nologists in higher education is now Educational Technology Collaborative (ETC). Previously known as the Consortium of College and University Media Centers (CCUMC), the association has connected AV, IT, media, and library professionals at institutions of higher learning since 1974.

ETC provides a platform for professional connection within the academic technology industry, fostering cooperative problem solving and leading the implementation and management of instructional technology that supports quality teaching and learning. The new name more accu rately reflects the realities of today’s professionals, making space for ongoing evolution of technology in learning spaces.

“As an organization, we honor our history while looking to the future. Rebranding clarifies our shared foundation to better connect our members, attract new members, and take us into the future,” said Don Merritt, president, ETC. “I commend the

work of the rebranding taskforce for their foresight and vision to move us in this exciting new direction.”

Finalized by membership vote, this rebrand was the result of an organization-wide, grassroots effort. ETC supports the ongoing innovation that is expanding the definition of higher education. The name Educational Technology Collaborative speaks to the range of what the organization does, while moving away from dated language as well as emphasizing the value of the community and the culture of cooperation within ETC.

AIMS Expands Membership Access to Individuals

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has expanded its membership access to consultants, engineers, and educators, including sole employ ees or sole proprietors of a corporation and individuals who do not formally represent any company within the media industry. The new membership level is also open to students, researchers, and others actively associated with an institution of higher education.

“AIMS Individual Membership expands access to the work we’re doing to promote adoption of IP-based media workflows across broadcast and Pro AV, and gives the alliance the benefit of more diverse participation and perspective,” said Steve Reynolds, board chairman, AIMS. “We look forward to welcoming individual members to AIMS and to the valuable contributions these members will bring in helping to facilitate the shift toward standards-based IP media workflows.”

Just Add Power Celebrates 30 Years, Opens New Headquarters

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Just Add Power has moved to its new headquarters in Seminole, FL. The 30,000-square-foot facility is significantly larger than the company’s former Largo, FL, location.

The facility features a massive area for Just Add Power’s technical support and engineering teams,

plus three training spaces to suit various class sizes.

The classrooms will host recurring regional CEDIA training events throughout 2023 and beyond, and will also be available to manufacturing partners at no cost.

In addition, the facility features a full-size truck dock, warehouse, and fabrication space, as well as a banquet kitchen and multi-purpose area.

“While we’ve only moved a few miles up the road, the capabilities our new facility provides for us and our partners are a world apart,” said Ed Qualls, CEO, Just Add Power. “Not only do we offer a ton of free training space for our guests to take advantage of, but we’ve made visiting us in sunny Florida an experience to remember. And for our technical support and engineering teams, the extra space will allow them to better support our customers while continuing to redefine the boundaries of AV-overIP. We can’t wait for our colleagues and customers to look inside and help us celebrate 30 years of doing business.”

DAS Audio Keeps Upbeat Mood at Rosebar Lounge

At the Rosebar Lounge in Washington, DC, club management has taken the liberty to create an exciting atmosphere, where the best drinks and an inspired decor create a feeling of unlimited possibility. The attitude also extends to the house audio system, which was upgraded in April to include a healthy assortment of loudspeakers drawn from the E11EVEN Sound by DAS Audio series.

Miami-based Willy-Tech Services, an AV systems integration firm working in close coordination with DAS Audio, developed a sound reinforcement system capable of delivering the high-energy atmosphere that makes the Rosebar Lounge a must-visit destina tion. Guillermo Rodriguez, Willy-Tech Services lead engineer and owner/operator, handled the installa tion. DAS Audio’s John Fiorito designed, managed, and commissioned the new system, while Geovanni Ortiz of DAS Audio used Rational Acoustic’s Smaart software for complete loudspeaker optimization.

“The Rosebar Lounge has a 1,500-square-foot dance space and VIP Lounge area with a capacity for

roughly 200 people, along with a 2,000-square-foot heated outside patio area with a bar that can accom modate another 300 people,” Rodriguez explained. “The venue hosts both live music and DJs. It was critically important that the new sound system be capable of delivering high impact sound and, without a doubt, the E11EVEN Sound by DAS Audio setup that John Fiorito penned does just that.”

For the main room, Fiorito specified four E11EVEN Sound ES-10 two-way point source loudspeakers. To provide low-frequency support, these are augmented by eight E11EVEN Sound ES-212 compact bass-reflex subwoofers. At the DJ booth, the setup includes two E11EVEN Sound ES-10 two-way point source loud speakers, along with an ESBR18 passive direct radiation subwoofer.

“The ES-212 subwoofers provide a very warm, articulate punch,” Rodriguez explained. “The dual 12-inch enclosures are placed under the VIP seating throughout the inside lounge space. The ES-212 subs have a small footprint and are easily hidden, but they

have a powerful presence.”

On the patio, with its new retractable roof, the audio setup includes eight DAS Audio ARTEC-312.96 compact two-way full-range loudspeaker enclosures, which are augmented by five E11EVEN Sound ESBR218 high-power passive subwoofers. “They provide great coverage and terrific audio quality throughout the entire area,” Rodriguez said.

For signal processing and power amplification, the accompanying equipment rack includes a healthy assortment of E11EVEN Sound EP-14K2 two-channel power amplifiers with 8800 watts per amplifier. Signal processing for the system includes a BSS Audio BLU-100 signal processor and a BLU-BOB2 break-out box output expander.

The new sound system has received compliments from customers and staff alike. “The new DAS Audio sound system is nothing short of terrific,” said Oscar Guardado, owner and general manager of the Rosebar Lounge. “It sounds awesome and has made a huge impact on our customers.”

ROSEBAR LOUNGE

Loudspeakers from the E11EVEN Sound by DAS Audio series are used throughout the Rosebar Lounge.

KMH Integration Brings Two Historic New York Theaters into Digital Future

KMH Integration is helping two landmark New York City theaters expand their audi ences in the digital age. The firm has com pleted upgrades to the AV technology infrastructures at the Pregones Theater and the Apollo Theater, creating new production workflows.

The Brooklyn-based systems integrator is providing AV consulting services, engineering oversight, onsite project management, and technical training. KMH also installed a range of new remote technologies across the multiple facilities operated by each organization, including KMH’s new Marquee Pro content streaming solution.

KMH’s relationships with the two theaters resulted from the Digital Accelerator Program, a new initiative conceived by Bloomberg Philanthropies in 2021. The program was developed to support the economic recovery of U.S. and U.K.-based cultural nonprofit and arts organizations, many of which were designated as cultural and historical landmarks.

While each theater had unique goals and levels of production capabilities, both also had similar needs that made an online platform like Marquee Pro an ideal fit. The system is based on an NDI and Dantecompliant streaming control center using SRT and WebRTC protocols with QoS monitoring. The service also includes a fully customizable, portable studio set

KMH installed a range of new AV technologies in the Apollo (pictured) and Pregones, both renowned New York City theaters.

designed by KMH partner Creative Dimensions.

“We’re helping them do their own internal TV production with an added external digital distribution platform,” said Kevin Henneman, president of KMH Integration. “It’s an easy-to-use, high-quality option for sending video streams between each theater, or for remote productions to complement their intheater events.”

In 2022, KMH began working with the Apollo, an American cultural treasure and a vibrant nonprofit organization. The Apollo currently has three stages: the Historic Theater, Soundstage, and Digital Stage. Opening soon is the Apollo’s Victoria, which will include two new theaters.

The Marquee Pro system is integrating the Historic Theater and Soundstage on the Apollo’s intranet, allowing programming and content to be streamed and shared easily among each area. KMH built a centralized control room, allowing the organization to stream programming directly from each theater to support multiple independent productions or one large Apollo event. Because the audience is an iconic part of the Apollo experience, KMH was consulted regarding camera selection and placement, so broadcasts in both spaces captured an immersive experience of both the stage and audience.

“KMH has been integral to helping the Apollo achieve its goals,” said Kersten Stevens, the Apollo’s director of digital strategy and Bloomberg Digital Arts Accelerator tech fellow. “The greatest benefit of working with KMH has been their ability to focus in on our objectives and deliver a system we could truly trust not only as state-of-the-art, but also as a system that could expand and deliver against our needs as the theater’s stages, technical needs, and streaming opportunities increase.”

The Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (Pregones/PRTT) is a multi-generational performing ensemble and multi-discipline arts presenter, which operates bilingual arts facilities in the Bronx and Manhattan. Founded in 1967, it was one of the first bilingual theater companies in the United States. At each of its locations, Pregones/PRTT hosts a range of events, from plays to film festivals to musical acts.

KMH’s work with the Pregones theaters began with similar goals: connecting multiple venues and reaching larger external audiences using an auto mated online production workflow. Before this current project started, the PRTT main infrastructure was mostly limited to internal use. With the Marquee Pro solution, as well as new workflow technologies, the Bronx and Manhattan theaters are now able to interoperate with audio, video, and control signals. The system allows for acquisition of a performance, which can then be edited and posted on its social media venue platforms.

“Since we started working with the KMH team, I can’t say enough about them,” said Jorge Merced, associate artistic director, Pregones/PRTT. “They have been thorough in understanding the needs of our project and designing solutions that fit our venues and

program goals beautifully. The integration has been seamless and very successful.”

The systems designed for Pregones and Apollo are built with the flexibility of being either a permanently installed or mobile production solution, depending on each theater’s needs. KMH is able to monitor and manage signals from its Brooklyn office to coordinate

troubleshooting and provide quality control. “Upgrad ing the AV technology in venues that are decades-old is challenging enough, but doing it while maintaining the aesthetic integrity of a landmark institution raises the stakes even higher,” said Henneman. “It’s a delicate balance between maintaining their legacy and helping them build toward a digital future.”

Pro AV Index on Pace for Record Year

In AVIXA’s monthly Pro AV Business Index, May to July showed the AV Sales Index (AVI-S) on a steady trend of moderation, with growth slowing from a record score of 72.7 to a strong but histori cally normal 61.4. When the index popped back up to 65.1 in August, the preceding months made AVIXA analysts think blip rather than trend. But that August level—high growth above what was common pre-pandemic—has proven entirely true.

In September, the AVI-S was a very similar 64.4, and in October it popped right back to 65.1. These consistently high scores have the AVI-S on pace for its highest average year of all time. The latest number comes against a backdrop of negative comments. Supply remains the lead concern, though it has plenty of company from hiring issues, COVID-19, recession concerns, and political worries.

Supply remains at the top of the issue list for the AV industry. The ongoing troubles are causing a discussion of moving from “just in time” to “just in case.” There is genuine wisdom in this shift, but it’s important to

consider the associated warehousing costs.

“Our research shows consumers are increasingly price sensitive, so caution is wise for investing in ‘just in case,’” said Peter Hansen, economist, AVIXA. “Looking ahead to next year, having significant supply on hand risks burning companies. If the likely recession materializes, and especially if it turns out worse than expected, excess inventory could put you in a vulnerable position. ‘Just in case’ may be the correct strategy, but think carefully about what products are both critical and potentially at risk—ones with no easy substitute, ones where you have limited visibility into the sourcing, etc.—and consider limiting warehousing to these selected goods.”

October marked another strong month for hiring in Pro AV. At 61.2, the AV Employment Index (AVI-E) was very similar to the 62.2 observed in September and the 61.0 observed in August. Just as for the AVI-S, the AVI-E is on pace for a record year of expansion.

The strength in hiring markets is an economywide phenomenon, too. The latest U.S. employment numbers reveal an addition of 261,000 jobs, a strong rate that signals a still robust labor market despite economic concerns. The unemployment rate ticked up from 3.5 to 3.7 percent, as an influx into the labor market outpaced the job gains.

Overall, this is a strong report. Job gains are welcome, and so is the return of people to the workforce. While the labor market is only one component of inflation, seeing supply and demand come into closer equilibrium could help cool prices.

The Pro AV Business Index report is derived from a monthly survey of the AVIXA Insights Community, a research community of industry members that tracks business trends in commercial AV. For more informa tion about joining the AVIXA Insights Community, visit www.avixa.org/AVIP

Sound Innovation

CEO Lastrucci Embraces ‘Driving Force’ of R&D Efforts

By Mark J. Pescatore

: How long have you been with this company, and what are your responsibilities?

Luca Lastrucci: Powersoft was jointly founded in March 1995 by myself, my brother Claudio Lastrucci (R&D director), and our good friend, Antonio Peruch (production engineering director). Even after 27 years, we are all still deeply involved in the operational side of the business on a day-to-day basis.

We all have different functions and responsibilities,

but we share the same objective: to innovate through products that are design-driven. This requires being present, guiding and stimulating our employees through our corporate mission statement, which is constantly present and which our president (my father, Carlo) regularly renews. This is one of the key points of Powersoft’s success, which has kept in mind this mission of innovation combined with extreme quality.

: What makes a great amplifier?

LL: Power is important, but signal processing is equally important. Both our tour amp platforms and those

installed are equipped with a powerful digital signal processor (DSP). No less important is the reliability of the product. During the design phase, the utmost attention is given to guarantee performance and continuity of operation. Before a product is approved, it undergoes all kinds of tests, stresses, and certifications. These amps are rigorously tested in our burn-in room where they are driven with custom programs for hours, even days at times, to ensure maximum durability and reliability.

During the mass production phase, as the last step before packing and shipping, each product is tested.

And of course, energy efficiency is key: Our amplifiers deliver the industry’s best power-to-size ratio. Fewer amplifiers (with smaller size) are required to run the same PA system, which directly impacts CO2 emissions.

: What was the inspiration behind your Mover product, and what are some of the more interesting applications in use today?

LL: It all started with M-Force, our patented transducer based on a moving magnet, linear motor structure. This product really redefined what was possible in the realm of infra-bass, reaching well below the conventional frequency range.

Back in 2018, we were approached by the Lava Center in Iceland, which was about to open an interactive, high-tech educational exhibition about volcanic activity and earthquakes. They wanted to simulate the sonic realism of an earthquake for visitors, so they turned to us to create a 1.5-meter platform that was able to realistically replicate earthquakes up to magnitude 6.0 on the Richter scale with the M-Force. It was the first time our M-Force technology had been used for mechanical movement. The development of this system led the way to the

Powersoft

Luca Lastrucci

Position:

Co-Founder/CEO

Company: Powersoft

Four Powersoft T604 amplifiers with integrated DSP were recently installed in Australia’s Emerge Church as part of a major upgrade of its audio system.

As innovators of technology, we want the tech we create to be used and pushed to the limit by as many people as possible.

creation of the Mover product line.

Mover uses a moving magnet linear motor to create low-frequency vibration, but it is extremely compact and therefore more versatile when it comes to its applications. This effectively adds another dimension to sound, one that can be felt through haptic perception—the human ability to experience and interpret our surrounding environment based on touch and feel.

Mover can be used underneath nightclub flooring to enhance the bassline of music being played, onto the back of cinema chairs for a 4D cinematic experi ence, or within immersive exhibitions such as the Illuminarium in Las Vegas and Atlanta. All these venues benefit from Mover’s low-end frequencies paired with the surrounding content, so the visitors can literally feel the action.

: Many companies keep quiet about their OEM efforts, but not Powersoft. Why are you so open about your component production for other manufacturers?

LL: As innovators of technology, we want the tech we create to be used and pushed to the limit by as many people as possible. So, we produce and sell a wide range of amp modules. For example, we have engineered a set of designs that harness the power of our M-Force in different ways (known as EDM Sub, DV Sub, M Sub, and CINESUB). Each design offers unique optimizations that are aimed at speaker builders, sound system owners, and install pros that are looking to extend the low-end capabilities of their systems. This opens up a whole new avenue of innovation for other individuals or companies to develop their own products. In fact, 80% of top loudspeaker brands are currently using Powersoft-manufactured components in their boxes.

: Why is Powersoft so committed to R&D?

LL: Research and development are the driving force of every product. It is part of our DNA to push the boundaries and involve people doing that. We have been investing between 8-10% of turnover each year in R&D, and around 30% of our workforce is based in that department.

In the pursuit of innovation, seven years ago we launched “Ideofarm,” an internal incubator that allows engineers, designers, and potential new employees to develop new and disruptive ideas. It literally is a farm of ideas with the aim of dedicating a space for the younger generation to focus and revitalize the research and (possible) development of innovative technologies. One benefit of Ideofarm is that it gives Powersoft the ability to think of new products to sell; in fact, Mover came from Ideofarm.

As a team, we have collectively created some of the most forward-thinking audio solutions over the last two decades. We pride ourselves on R&D being at the very core of these achievements.

: How have supply chain issues impacted Powersoft product development?

LL: During the COVID-19 period, Powersoft continued to develop, plan, and invest in purchasing and production. Without proper planning, we would have found ourselves in an

unsustainable situation due to the supply chain problems we are still facing. Thanks to the ability to react quickly to the unavailability of components on the market, sometimes redesigning the product, it has allowed us to manage this situation and grow significantly this year as well.

ATLASIED has expanded its engineering team with KIM PORTER, who will serve as director of mechanical engi neering. Porter will help design and deliver the company’s new audio and security hardware products. With more than 20 years of experience in mechanical engineering, product design, and leadership, Porter is responsible for creating and managing new product conceptualization. In addition to many years in the commercial audio industry, Porter has designed and led engineering for hundreds of products and earned more than 25 patents during her career. She also founded the product engineering consulting firm, HatchOne.

CONNIE BOLT has joined ATLONA as regional sales manager for the Southeast U.S. region, serving end users in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Bolt previously held regional sales roles at Crestron and Mersive, and brings a strong understanding of collaboration, conferencing, and control technologies to her new position. She also brings IT industry experience through her time with Rahi Systems. The company has also added MARCO BOLZONELLO as regional sales manager for Italy. Bolzonello previously worked as AV account manager and project manager for Lindy Italia, as well as regional commercial manager for several countries in the Mediterranean region for ATEN.

TAB BUTLER has joined CINERGY and is tasked with generating growth in the U.S. market. Based in New York City, the Emmy Award-winning industry expert brings vast experience and knowledge in the media and entertainment sector, with a special emphasis on sports broadcast. He previously held the position of senior director of media manage ment and post production at MLB Network, and has also served in senior sales roles with Grass Valley, EMC, and SeaChange International.

WILL LIVINGSTON has joined FOR-A as a sales engineer, serving the South Central region of the United States, focusing primarily on Arizona and Texas. He is also in charge of sales engineering work, including technology demonstra

tions and training. Based in Phoenix, Livingston gained first-hand knowledge of FOR-A technology as broad cast video director at Compass Christian Church, where he oversaw an extensive upgrade of the church’s video production capabilities.

CHARLIE DURRENBERGER is pulling expertise from a variety of industries to the DAKTRONICS North Texas sales team. He is tasked with helping sign companies across his home state of Texas to incorporate digital signage into their product offerings. Durrenberger spent 20 years as a sportswriter, covering college football and professional golf events, later moving to Arizona to work with new home sales and construction. TODD GREEN is following in his father's footsteps, joining the Eastern Missouri sales team and bringing digital signage solutions to businesses and schools across the area.

JETBUILT has added industry veteran BRUCE MACINTOSH as director of vendor partnerships. After several years in radio and television for the New York Senate, MacIntosh became director of marketing for Audio-Video Corporation. He was also an early developer of AV-iQ. As a result, his diverse background gives him a unique appreciation for the needs of both integrators and manufac turers. Bringing extra energy to its ambitious global strategy, Jetbuilt has also welcomed JONATHAN BRECKONROWE to the team as EMEA manager. A former CTO at Kramer, Breckon-Rowe brings more than 25 years of industry knowledge to the company.

Q-SYS has promoted KARON EVANOFF to senior vice president, global operations. In this new role, Evanoff will be responsible for all aspects of operations including global supply chain, manufacturing, quality, facilities, and product data management. The com pany has also promoted MARKUS WINKLER to executive vice president, EMEA and APAC. He will continue to manage the growing business and expand capabilities and operations in both regions.

Extron Establishes New C-Suite Leadership Team

In late October, Extron founder and president Andrew Edwards announced his move to the position of chairman of the board, as well as the promotions of Brian Taraci to CEO, Ed Ellingwood to CFO, and Casey Hall to CMO. The moves are designed to ensure the company is solidly positioned to face future challenges and reach the next level of its growth.

With more than 80 years of combined Extron experience, the three executives have been instrumental in helping Extron to become the organization it is today. “I’m extremely excited to appoint this new leadership team,” said Edwards. “These three gentlemen have spent years working directly with me, operating at the highest level and handling every issue that’s come our way. Through our combined efforts, we’ve created a company that has been an industry leader for almost 40 years. These are the people I’m trusting to carry Extron forward into the future.”

Taraci has been with Extron since 1994. Most recently, he served as CTO, a role he will continue to fulfill in addition to his new responsibilities as CEO. He has a background in semiconductor manufacturing; at Extron, he has played a central role in the development of foundational technolo gies that formed the basis for the company’s line of scaling and control systems products. Through the years, Taraci has led teams in developing critical product lines such as Extron’s CrossPoint matrix switchers, XTP matrix switchers, and the new NAV Pro AV-over-IP products.

Since 1993, Ellingwood has led Extron’s finance departments. In his most recent role as vice president of finance, he has also overseen the Human Resources Department and provided guidance and direction to the company’s executives and leaders through the years.

Hall is an industry veteran who has worked in Extron’s support department for more than 26 years. Most recently, he served as vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. As CMO, he will oversee the sales, support, and marketing efforts of the business worldwide.

Kim Porter

Charlie Durrenberger

Bruce MacIntosh

Todd Green

Jonathan Breckon-Rowe

Karon Evanoff

Markus Winkler

Connie Bolt

Marco Bolzonello

Tab Butler

Will Livingston

From left, Brian Taraci, Andrew Edwards, Ed Ellingwood, Casey Hall

Resolve to Reserve Personal Time in 2023

By Douglas Kleeger

Some years ago, I read an article about a gentleman who interviewed folks in a hos pice, literally on their deathbeds, and asked them what their biggest regret was. The number one answer was that they wished they had done more things for themselves. Of course, this does not apply to all of us, but I daresay most of us.

Personally, I can relate. Somewhere along the way, I became out of balance doing for others rather than doing for myself. Think back to when you were younger. Can you name three (or more) things you did on a regular basis that you enjoyed? How often do you do any of these things now?

I bowled in a league, went to the gym four nights a week, played basketball at the park, went running around the neighborhood, went to the movies, played foosball (and was really good, too), and had friends over to shoot pool. Maybe most prominent of all, I would invite friends over to listen to music on my record player over my big stereo loudspeakers. During this time period, from my teen years into my twenties, I was at peace, in balance, and really enjoyed my life.

While I can sometimes squeeze in something, it is not on a regular basis, and most often, I am with my family. While it is enjoyable spending time and doing things I like with my family, it’s just not the same as personal time. I would say that I just don’t have the time, but the truth is that I don’t make the time. There is a difference. So, the question is why don’t I make the time for myself, why am I driven to do for others first?

You could argue that it’s because you got married, had children, and had more responsibili ties. Or your career grew and you had more respon sibility there as well. Maybe your interests changed or you changed, right? No, those are answers to the wrong question. Do you, on a regular basis, make the time to do things that you enjoy—and without feeling that you are selfishly avoiding your respon sibility to others?

I am guilty of this, more than you know. Looking at being married with children, for me there is a constant drive to provide for my family in all aspects of their lives. If I was to have, say, gone bowling every Tuesday night and left my wife with the kids, why would I have felt so guilty? I once went to the movies by myself on a Saturday—once in 15 years—leaving my wife with the kids. I felt guilty.

My wife was not there, my kids were not there, but it was cool to be able to decide what movie I went to see, without having to consider anyone else.

You could also argue that you now do other things, maybe family related that you enjoy, right? Wrong again. While you enjoy doing these other things with your family, the question is what you do for yourself.

For example, you get a vacation, you plan it, spend a week somewhere else with your family. You work like there’s no tomorrow to make sure everyone has a good time, and spend ungodly amounts of money, just so when your kids return to school and are asked what they did over vacation,

Quit the ‘Quiet’

they can proudly say they went on vacation to Europe, or a cruise, or to a theme park. Tell me, how did that vacation work out for you personally? Maybe you need a personal vacation from your vacation.

Long story short, let’s all make a New Year’s Resolution to make the time in 2023 to spend more time doing something for ourselves, which will help us regain our balance in life toward our family, friends, and others.

Doug Kleeger, CTS-D, DMC-E/S, XTP-E, KCD, is the founder of AudioVisual Consulting Services. Contact him with questions or comments at doug@avcs.us.

I have recently started to peruse some articles claiming that people are quietly quitting their jobs—and employers, noticing those that are quietly quitting, are quietly firing them.

What a bunch of garbage. As if this is something new and needs yet another identifier for something that has been going on for a long time. Quiet quitting is described as where an employee, who is not happy with their job, simply (and quietly) does the bare minimum of their job as described by their employer.

This issue has to do with character, something instilled in you (or not) at an early age by your family, friends, and educators. When you have something to do, the time allotted to do that task is an estimate, and the actual time you take may be more or less. What matters is when you are done, can you say you did your best and are more than satisfied with your work? That is how everything you do should be done.

If you notice that you are possibly being taken advantage of, as the time estimates are always short, do something about it. Talk to your employer, say you need help, say you need more money, but say something. Start a discussion, and if it looks like you may want to change jobs, go ahead.

But under no circumstances should you be doing inferior work—or stop working overtime to get it done right. When your employer notices your lack of commitment, they may quietly stop including you in various aspects of work, and as soon as they can replace you, they will.

We are in the communication business, so communicate your wants and needs and reach an agree ment. If you are not all in, then you are out…out of good character and likely out of a job. Don’t do it.

By Mark J. Pescatore

The Pro AV industry is getting back to normal—though many would say it is a new normal resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenging environ ment, integrators have been able to survive and even thrive by supporting the booming live event industry, meeting the technological demands of a growing hybrid workforce, and more.

The SCN Top 50 Systems Integrators list is also getting back to normal. Unlike the past couple of lists, which relied on three-year averages to account for the impact of the pandemic, SCN has returned to calculating results based on projected revenue for commercial AV systems installations for the current year. In case of a tie, we look to the projected total revenue from 2022. We had two companies report the same numbers in both categories this year, so the list includes one tie.

One of the first things you’ll notice is a new

company topping our list. AVI Systems | GPA jumped three spots to take the top spot and joined the very exclusive billion-dollar club for projected revenue. How did the company make such a signifi cant leap? Get the details in our Executive Q&A with president and CEO Jeff Stoebner on page 38.

Last year’s leader, AVI-SPL, moved down to second, but the company reported higher revenues for 2022. Diversified dropped to third, but also had higher revenues. In fact, whether integrators moved forward or backward on the list, revenues increased for many when compared to the 2021 list. That’s a good sign for the Pro AV industry, especially considering the current U.S. economic climate and lingering supply chain issues.

There were a couple of other notable moves. Bolstered by its early November acquisition of Spinitar, Solutionz entered the top five. Paladin Technologies (which acquired Spectra Audio Design) and Key Code Media both reported significant revenue gains and moved into the top 20. EKC Enterprises moved up nine spots to land in the top 25, while Level 3 Audiovisual

jumped ahead six spots for 2022.

Positions may have shifted, but there are plenty of familiar names on this year’s list, as well as new names like Bluum, which is the rebranding effort of Trox + Tierney. You’ll also find Pavion, the new brand of the company formerly known as Corbett Technology Solutions, Inc. (CTSI). Learn more about that relaunch from our Executive Q&A with Joe Oliveri, president of Pavion, on page 46. And don’t be surprised if you see more new names in 2023, such as HS Solutions, Interstate Electronic Systems, and PIVIUM, which barely missed our list this year.

Some important points to remember about our Top 50. First, all submissions are voluntary. Second, all information provided comes directly from the integration firms that choose to participate (for some reason, no one seems willing to let me rifle through their books). Still, the fact that so many companies continue to publicly share their financials speaks to the importance of this list. We appreciate their participation, as it helps SCN readers better under stand the size and scope of the Pro AV industry.

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1 AVI SYSTEMS | GPA Minneapolis MN | (855) 521-0050 | http://www.avisystems.com

$1,411.0/$1,494.0 $1.2/$1,363.0 21,265/4,876/170/48

AVI Systems | GPA delivers better technology outcomes through the integration of human impact, systems, and technology. It is a global technology solutions provider easing technology deployment/support in 50 countries. It works with customers of all sizes, offering audiovisual systems integration, managed services, Microsoft consulting, and digital streaming globally. Its unique business structure offers a standardized delivery model and global managed services.

2 AVI-SPL Tampa, FL | (813) 884-7168 | https://www.avispl.com

$1,350.0/$1,350.0 $1.2/$1.2 11,500/3,782/63/43

AVI-SPL serves global enterprises, mid to large companies, higher education, government, and nonprofit organizations from all industries. It has particular strengths in financial services, professional services, technology, manufacturing, and life sciences, as well as particular expertise in IT services, meeting solutions, digital signage, experience environments, video production and broadcast, operations centers, and visualization and simulation.

3 DIVERSIFIED Kenilworth, NJ | (844) 767-2738 | http://www.onediversified.com

Diversified is enabling a digital future—connecting people, technology, and experience where and when it matters most. Its global technology solutions are experienced by millions every day: energizing fans for the big game, connecting global enterprise teams, broadcasting the latest news, and supporting crisis management. 4 SOLUTIONZ Pacific Palisades, CA | (888) 815-6128 | https://www.solutionzinc.com/

$990.0/$1,100.0 $878.0/$976.0 2,600/2,400/50/29

$259.0/$264.0 $224.5/$228.0 2,150/495/22/22

Solutionz is a worldwide AV integrator and services provider specializing in custom project design, implementation, and comprehensive maintenance plans. Its professional services include cybersecurity, AV security, remote monitoring and management, audio and videoconferencing, cloud video, building environments, infrastructure cabling, managed on-site services, and grant program services.

Dennis Wang, COO, Golden Star Technology

Yes, GST has returned to “normal” business operations. A number of employees come to the office every day or are on a hybrid work schedule. I am curious to see the long-term effects of this 2-3-year period on company cultures and values. We see no pushback by clients for on-site field installations or projects.

Matt Goff, Business Development Manager, IES Communications

Yes, we have a diversified business around many types of customers and various technologies, and we have seen our offerings increase as new technologies are being imple mented, especially in the cloud infrastructure space, education, healthcare, manufacturing, warehouse, and public spaces.

Has your company returned to ‘normal’ operations?

5

Montreal, Quebec, Canada | (514) 913-3081 | http://www.solotech.com

$225.0/$315.0 $175.0/$225.0 2,200/800/18/45

Solotech is a source for audio, video, lighting, rigging, soft goods, control, and collaboration solutions and services. The company is internationally recognized for its expertise in live productions and systems integration in various markets, including music, sports, business, culture, and education. Clients can also benefit from its service center, online store, and virtual technology know-how.

6 KINLY Amsterdam, Netherlands | (973) 585-3000 | http://www.kinly.com

$221.0/$316.0 $193.0/$282.0 2,973/1,100/20/32 Kinly is a global provider of AV systems integration and support that brings people and technology together for better productivity. Its solutions and services include AV integration, cloud solutions, and managed services. 7 PAVION Chantilly, VA | (866) 572-8466 | http://www.pavion.com

$204.0/$638.0 $108.0/$363.0 3,394/1,669/63/53 Pavion connects and protects by providing design, installation, maintenance, management, monitoring, and support to customers in more than 41 U.S. locations and 22 countries—delivering critical communications, audiovisual, integration, fire, and security solutions.

8 AVIDEX Cary, NC | (704) 299-0129 | http://www.avidex.com

Avidex delivers solutions that enhance how people work, learn, and live. With global reach, Avidex creates unparalleled client experiences from strategic planning and system design through deployment, training, managed services, remote monitoring, and support. Its expertise includes digital signage and video walls, meeting and presentation systems, and security and infrastructure solutions—bringing reliable, scalable, and user-friendly solutions to its clients. 9 FORD AUDIO-VIDEO Oklahoma City, OK | (405) 946-9966 | http://www.fordav.com

$175.0/$175.0 $156.5/$156.5 2,827/453/10/18

$166.4/$166.4 $159.3/$159.3 683/540/15/49 Ford AV offers design, installation, and service of professional and commercial audiovisual systems. 10 IES COMMUNICATIONS Tempe, AZ | (480) 379-6200 | http://www.iescomm.com

$150.0/$1,800.0 $138.0/$1,537.0 890/7,778/91/38

IES strives to be at the forefront of technology that transforms the way people live, play, communicate, and work by performing and perfecting cutting-edge audiovisual design and integration services. IES provides enterprise solutions for room automation, video collaboration, digital media, background music/paging/sound masking systems, distributed AV infrastructure, and commissioning/ calibration/programming. Additional services include data center services, life safety, security, structured cabling, and Wi-Fi/DAS.

$81.1/$118.8 $72.0/$106.0 78/415/6/25

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) is a source for professional video, audio, high-speed data, CCTV/surveillance, and other systems design, installation, and maintenance on premise and in public cloud, along with managed services that enable sophisticated, high-impact communications. From presentation spaces to broadcast and recording studios to high-speed media storage and cloud workflows, ASG brings the best in experience and value.

New York, NY | (631) 254-4500 | http://www.tritechcomm.com

TRITECH provides audiovisual design, system integration, and managed services.

Wheaton, MD | (301) 942-6800 | http://www.wpsproav.com

WPS designs user-centric audiovisual solutions that help connect people, elevate experiences, and transform spaces into collaboration powerhouses. It offers expertly engineered broadcasting, audio, lighting, videoconferencing, and control systems for organizations throughout the United States. From 55,000-seat stadiums to multi-campus universities, the WPS team has the experience and capabilities to solve today’s most challenging technology problems.

workflows or policies?

Lisa Hale, Chief People Officer, Level 3 Audiovisual

More work-from-home related policies have been implemented as employees want to work from home instead of coming into the office. We are no longer requiring that employees (other than operations) work from the office. In addition, we implemented a COVID program: Stay home when sick, the company will provide COVID home tests, vaccinations (keeping track of who is vaccinated when necessary), masks, etc., along with office cleanings every day, instead of every other day.

Dale Bottcher, EVP, Global Sales and Marketing, AVI-SPL

We’ve operated very efficiently and effectively throughout the pandemic. I’d say the only real shift has been embracing flexible work models—internally and externally—and sharpening our focus on supply chain management and customer delivery.

Rachel Mele, President, Metinteractive

We implemented a SaaS-based workflow solution, Monday.com, during the pandemic. With our team having less face-to-face time, it was critical the tasks Metinteractive carries out were standardized, and in some cases automated, to ensure our projects were/are completed on time. This also ensured if someone caught COVID-19, another person could easily step in where they left off. Thanks to our protocols, however, we did not have a single COVID-19 case between 2020-2021.

Stephanie Whalen, VP, Marketing and Communications, Paladin Technologies

The pandemic allowed for our teams to review many of our workflows and policies, addressing gaps/inefficiencies that were holding us back. In doing so, I’ve noticed colleagues take more ownership over new processes, training, and communication overall. Of course, we also leverage video calls daily as well, which supports connection with people in offices across North America.

How has the pandemic changed your company’s

New World Order

AVI Systems | GPA Tops our Top 50, CEO Stoeber Explains the Company's Recent Success

By Mark J. Pescatore

SCN: How long have you been with this company, and what are your day-to-day responsibilities?

Jeff Stoebner: Next year will be my 30th year full-time with AVI Systems. As CEO, I am responsible for the overall direction of our companies, acquisition and expansion, selection of senior leadership teams, and most importantly staying grounded with our customers.

SCN: AVI Systems | GPA is now at the top of the SCN Top 50 for 2022. How did you do it?

JS: During the worst of the pandemic shutdown, we felt our business would be well positioned to accelerate and we were right (we just didn’t know when). We had to make difficult decisions to adjust in 2020 and early 2021, but knew the demand for technology would increase at some point. Two things worked in our favor: investing heavily in our global business [GPA] in 2020 and leveraging our wholly owned Microsoft consultancy [Magenium Solutons]. This positioned us for a wave of global MS Teams deployments. With more than 20,000 Teams rooms deployed since mid-2021, the business took off. This year, our U.S. sales will exceed $400 million (a significant increase from our pre-pandemic sales of around $275 million), and the sales of our global footprint is more than $1 billion.

SCN: How is the GPA different from an industry alliance?

JS: First, it’s not an alliance. The GPA is its own business entity, its own corporation. It has a dedicated CEO and a corporate staff focused exclusively on global delivery. It has a professional board of directors, of which I am the chairman. It’s the only structure of its kind in our industry and allows us to deliver in 50 countries with as little friction as possible. Our customers can source in local country currency, while we provide global program management. Our customers love this.

SCN: How have supply chain issues impacted your projects?

JS: Fortunately, we were in a financial position to source tens of millions in product inventory early in the supply chain crisis. We filled every warehouse we had to the top and filled outsourced warehouses with

logistics partners. This allowed us to reduce risk for our customers and deliver shorter lead times than most. We had to retool our ERP systems from just-in-time to more of what we’d call a distribution model. We became our own distributor in many cases.

SCN: How did the pandemic change AVI’s business strategy, and what changes will remain moving forward?

JS: We increased our energy around acquisitions. It became evident that the pandemic would accelerate consolidation, and we are well positioned to acquire. We’ve acquired three companies since late 2020 and did a final buyout on a fourth. The demand from global customers is also requiring us to put more resources in the Northeast U.S. and other high-growth markets. We will continue to acquire and expand our footprint. Strategically, we’ve also invested in enterprise management tools from Salesforce and ServiceNow to manage our rapid growth.

SCN: What post-pandemic trends are you seeing in corporate AV?

JS: Global clients are looking for scalable solutions. Technology in some regards is getting simpler, but deployments are getting very complex. User interfaces in meeting spaces now center around applications like MS Teams and Zoom, instead of fancy remote controls. For now, “what do you want” has been replaced with “what can we get.” For the foreseeable future, AV spend per square foot will increase dramatically as organizations retool for workforces that will rarely gather inside of fourwalled rooms.

SCN: Besides the supply chain, what is one of the greatest challenges the Pro AV industry is facing today?

JS: Adding frontline workers—we compete for talented employees with IT, low-voltage trades, and tech in general. Each of those industries are expanding, as is Pro AV.

Jeff Stoebner

Position: President/CEO

Company: AVI Systems | GPA

Overtime: I spend my free time with my five children and wife, Renee, operate two working farms, and collect and race cars.

SCN: We continue to see plenty of technological innovations in Pro AV, but what does the industry need to do better?

JS: We talk about “AV that performs like IT.” Our industry must do a better job of providing “Day Two” support that resolves technical problems before users discover them. That means we know about problems and fix them faster—and with fewer in-person visits. We must do this with the scale of deployments going on now, and we’ve only seen the beginning.

SCN: What are the pros and cons of being an employee-owned company?

JS: The list of pros is long, but there is one con. The con is that when an owner/founder (in our case, our founder, Joe Stoebner) sells to an ESOP (technical speak for the structure that ends up owning the company), it’s often for a fraction of the eventual enterprise value of the business. That means sellers in an ESOP model may not reap the financial rewards other sellers may with strategic buyers, private equity, or venture capital. Regardless, the Stoebner family is doing just fine, and we are proud that our “employeefamily” owns 100% of the equity in the business.

The pros include the culture it creates; we call it the “Employee Ownership Culture.” It’s a culture where employees look out for each other and our customers. A culture where we make long-term decisions, not quarterly decisions. A culture where those doing the work on the frontline are directly and profoundly rewarded. It was my father’s dream and he gets all the credit.

SCN: Where do you see the Pro AV industry heading?

JS: Our industry is thriving, it’s rapidly expanding. We must prepare to expand our capacity around the world. We must think much bigger than we have in the past. To be more specific, virtually all new space where people gather or work has AV technology now—that is a trend that will not reverse.

Our industry must do a better job of providing “Day Two” support that resolves technical problems before users discover them.

17 (TIE) CENERO, A RICOH COMPANY

Malvern, PA | (888) 454-6863 | http://www.cenero.com

$70.0/$70.0 $58.0/$58.0 900/225/6/23 Cenero is a service-focused audiovisual, unified communications, and IT solutions provider committed to creating exceptional meeting experiences.

17 (TIE) KEY CODE MEDIA

Burbank, CA | (818) 303-3900 | http://www.keycodemedia.com

$70.0/$70.0 $60.0/$60.0 1,062/120/10/21

19 ARCHKEY TECHNOLOGIES

Key Code Media is a preferred resource for audiovisual equipment, installation, and aftermarket support. The company approaches projects and equipment procurement with a high-touch customer service focus, ensuring equipment is delivered, installed, and adopted by a customer successfully. It focuses on client vision and business needs, deploying solutions that work today and into the future.

Plymouth, MN | (612) 381-6530 | http://www.archkey.com

$69.0/$176.0 $49.0/$110.0 300/420/7/40 ArchKey Technologies provides integrated technology solutions from conception through design, installation, commissioning, and maintenance. The firm specializes in commercial audiovisual, broadcast, network, wireless, fire/life safety, and security systems.

20 PALADIN

TECHNOLOGIES

Poway, CA | (855) 296-3199 | http://www.PaladinTechnologies.com

$63.0/$122.4 $40.0/$75.0 600/1,500/32/46

21 ALPHA VIDEO

Paladin Technologies designs and installs technology solutions for companies requiring audiovisual, network cabling, data center, OSP, security, and network services. Although Paladin has served audiovisual clients for more than 40 years, the company bolstered its national AV capabilities by acquiring Spectra Audio Design in 2021.

Eden Prairie, MN | (952) 969-9898 | https://www.alphavideo.com/

$54.0/$54.0 $44.0/$44.0 375/82/1/52

22 CONSTANT TECHNOLOGIES

$53.0/$53.0 $42.0/$42.0 125/85/2/40

23 DGI COMMUNICATIONS

As multi-industry masters in the design, implementation, and operational management of audiovisual, IPTV, and digital signage, plus on-premises and cloud production solutions, Alpha has the deep, broad experience necessary to deliver on the dual promise of innovation.

North Kingstown, RI | (401) 294-7171 | http://constanttech.com

Constant Technologies specializes in mission-critical command and control environments such as GSOCs, real-time crime centers, EOCs, war rooms, and other critical spaces around the world. CTI focuses on the integration of 24/7 video wall systems meant to withstand rigorous, round-the-clock use. In addition to design and integration, Constant also offers comprehensive service and support.

Billerica, MA | (978) 495-3800 | http://www.dgicommunications.com

$51.0/$60.0 $36.0/$43.0 600/150/2/28

DGI connects people and space through technology, graphics, and acoustics. Based in New England but with a national reach, DGI’s audiovisual, technology, and print teams design, install, and support solutions for some of the largest and most-respected organizations in healthcare, sports, financial services, and more. DGI’s team helps clients solve complex design challenges while maximizing ROI on IT and AV spending.

What do

think will be the hottest technology trends in 2023?

Todd Hutchins, CTO, AV Principal, USIS AV

Amplified by hybrid work models, devices that can be managed and supported remotely and as a segment, managed services overall, which we’ve seen from manufacturers more now than ever.

Organizations where employees are not at a physical space full time create strong use cases for proactive monitoring and resolution to combat issues before they have a negative impact or require someone to be on site. Another growth area will be computer-based control systems where we might see the slowdown of centralized control and more and more technologies like BYOM, BYOD, etc.

Mark Vitt, EVP, Corporate Development, TRITECH Communications

Not sure of the hottest, but the tide of video collaboration usage has risen beyond what we predicted in 2021. Clients are educated, focused, and planful when making platform (Webex, Teams, Zoom) choices. This has positively impacted many areas of the business, including design, installation, service, remote monitoring, etc. Designing AV systems in VR is a technology we have included in our client engagements. This has been invaluable when making quick decisions on display sizes, camera locations, etc.

you

24 MCA

COMMUNICATIONS

Houston, TX | (281) 591-2434 | http://www.mcacom.com

$50.0/$55.0 $45.0/$50.0 1,000/300/3/39 MCA provides design-build AV/IT/security solutions and services.

25

VERREX Mountainside, NJ | (908) 232-7000 | http://www.verrex.com

$42.0/$42.0 $33.0/$33.0 175/110/7/75

26

Verrex is celebrating its 75th anniversary as a systems integrator and managed services provider that combines AV and IT technology infrastructure, devices, and software to shape environments, solutions, and experiences that foster collaboration, engagement, and innovation. Verrex designs, integrates, supports, manages, and deploys AV and UC solutions that facilitate businesses to thrive within evolving workforces, environments, and working styles.

EKC ENTERPRISES Fresno, CA | (559) 438-0330 | http://www.ekccorp.com

$41.0/$60.0 $29.0/$40.8 650/250/7/19

27

EKC is a design-build turnkey low voltage contractor headquartered in Fresno, CA. With seven offices across California, the company is positioned to properly support all of its clients. A client-first strategy has enabled the company to build a solid reputation and attract talent in the industry.

VISTACOM Allentown, PA | (610) 791-9081 | https://www.vistacominc.com/

$38.0/$38.0 $31.0/$31.0 315/85/1/68

Vistacom creates customized end-to-end AV, IT, unified collaboration and control room solutions that help clients achieve their unique business and operational goals. Vistacom’s certified engineers and experienced technicians improve audiovisual and communications infrastructure through consultative design, integration, and support of the right technology solutions with an emphasis on quality and on being a trusted partner.

What vertical markets and/or technologies have exhibited the most growth for you 2022?

Matt Goff, Business Development Manager, IES Communications

We have enjoyed an explosive growth in audiovisual in the education, data center, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation vertical markets. We also saw a sharp rise in mixed-use projects consisting of retail stores and residential space in the same building.

Jeremy Elsesser, President and CEO, Level 3 Audiovisual

The corporate workplace market has shown to be the strongest growing market for us.

Dennis Wang, COO, Golden Star Technology

The public sector market—driven by federal and local funding. This will continue to be a strong vertical market for us leading into 2023.

Dale Bottcher, EVP, Global Sales and Marketing, AVI-SPL

Experience technology has bloomed in the wake of the pandemic. As organizations reimagine their relationships with customers, partners, and employees, they’re reinventing their spaces and how technology will heighten the experience of those brand spaces.

28

IMMEDIA Scottsdale, AZ | (480) 483-3399 | https://www.immedia-tech.com/

$37.5/$39.5 $26.0/$27.7 400/100/1/18 Immedia provides service, support, design, and installation for enterprise-level workplace technology.

29 USIS AUDIOVISUAL SYSTEMS Pearl River, NY | (845) 358-7755 | http://usisav.net

$35.6/$35.6 $31.3/$31.3 305/62/4/10

USIS AV is part of the USIS family of companies, with roots from 1928. The company provides design-buildservice expertise for hybrid, digital, and tech-enabled workforces, workplaces, market spaces, and experiences, making AV a unified part of the AV/IT/security built-environment and workforce tech-stacks.

30 TSI GLOBAL COMPANIES St. Louis, MO | (636) 949-8889 | https://www.tsi-global.com/

$35.0/$40.0 $24.0/$28.0 650/152/3/35

TSI is one of the nation’s largest self-performing MBE integrators determined to solve organizational challenges by transforming the way businesses connect, communicate, and collaborate through technology solutions designed around human experience. The company engineers, installs, trains, and services videoconferencing, professional audio, security, room automation, infrastructure cabling, and unified communication systems across the nation.

Protection and Connection in Motion

Pavion CEO Oliveri Leads Rebranded Company through Growth

By Mark J. Pescatore

: How long have you been with this company, and what are your responsibilities?

Joe Oliveri: I joined Corbett Technology Solutions, Inc. (CTSI) in May 2021 following more than two decades at Johnson Controls and Tyco International. CTSI was looking for someone experienced in the audiovisual, security, and fire and systems integration business, with a history of reorganizing, streamlining, and strengthening corporate, operational, and business processes while delivering a best-in-class customer experience. As president and CEO of Pavion, I’m responsible for our company’s growth strategy across our Integration, Security, and Fire business units through the execution of four major business priorities: integration, synergy, mergers and acquisitions, and cross-sales.

: Why did the very successful CTSI relaunch itself as Pavion back in October?

JO: The shift from CTSI to Pavion is the result of significant and unprecedented growth. Since 2020, CTSI has grown by more than 400% and acquired 10 companies. We were looking ahead and felt it was time to introduce a new brand and vision that more accurately represents the direction we’re heading and the business we’ve become. Uniting as Pavion at this moment allows us to do just that.

Pavion is a combination of two words: pavise, a full-body shield used by warriors in the 14-16th centuries to protect themselves while moving forward in battle, and ion, an electrically charged atom that drives forward momentum. Together, the two words represent protection and connection in motion, which is exactly what our company stands for. We are a shield for the people we serve, protecting life and connecting customers to better outcomes, opportuni ties, and growth. We connect students to teachers, patients to doctors, employees to customers for collaboration and communication, and technology for improved performance and growth.

: What’s the secret to your successful growth?

JO: My team knows this about me: I love the phrase, “Be fast and good, not slow and perfect.”

Our private equity firm, Wind Point Partners, originally had the goal of three or four smaller acquisitions per year. That was never my goal. Mine was to grow at a much faster pace. I’d say we’re off to

a great start with much more to come!

Some of our growth was due to timing and opportunity. The right companies became available to us at the right time. That’s not to say our growth has been haphazard or unintentional. There were specific business verticals we wanted to build up: fire, security, and critical communications. Every company we approach has to pass that initial “smell test” of whether their technology, services, and solutions mesh with the company we’re trying to build.

Having a great team in place is another secret to our success. The people aspect of our business can’t be understated, either. We aren’t just acquiring a company; we’re acquiring a culture. It’s one of the reasons we want the original owners or senior management to remain in place—and why we’ve managed to keep 98% of employees with the com pany as we’ve grown.

Finally, I live by the credo that customers are hard to get and easy to lose. We take good care of the customers we have and grow with them as they expand into new service areas or geographic loca tions. As Pavion, our customers now have a single point of contact and seamless start-to-finish experience—one hand to shake, so to speak.

: What is your strategic vision for Pavion?

JO: The core of our business remains the same: fire protection, video surveillance, access control, emergency response coordination, audiovisual systems, physical and cyber security, IT integration, and more. Connect and protect human life, business assets, and physical space; that end-toend technology is what our customers both demand and have come to expect.

Of course, we are still very much in acquisition mode and expect to close additional deals by the end of the year. We continue to invest in strategic acquisitions that provide greater depth of technical capabilities to support and enhance new and existing global and enterprise accounts. We have the East Coast covered and we have a solid global presence. Now we are moving toward growing in specific geographies throughout the Midwest and West Coast.

We want to build the biggest and best integra tion company out there, while also giving our employees the right experience, taking care of our customers, having the right culture, and making sure we have fun.

Joe Oliveri

Position: President/CEO Company: Pavion

Overtime: In my spare time, I spend quality time with my family, watch NCAA sports, exercise, and enjoy physical activity.

: What new initiatives are we likely to see from your company?

JO: We remain laser-focused on driving increased recurring monthly and contracted services revenue. We’ll deliver on that by continuing to invest in providing radical service, training our team, and optimizing our tools.

We’re in the process of tiering our suite of maintenance and management services as well. You’ll see us rolling out new a la carte services, such as managed cybersecurity services and virtual, proactive systems support. We’re also excited to introduce cloud-based enhanced video monitoring and video verification services, access control management, and enhanced conferencing, collabora tion, and IoT monitoring and management capabili ties for audiovisual systems solutions. Finally, we plan to enhance our customer portal to provide additional self-service benefits, as well as make and track support requests and work orders.

: What are some of the major challenges Pavion expects to face in the next 12-24 months?

JO: Once we get past COVID-19 and the associated and ongoing supply chain challenges, the number one challenge anyone in our industry faces is the aging technical workforce. We want to be an employer of choice, and that means doubling down on our efforts to recruit from technical and trade schools, the military, and other industries. We want to invest in reskilling and upskilling our existing employees and opening them up to new opportunities. And, of course, we must continue to invest in a meaningful way in our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, as well as environmental and social governance policies and procedures.

: Where do you see the Pro AV industry heading?

JO: It’s a really exciting time to be in the industry. The rapid pace of innovation—in artificial intelligence, machine learning, hybrid solutions, and virtual and augmented reality technology, to name a few—gives us more opportunities than ever to help our customers solve critical problems.

33 LINX MULTIMEDIA Denver, CO | (303) 574-1552 | http://www.teamlinx.com

$33.0/$33.0 $31.0/$31.0 1,786/109/5/20

34

LINX Multimedia works with its clients through intelligent designs, installation, and support of technology that enables a modern hybrid workplace. Some solutions LINX delivers includes hybrid meeting ready boardrooms, conference rooms, training rooms, digital signage, telemedicine, video walls, distance learning, hospitality, large venue, and performing arts integrations.

IVCI Hauppauge, NY | (631) 273-5800 | http://www.ivci.com

$29.9/$40.1 $34.0/$45.5 841/110/1/26

35

VISION TECHNOLOGIES

IVCi provides high-quality, top-rated standardized and scalable collaborative meeting spaces, unified communications, videoconferencing, cloud-based services, and backend managed services. IVCi’s AV-as-a-Service offering is a userinspired subscription service for modern productivity with live support accessible through a QR code. IVCi also has an esports subscription service, providing services to new and improving collegiate esports programs.

Glen Burnie, MD | (866) 746-1122 | http://www.visiontechnologies.com

$26.5/$177.0 $22.1/$157.0 500/550/3/22

Vision Technologies, a network information systems provider, offers a full range of presentation and interactive visual communication solutions from collaborative huddle solutions to boardrooms, video walls, and unified communications. Its unique expertise spans the latest touchless return-to-work solutions. Its Integrated Technology Delivery (ITD) methodology significantly reduces change orders—saving time, money, and total cost of ownership.

36 AVDG Fremont, CA | (866) 985-2834 | http://avdg.com

$25.0/$100.0 $25.0/$91.0 960/164/7/26

Dale Bottcher, EVP, Global Sales and Marketing, AVI-SPL

Hands down, it’s enabling cloud interop erability. This applies to seamlessly connecting UCC platforms so anyone can join any call from any application or device. It also applies to centrally managing an entire UC or meeting room estate by connecting the vendor-specific tools under one holistic monitoring and management tool, like AVI-SPL Symphony, for a complete picture of technology performance and usage.

Fred Loucks, Chief Technology Officer, Level 3

Audiovisual

Remote AV operations ala monitoring, remote access/support, change manage ment. AV systems have exploded—there are more meeting rooms than ever before and scale requires the right tools, etc.

AVDG offers a variety of services, including intelligent office design, videoconferencing solutions, commercial climate control, video walls, digital signage display, AV distribution, lighting control, motorized window treatments, surveillance systems, system monitoring and service, and residential services.

What do you think will be the hottest technology trends in 2023?

PROCRAFT MEDIA San Clemente, CA | (888) 587-5540 | http://procraftmedia.com

$22.8/$22.8 $8.9/$8.9 122/32/2/11

Procraft creates custom audiovisual environments primarily for Fortune 500 companies. From engineering, CAD, and programming to integration, commissioning, service, and support, Procraft is a fully-integrated design-build company capable of providing a comprehensive package of services from start to finish or a la carte based on a customer’s specific needs. 38 LIGHTWERKS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS Carson, CA | (888) 454-4489 | http://www.lightwerks.com

$22.0/$26.0 $20.0/$22.0 600/50/6/26 LightWerks designs, installs, programs, and supports custom audiovisual and security solutions to meet the needs of today’s businesses, schools, and other organizations. 39 PTG (PRO-MOTION TECHNOLOGY GROUP) Wixom, MI | (248) 560-0503 | http://promotion.tech

$21.0/$270.0 $19.8/$2.6 3,000/57/2/20

PTG is a national AV integrator that transforms environments to elevate the customer experience through sight, sound, and touch. As a certified woman-owned business, PTG is one of the leading suppliers of integrated technology for some of the world’s largest and most prestigious companies. PTG provides a full spectrum of system design, product procurement, logistic planning, installation, and technical service.

40 JKL TECHNOLOGIES Newbury Park, CA | (805) 375-5820 | https://www.cos-jkl.com/

$21.0/$29.0 $18.9/$27.0 597/68/5/18

JKL Technologies is an information technology solutions firm helping businesses manage, improve, and integrate their entire technology infrastructure. JKL provides a single source of expertise in network infrastructure, structured cabling, desk side services, technology relocations, AV design, installation, maintenance, and on-site support services.

42 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

SOUND

$20.0/$35.0 $24.3/$37.0 92/150/4/38

IMAGE Escondido, CA | (760) 737-3900 | http://www.sound-image.com

Sound Image offers sales, design, installation, and service of integrated audio, video, and lighting systems.

43 ECC Lincoln, NE | (800) 366-5320 | https://eccoinc.com

$20.0/$34.0 $17.0/$29.0 238/132/5/64

ECC has built a foundation on bringing dynamic solutions to organizations throughout the Midwest. The company connects businesses to better experiences using AV, lighting, communication, electronic security, fire safety, healthcare, and managed services technology solutions.

44 GOLDEN STAR TECHNOLOGY Cerritos, CA | (562) 345-8711 | http://www.gstinc.com

$19.5/$230.0 $15.5/$202.0 145/145/5/37

GST offers full end-to-end AV and IT solutions and services, including pre-sales design, BOM creation and validation, installation, configuration, programming, post-project support, and maintenance support.

Mark

Vitt,

EVP, Corporate Development, TRITECH Communications

As a result of adapting to supply chain challenges, we have become more nimble. Sales engineering has been outstanding in redesigning quickly; PM teams and service are incredible in adjusting schedules to hold project timelines best as possible. We are upgrading to a new ERP system, which will further help us with supply chain management and ease part of the materials management workload for the field operations teams. With regard to company culture, empathy among the workforce has been greater. Employees are more open and willing to fill in for each other when someone is out of the office due to illness. There is a common understanding that we are all vulner able to the virus.

Dennis Wang, COO, Golden Star Technology

GST has been fortunate to have comprehensive operating processes and workflows. Most, if not all, of our internal tools and applications are cloud-based. We were quick to adapt to the new workplace policies and safety requirements. Hybrid workplace seems to be a part of the new normal.

Todd Hutchins, CTO, AV Principal, USIS AV

I believe more effort is required to stay connected now. We’ve always had a percentage of remote employees, so it wasn’t a complete culture change. However, when entire departments were pushed to remote, it was a challenge we had to work at. It has been the incidental issues we’ve had to overcome, such as spontaneous collaboration when someone stops by a team mate’s office to ask a question and walks away with an immediate answer. We’re more deliberate and dependent on schedules now, which as an organization is efficient, while at the same time finding creative ways to nurture unstructured innovation.

How has the pandemic changed your company’s workflows or policies?

Dennis Wang, COO, Golden Star Technology

Supply chain, fluctuating commodities pricing, softer demand, and recession.

challenges for

Stephanie Whalen, VP, Marketing and Communications, Paladin Technologies

Like many, Paladin’s challenges are the

company in 2023?

delays within the supply chain and hiring talent. The recruitment, engagement, and development of our people is of utmost priority for our business. Further to our people, it is sourcing and deploying product to our clients’ sites. The two challenges impact one another as well; without product or people, we cannot fulfill our commitments to clients. Fortunately, we have not failed on our commitments to date, and we are working tirelessly on new strategies to mitigate these existing challenges.

Rachel Mele, President, Metinteractive

The supply chain challenges will continue to be a concern into 2023. Additionally, we are growing at a rapid pace. This means we must pay attention to our company’s talent. Typically, fast growth can lead to stressed-out employees and low morale. We are dedicated to ensuring the demands we are making of our team are manageable—and they are able to maintain a good work-life balance while also growing with us to meet their own personal goals.

Jeremy Elsesser, President and CEO, Level 3 Audiovisual

Supply chain continues to be a top challenge along with talent acquisition.

Mark Vitt, EVP, Corporate Development, TRITECH Communications

Supply chain, of course. Finding qualified talent. Navigating the impact of a recession on the AV industry. The latter is our primary focus at the moment, as we balance the high tide of video usage against the reductions in force we are seeing from select verticals (technology, financial services, etc.).

Dale Bottcher, EVP, Global Sales and Marketing, AVI-SPL

We see a very bright future ahead for our industry and for AVI-SPL. For us, the greatest challenge to achieving our vision is hiring talent at a pace that’s in sync with our strategic growth plan.

Joseph Legato, VP of Operations, USIS AV

The pandemic fallout continues to present supply chain challenges, as well as the voluminous need for manpower scalability. Supply chain delays can result in slowed project completion, further compounded by peak project levels. We’ve moved “almost-instant” resource scalability to the forefront of our strategic planning, allowing us, as best as possible, to adapt to client needs while juggling our industry’s resource crunch in manpower and hardware availability.

What do you expect to be the biggest

your

45

METROPOLITAN INTERACTIVE

Oxford, CT | (800) 951-8407 | http://www.metinteractive.com

46

$16.5/$17.5 $17.0/$15.5 22/32/6/10

APPLIED VIDEO TECHNOLOGY

$16.1/$17.5 $12.6/$14.4 165/32/1/26

47

48

Kimberton, PA | (610) 407-0776 | http://www.appliedvideo.com

Applied Video Technology (AVT) has been a systems integrator in the Philadelphia area since 1996. AVT provides design and engineering, installation, project management, training, consulting, and service for audiovisual and video production solutions. The company strives to find the right mix of products and price points to ensure customers receive the best value for their investment.

NEURILINK Boise, ID | (208) 426-8238 | http://www.neurilink.com

$15.5/$15.5 $14.0/$14.0 300/45/2/10 Neurilink offers commercial AV design, integration, and support for organizations across the Northwest.

DMS Dallas, TX | (254) 824-8161 | http://www.dms.tech

$13.0/$20.0 $14.2/$22.0 1,250/85/6/13

Dunedin MS provides supply and integration of videoconferencing solutions globally to include logistics, procurement, installation, program management, and more.

49 CAL COAST TELECOM San Jose, CA | (831) 566-5599 | http://www.cctcom.net

$13.0/$13.0 $9.0/$9.0 200/33/2/13

Cal Coast Telecom is a full-service design-build integrator. The company uses industry-best practices and state-of-the-art equipment to create audiovisual solutions that help clients operate more efficiently and effectively, and strives to provide the highest level of customer service.

Metinteractive offers systems design and integration, experience design and development, UX/UI strategy design and information architecture, creative services, content development, AV design, operations, hosting, and administration with metrics and analytics. 50 APPLIED GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES

$11.0/$12.5 $9.8/$11.5 215/42/9/29

Kennesaw, GA | (678) 594-5334 | http://www.appliedglobal.com

Applied Global Technologies offers audiovisual design and integration services, managed videoconferencing services, unified communications and IT services, help desk, and maintenance.

New Revenue for the New Year

Cloud-Based Services Provide Benefits to Integrators and Clients

By Brian Pickowitz

With the loss of regular revenue comes the loss of stability, growth, and con fidence in the industry. We saw this firsthand in the AV industry when many integra tors struggled to combat lockdown measures and strict safety protocols. Yet, for many in the industry, instead of accepting this loss, they embraced new technologies, giving way to the reestablishment of regular, recurring revenue. However, this embrace of innovative technology is not just a solution for a crisis moment—but instead is shaping the future of Pro AV.

The AV and IT industries have been merging for some time; with this merge comes an increased acceptance of IoT and cloud-based solutions within the industry. No longer a “nice to have,” these solutions became a “must have” during the pandemic and, with wider acceptance, are now an industry standard. While the advantages of cloud technology are widely known—remote control, configuration, and monitoring of systems—there are even greater advantages that can apply to integrators and end users alike if they take full advantage of the opera tional benefits of the cloud.

The cloud can allow for individual AV components or entire systems to be accessed and controlled securely from anywhere in the world. This capability delivers greater visibility and response time, and enhances preventative maintenance, simplifies troubleshooting, and cuts down or even eliminates on site maintenance requirements. In turn, the cloud saves both time and expenses across the board.

So, how can integrators use this new technology to create recurring revenue? With addition of the following offers to a service contract:

• 24/7 remote system monitoring

• 24/7 remote system control

• 24/7 remote troubleshooting

• remote system reconfiguration

• proactive preventative maintenance

• system data analytics (to increase system efficiency)

• remote system updates (firmware)

• system data storage

Service agreements provide a variety of benefits for integrators, including a regular, predictable cash flow, sustainable customer loyalty, and opportunities to upsell new devices, solutions, training, and support. A service agreement also enables better business practices. The integrator can fix many problems remotely, but if a service

truck is needed on site, there is greater insight as to the scale of the issue and the tools or team required.

For end users, a service agreement ensures their systems will always be operational and maintained in a timely manner. This helps maintain the customer/solution provider relationship over the long haul.

When evaluating potential manufacturer partners, it is essential for integrators to seek out one who understands the business and provides guidance while shifting to the recurring revenue model. Additionally, the cloud solution should be easy to get up and running. Some manufacturers, such as LEA Professional, offer the cloud capability for free with the purchase of their product.

SVL Productions, a full-service sound, video, lighting, and production company, has seen a positive impact on business since they began using the LEA Professional Cloud Platform. “Utilizing the cloud platform has changed the way we do business,” said Brent Hayes, president at SVL Productions. “We can log in remotely, see if there are any issues, and address them immediately. By adding this service to our contracts with end users, it has not only bolstered our relationships but given us a new, additional form of income, future-proofing the business.”

A new year for many means new opportunities and new challenges, but it also means new contracts. Now is the time to negotiate the addition of these services. If you are not adding these offerings to your service contracts, you are essentially leaving money on the table. Pro AV integrators who have a larger portion of total revenue composed of recurring revenue will be better positioned to weather any future downturns in the economy.

Brian Pickowitz is the vice president of marketing for LEA Professional.

Supply Chain Struggles Continue

Manufacturers Share Updates and Advice for Integrators

By Carolyn Heinze

Are we there yet? In short, no. When will things start to improve? Maybe spring, maybe summer … maybe not … but (hopefully) at some point in 2023. Executives from Atlona, Netgear, and Sony shared supply chain stories and offered advice for SCN readers.

: How much supply chain disruption have you experienced?

Jamey Swigert, Executive Director, Atlona: I’ve been thinking about us as that proverbial duck on the water. Underneath the surface in the back office it’s a lot of work and it’s challenging. But above the

surface, we’ve managed to maintain the vast majority of our products in inventory, so everything looks cool and calm and normal to our customers. But certainly it’s created a lot of additional work and new challenges. There’s been a lot going on in the office to keep product on the shelf.

John Henkel, Director of SMB Product Marketing, Netgear:

It

the same chipsets, but

don’t. And it’s not just the main chip; it could be the power chip, or it can be a different, smaller chip that we’re out of. We’ve made alterations—just like others have—and re-laid out the boards for certain products. We’re

America: We’ve had a lot of wins and a few losses. When I came on board, we didn’t know any of this was going to happen, but we took a position of “we need to grow” and were able to make some bets that allowed us to be in an extremely strong inventory position. But obviously, like everyone else, all of a sudden you’ll run into an issue when Shanghai shuts down, or there may be a chip shortage that might affect a product. Like everyone, we got impacted upstream and downstream by all of these different variables. But at the same time, we saw pretty dramatic growth in our business because we did have inventory, especially in our display business, that a lot of the market didn’t have availability on.

: What have been the major bottlenecks? Swigert: What’s been most consistent is the inconsistency, to an extent. It’s almost like every production run brings a new component or list of components that are in short supply, which we then

really depends on the product because we have such distinct product lines—some of them use

others

air-shipping some product in. And we have a lot of wireless access points in the channel right now.

Rich Ventura, Vice President of B2B, Sony Electronics Professional Solutions

Jamey Swigert

John Henkel

Rich Ventura

GETTY IMAGES

have to go out and find in the market from somebody other than our normal source. We’ve seen it not just from the chip manufacturers, but silicon fab houses all the way through to very basic components like resistors and capacitors. It’s really pretty broad across the board.

: How else have you been responding to disruption?

Henkel: Luckily, we were able to work with some of our semiconductor partners and we pre-purchased some supply. But we did have to work on allocation across all of our products, and we also started finding alternative sources as well. As we redesigned some boards or introduced new products, those boards can accommodate chips from A, B, or C vendors—so no matter who we get, [the boards] will work. The key is maintaining quality: You don’t want to build it fast just to get it out. We’re known for quality and reliability in the industry, so we have to maintain that and not just use anybody who can get us a chip.

: What components are especially hard to get? What are the lag times?

Ventura: It’s hard to pinpoint what components

have different lag times, because right now it may be a chip, tomorrow it might be a wiring harness, and then next week it might be an optical block. Then the week after may actually be plastic— because if you think about the petroleum concerns that have been going on, plastics are made out of petroleum. So, when gas prices are going up, it is actually creating shortages in plastics, even.

: Any takeaways for AV integrators?

Swigert: If you can’t get the product from your normal supplier, then be open to looking at alternatives. Be open to evaluating a new product from a new company that you haven’t dealt with. Obviously plan ahead—much further ahead than we used to have to. One observation: We have seen a lot of integrators that typically bought direct leveraging distribution to be part of their sourcing team to help them find the different parts they need to put together a project. I think integrators—if they aren’t already—need to be flexible in terms of looking at sourcing and how they buy and who they buy from.

Henkel: There will be tremendous improvement in the second half of 2023, but we’re still going to have some issues in the first half. Until then, we’re doing everything we can to get product built and shipped as fast as we can.

Ventura: I look at the supply chain nightmare as an opportunity to do something different. This is a great opportunity to start looking at things like cloud software and services, and actually augment some of the hardware that you’re using.

“This is a great opportunity to start looking at things like cloud software and services, and actually augment some of the hardware that you’re using.”

Rich Ventura, Sony

Pro AV 2023: Trends to Watch

By Carolyn Heinze

No need to rehash how challenging the beginning of this decade has been or the continuing uncertainty businesses in all industries, including Pro AV, are facing. In exploring what areas AV integrators should be focused on in 2023, SCN surveyed a number of manufacturers and solutions providers to learn about customer needs, tech advancements, and, of course, opportunities for those who install their solutions. Here are a few things to inspire you as you plan for next year.

User-Focused Hybrid Work

Organizations working under the hybrid model require their meeting and collaboration solutions to be as user-friendly as possible, according to Dan Williams, field sales engineer at Kramer Electronics USA. “Most companies are looking for basic, simple solutions such as MS Teams or Zoom,” he said.

It’s the peripherals (such as cameras, micro phones, and speakers) that may vary, depending on the user and where they work. “It’s the variety of physical spaces that drives the peripheral needs of the end users, and it’s this variety of peripherals that offers the most opportunity for AV integra tors,” Williams added. “It’s really the same thing that our industry has been doing for decades: Make the technology easy to use and integrate it into the physical environment. It is just the specific tech nologies that have changed or evolved in order to suit today’s needs.”

Greg Mack, director of sales at Yamaha Unified Communica tions, observed that after more than two years of experiment ing with supporting hybrid work, organizations are shifting away from traditional confer ence and huddle rooms in favor of meeting spaces that are located in open environments for impromptu collaboration. “Teams now want the ability to decide how and where they hold meet ings,” he explained. “Many don’t want to book a

room to have a meeting; in short, customers need more flexible, open meeting spaces.”

This means AV integrators need to get creative in offering solutions that deliver high AV perfor mance while remaining simple to use, Mack said. “It’ll be crucial to highlight UC solutions that put audio first because open spaces are notorious for challenging acoustics, ambient noise, and other unwanted sounds native to these environments,” he added.

Addressing Latency

Paul Harris, CEO and CTO of Aurora Multimedia, pointed out that every component in a system contributes to increas ing or decreasing latency issues in the hybrid work environ ment. “Nothing is worse than trying to talk to a person and they are lagging, and you step on top of the conversation,” he said. “1G AV-over-IP is one frame typically—the displays based on brand can be 3ms to 32ms, based on what features are turned on in the monitor.”

For lowest latency, he recommended setting the display to gaming mode, since this will usually eliminate additional processing. “External process ing for windowing or seamless switching can add another one to two frames,” he offered, “and as you start adding all the devices up, you will quickly start to have a few frames of latency, which could become noticeable. Paying attention to the accumulated latencies will make the biggest difference in the system you create.”

Software-Defined Architectures

Satoshi Kanemura, president and COO of FOR-A Corporation of America, said that as organi zations continue to transition to AV-over-IP workflows, SDI and IP should coexist. A software-defined architecture, he argued, makes the migration from SDI to IP more cost effective.

“It’s a flexible solution during this transition period,” Kanemura explained. “Adding new functionality through software means that the customer can configure the system to their needs without an additional hardware investment.” This approach makes hybrid production more seamless, he added.

Software-defined architec tures also enable quicker product evolution, noted Steven Barlow, CEO of DVIGear. “We can innovate our product based on software that we code,” he said. “When a customer asks for a certain capability and we don’t have that, it’s

Dan Williams

Greg Mack

Paul Harris

Satoshi Kanemura

Steven Barlow

possible we can put it into our development queue, whereas in a hardware-only world that would be much more difficult. The big advantage is that you have much greater flexibility and speed in dealing with creating solutions and innovations.”

PTZ Cameras for Hybrid Production

Edgar Shane, general manager of engineering at JVC Kenwood USA, said today’s PTZ camera technology fulfills several of the needs associated with hybrid and remote production, which includes the ability for engineers to control the production as if they were onsite, even when they’re not. Plus, today’s PTZ cameras are generally close in quality to studio cameras.

“PTZ cameras can be controlled remotely in terms of exposure and color imagery, while also changing the angle of the zoom position, which gives personnel complete control of the produc tion,” Shane explained. “Many newer PTZ models come complete with SRT, which assures that high-quality video can be delivered over a public network 1,000 miles away. Additionally, most PTZ cameras rely on NDI, which helps to streamline local video production and eliminates the need for bulky SDI cables.”

Centralized Processing

Traditionally, classrooms and conference spaces have housed their own individual AV control processors. Paul Dexter, founder and CEO of project software developer Jetbuilt, noted that centralized processing is a growing trend.

“[Facilities] are going to centralized processing where one single processor does an update that pushes out to 200 rooms, so it’s far more efficient,” he observed. “And it’s far more flexible because any classroom can be a presentation or a viewing room.”

Centralized processing is also a potential solution to current fulfillment challenges. “It takes a lot fewer chips to make one big processor rather than hundreds of little processors and power supplies and converters,” Dexter noted.

Lighting Priorities

Kathy Katz, co-founder and partner at Brightline, noted the increased prioritization of lighting the workplace—be it in the office or at home.

“Many organizations are turning to the control of PoE and the energy savings of LED fixtures,” she said. “Reduced power con sumption, increased efficiencies, ease and simplic ity of installation, increased safety, reduced costs,

increased informational feedback—all reasons to dive head-first into the perfect union of profes sional video lighting and IT-based management of lighting control systems.”

Outsourcing Considerations

The pandemic, in large part, has driven integrators to take advantage of outsourced services such as engineering, programming, and digital signage content, according to Rob Voorhees, business development manager at Exertis Almo, an AV products distributor and services provider.

“Coming out of what we’ve experienced for the past couple of years, it’s actually become almost a necessity,” he said, in reference to labor shortages. “We’ve gone from having a lot of uncertainty around services to now it’s, ‘How can I get involved in this? Can you help me with this type of project?’”

Digital Signage Innovations

Sheridan Bowman, key account manager for enterprise at Absen, has found clients are seeking seamless (bezel-free) video displays that are costeffective and come with good post-sale support (including warranty). “Really know the manufac turers’ solutions you sell so that when you find an opportunity, you can talk at a high level about a complete solution,” she advised. She also invited integrators to engage with manufacturers when they need support: “We’re here for that reason.”

mobile phone to taking way finding maps and local business information with them from a kiosk,” he explained. “Or as powerful as an augmented reality gaming experience with directional sound that follows the consumer.”

Northrup encouraged AV integrators to explore the opportunities that are available to them after the initial system sale. “Partnering with software companies that specialize in analytics will help end users understand how consumers respond to certain digital signage content, display positions, and merchandising choices,” he advised.

“Additionally, planning managed services to maintain and even operate the signage network will take pressure off the end customer while adding monthly revenue streams to the integrator’s business.”

From a global perspective, customers are seeking sustainable digital signage, noted Franck Racapé, head of global commercial and vice president, EMEA, at PPDS (Philips Professional Display Solutions). “[This is] both in terms of the carbon footprint of the display itself, and also the management and lifetime costs of running it,” he said.

Remote management platforms help AV integra tors to achieve this. “[It gives] the ability to easily monitor and manage the full display network from one single source or dashboard, delivering time efficiencies, saving on fuel from expensive truck rollouts or service calls, and, ultimately, delivering on fast and effective customer service,” he added.

According to Chris Northrup, vice president of business development for digital signage solutions at USSI Global, companies seek interac tive and immersive digital signage to boost audience engagement. Often, this comes in the form of touch-based or voicedriven systems, or the incorporation of QR codes.

“It can be as simple as a customer using his or her

Edgar Shane

Kathy Katz

Paul Dexter

Rob Voorhees

Sheridan Bowman

Chris Northrup

Franck Racapé

LynTec Helps SNA Displays Power AV Facelift for FSU

Seminole Soccer Complex and JoAnne Graf Field Dazzle Fans with New Videoboards

By Wayne Cavadi

Tallahassee’s Florida State University certainly doesn’t have to worry about entertaining fans with its women’s soccer or softball teams. On the field, the Seminoles women’s soccer team is the defending national champions, winning it all three times since 2014. The softball team made it to the Women’s College World Series finals in 2021 after winning it in 2018.

To say expectations are high on the field is an understatement. That’s why it’s even more important the fan experience off the field is top notch.

According to SNA Displays, the NCAA powerhouse needed new, larger digital assets. “It hadn’t been upgraded in quite a while,” explained A.J. Faxel,

director of sports, SNA Displays. “Anthony James Partners partnered up with FSU, and we were awarded that project to give a fresh look to the stadium.” Mad Dog Construction was also involved in the project, building new structures to allow for the new displays.

Powerful Collaboration

While SNA Displays was the clear choice for the job, the power behind controlling those displays was still in question. “Originally when kicking off this project, we didn’t have a partner in the power control space to utilize our API that would actually control the display,” explained David Kile, director of systems integration at SNA Displays. “We worked with LynTec early on at Florida State, and were able to have them implement our API into their firmware. So moving forward with any displays that are SNA and utilizing LynTec, you can

control the display power from within the SNA LED wall control software. If you want a unified control solution, it is all within the same controls for brightness and for input selection in the SNA world.”

Behind the scenes, each new videoboard is powered by LynTec technology, including remote power lighting control panelboards. Not only do they provide an efficient power supply, the LynTec panels are easy to use by professionals and students alike.

“The power requirements were based on the designs that SNA Displays provided us, but its motorized circuit breakers for control of the sophisti cated system are for student operators or minimally trained individuals to return the system on and off,” explained Alan Tschirner, vice president and general manager for LynTec. “So the LynTec panel provides the repeatable sequencing and the separation of the powered zones. There’s a zone for display, which is the majority of the power, and then there are some ancillary circuits for logos and letters that can be configured for different applications.”

Tschirner said the system uses one panel per videoboard for a seamless, single-point operation, which makes for a straightforward installation process. “We send the panels out pre-tested and pre-configured, so it was up to the electrical contractor onsite to install them and power them and just let them do what they were set up to do,” he explained. “FSU was our first project [with SNA Displays], but all the feedback in the field has been it was very easy process to fall through and power the panels.”

SNA Displays videoboards installed at FSU are powered by LynTec technology, as the two companies look to grow their partnership in the sports market.

SPORTS VENUES TECHNOLOGY

The Fiber Advantage

The decision was made to have everything run through fiber. One point of contention is that it’s Florida: If lightning strikes, it won’t be affecting servers in a rack room.

“We take the perspective of what’s going to be the strongest and least likely to fail,” explained Kile. “And while wireless is very convenient for the end user, it also can be unreliable, especially when there’s a couple of thousand people in the stands that all have cell phones and Wi-Fi and things on their devices. So, pretty much all our displays that are in the sports world are all going to be hardwired and all going to be over fiber.”

“Two decades and two careers ago, I was a telecom munications guy,” added Tschirner. “One of the advantages is the galvanic isolation that fiber provides, especially in a lightning rich environment like Florida is. You don’t get the transience and the possibility for damage caused to metallic communication as by using a nonmetallic fiber optic cable to connect to points.”

Installed for the 2022 title defense, the new videoboard from SNA Displays at Seminole Soccer Complex uses EMPIRE Exterior LED display technol ogy. It measures 31.6 feet wide and 16.6 feet tall, with 10mm pixel spacing and 504x960 resolution.

Even with the effects of the pandemic still slowing things down, LynTec had little reason to worry. “The panel that we shipped is a standard catalog-order panel,” Tschirner explained. “We ship them daily, weekly, so we had no concerns about getting the first of the beta device or the alpha device in the field. It’s a very stable, very reliable platform.”

The display was ready to go for Opening Day, thanks to SNA Displays’ established factory eliminating any concerns about supply chain issues. “We’re in control of our own supply chain,” said Faxel. “We haven’t experienced these supply chain issues over the past two years in everything, including our LED components. It’s pretty standard timelines, so we’re able to produce and deliver within less than four months on our standard shipping.”

At JoAnne Graf Field, just over the centerfield wall, softball fans can watch vivid imagery on a 26.3x13.5-foot videoboard with 10mm pixel spacing and 408x800 pixel resolution. The videoboard hasn’t been put to official use just yet, but is ready for the coming 2023 college softball season.

“I spoke to the project manager on the FSU project, and he said multiple times throughout the project, it was just a great experience working with Florida State,” Faxel said. “They really are a true partner, so we always love partnering with people like FSU. It was a great experience from all angles—we had a lot of support from their construction teams, architecture teams, and technology teams, and it really helps make a great project even better.”

“LynTec’s perspective is expanding part of our universe to the LED sports field displays,” said

Tschirner on LynTec’s first sports project with SNA Displays. “The remote power control product is not just limited to school auditoriums and churches. But when there are sophisticated systems to be controlled, there’s an opportunity for a LynTec installation from four circuits to 400 circuits.”

The new videoboard behind centerfield at JoAnne Graf Field is ready for the 2023 college softball season.

Check Out the View

MAXHUB Cameras Offer Panoramic Meeting Coverage

By Chuck Gloman

Videoconferences don’t have to be limited to the same static shot of your conference room. MAXHUB now offers the UC M40 360-degree all-in-one camera, which recognizes faces wherever they might be in the room and follows them. If 180 degrees of coverage is sufficient, the MAXHUB UC M31 4K panoramic camera fits the bill.

Basically, the UC M40 is basically a compact cylinder with a camera on each of the four sides. The 7.5-inch-tall unit captures the visual and audio portion of your meeting. With a microphone on the top and loudspeaker on the bottom, it connects to your computer via a USB-A to USB-C cable, and is powered by an AC adapter or through the USB cable. Download the PanoCAM Studio software and you can begin your meeting.

The rear of the UC M40 has the USB input directly above the DC power port. The front has a mode switch that allows you to select one of eight options: pano rama, two screen, quarter screen, discussion, speaker, presentation, presenter, and custom. That’s a lot of visual versatility. On the top of the UC M40 is a microphone icon that illuminates white when on and red when muted. One of four blue LEDs in a circle pattern will light to indicate the direction of the sound.

The UC M31 has a different form factor; it can be mounted on a wall with the included bracket or on top of a monitor for a 180-degree field of view. With three 12MP UHD cameras, the unit will track any move ment. Like the UC M40, the panoramic camera is self-contained and is powered by a USB cable.

The front of the unit has three lenses that follow and track the action, as well as two pinhole micro phones directly above the white LED strip. The rear has

two USB ports for connectivity and a button on the top for toggling between layout options. The PanoCAM Studio software operates with this device, too.

So Many Modes

Right out of the box, the MAXHUB UC M40 couldn’t be easier to setup and use. Choose the plug adapter that fits your area and connect the USB cable from the UC M40 to your computer. On my MacBook Pro, I plugged in the system and installed the PanoCAM Studio software. From the manual selection menu, you can choose face detection, picture-in-picture, auto detect, or auto tracking. There’s also an adjustment for optimal camera view angle. Of course, you also go directly to the main screen showing your camera’s view.

In addition to its built-in camera, my MacBook Pro listed the UC M40 as one of the cameras. Once I selected it, I could use any platform to begin my meeting.

I decided to test the UC M40 with my production class, and I used the 360-degree feature because one of my students needed to attend the class via Zoom.

Setting the UC M40 on a table in the center of our TV studio, one camera faced the other students, one camera faced me, the third camera faced the 4K projection behind the

table, and the fourth camera would capture me when I walked to the other side of the room. I had full coverage of the room.

When I plugged the USB cable into my computer, the UC M40 immediately powered up—I hadn’t even plugged in the AC. However, when I only connected the USB cable, I couldn’t use the mute function and the top portion of the camera never illuminated. (They work just fine when you plug in the AC adapter.)

When the recorded Zoom meeting ended, the view my homebound student saw was a thin, panoramic bar across the screen. All four images were stitched together. In PanoCAM Studio, I changed the display layout and saw the differences on my screen, but the end user still received the narrow band, 360-degree view.

My second setup with the UC M40 included two students seated side by side in a conference room attending a Zoom meeting, with a third student at a different location on campus. Set in Presentation Mode with Auto Select on, a box followed the faces of both students as they talked and moved. When I began the lecture and stood behind them, the camera also tracked my movement as I walked. At first, both students were more interested in the camera follow ing me than the lecture material. Honestly, glancing over their shoulders at the scene, I was distracted by the camera following me, too!

Wanting to test the various settings, I began with manual mode, which enabled me to zoom into a specific area. If I had more participants, I would use the body-fit mode, so each player could be identified. If your participants need to be separate corners or quadrants, then quad view/grid mode is your best choice. Speaker mode simply shows everything that’s going on in the room.

Again, the only time I needed to use the AC for the device was if I wanted the mute feature enabled. The viewing options were determined by the PanoCam Studio software. All the UC M40 tracking happened without any noticeable lag.

Using the MAXHUB UC M31 180-degree camera for a Zoom meeting, I clipped the unit to the top of our 55-inch monitor in the conference room. You have two viewing modes—PanoCAM Studio or your online meeting software. After I adjusted the

MAXHUB’s UC M31 4K panoramic camera sits on your monitor or table and offers a wide, 180-degree field of view.

The compact UC M40 features four cameras for 360-degree coverage.

PRODUCT REVIEW TECHNOLOGY

camera with the PanoCAM Studio software, I kept it running in the background and used the Zoom platform with no issues.

While delivering my lecture, I paced along the front of the monitor to see if the integrated cameras would keep me framed. A thin green box followed me as I moved. In an adjacent conference room, a student sat at her laptop and used its built-in camera to display her image on my monitor while she viewed my lecture on her screen. No problems, but after the 30-minute meeting ended, the UC M31 camera was quite warm.

Decisions, Decisions

Even when the novelty of the facial tracking wears off, you still have an amazing tool to include everyone in your meeting. The custom features allow you to fine tune what’s seen, and my students were speechless (very rare) with how the technology functioned. As they continued to see if they could trick the camera into not following their movements (they couldn’t), I had to remind them that they had other classes and would be able to use the MAXHUB equipment later.

Both the UC M40 and the UC M31 are extremely easy to use, with virtually no setup (just install the software). Using online meeting platforms, just select the MAXHUB unit as the camera, set your viewing

mode, and begin your meeting. I can easily see this as a viable option for groups of four or more, where each person wants or needs on-camera time. Even if the participant gets up and moves, the camera(s) will easily and accurately track movement.

The only difficult choice on your part is which camera to purchase. For most environments, the 180-degree UC M31 offers more than enough coverage, particularly from the front of the room. However, if you’d rather have the camera in the

center of a conference table, and you may have participants speaking from any position around the room, the 360-degree UC M40 is an ideal choice.

My students were sad to see the equipment returned and asked if we could get it and use it again. “Were my Zoom meetings that boring without the MAXHUB?” I asked. I’m still waiting for an answer.

Chuck Gloman is an associate professor of the TV/ Film Department at DeSales University. Contact him at chuck.gloman@desales.edu

The PanoCAM Studio software makes it easy to select various display modes.

NEW PRODUCTS

Christie MicroTiles LED

Christie has launched two new pixel pitches of its MicroTiles LED. The new 0.75mm and 1.0mm models add to the existing lineup of 1.25 and 1.5mm pixel pitches, and offer increased reliability, efficiency, and enhanced durability. Flip-chip technology is easier to maintain and increases the life of the LEDs by dissipating heat more efficiently, while common cathode technology reduces power consumption. The new 1.0mm model features LED encapsulation, which provides a protective surface that improves optical performance for improved black level performance and perceived contrast, and protects the display from dust, dirt, and scratches. The increased durability gives the option to design an interactive touch wall. The proprietary QuickMount system reduces installa tion complexity, while the proprietary cabinet-free Click-n-Go LED tiles can be arranged in near unlim ited configurations.

Shure AD600 Axient Digital Spectrum Manager

The successor to its AXT600, Shure’s new AD600 Axient Digital Spectrum Manager is a powerful tool for planning and managing frequency coordination in the most demanding professional audio applications, including touring, broadcast, location sound, theater, and houses of worship. Keeping the future of wireless in mind, Shure designed the AD600’s tuning range to support frequency bands from 174 MHz to 2 GHz, which includes and expands on the frequencies where AXT600 is operable. Compared to AXT600, AD600 boasts faster scanning that finds available frequen cies and analyzes RF spectrum in real time, stream lining site surveys and spectrum management. The AD600 is outfitted with a large, full-color, 6.6-inch front panel screen, which makes viewing information easy, while six antenna inputs support coverage for multiple antennas and locations.

Hall Technologies Atlas

Atlas is a new, all-in-one conferencing solution. The meeting collaboration system includes mic, speaker, and a built-in presentation switch for a superior audio and video experience whether across the room or across the globe. Atlas works seamlessly with all soft-codec conferencing solutions and is compatible for Windows, Mac OS, and Android, as well as UC platforms like Zoom, WebEx, and Microsoft Teams. The Atlas complete conference system including BYOD is easy to deploy, and provides a consistent high-quality audio and video experience. The audio includes an omnidirectional microphone array with echo cancellation and noise reduction paired with an advanced 10W conference speaker. Presentation options include a USB hub (resolution up to 1080p/60), HDMI (up to 4K/30), HDBaseT, and wireless casting.

Sony SLS-1A

Ideal for education, corporate, retail, and worship applications, the new SLS-1A line-array speaker is purpose-built to create new sound field coverage when paired with large-format displays. It solves common pain points, such as poor acoustics or architectural challenges, for large and medium spaces. A key feature of this new modular, bar-style compact speaker is its wide sweet spot, which creates a clear sound field in larger spaces. With its compact and modular design, the newly developed SLS-1A is equipped with Sony’s unique speaker technology, in addition to an onboard DSP and power amplification providing 80W total per module. Its combination of technologies and setup options delivers a sound system that is effective for voice or content playback, and creates a uniform sound pressure and quality in large listening areas.

Brightline LED Profile Spotlight Series

Each model in Brightline’s new family of four profile spotlight LED fixtures contains an ellipsoidal reflector for controlled, long throws. The new Mako and Minnow fixtures are well suited for a variety of applications, including broadcast studios, production studios, and large and mid-sized presentation rooms. The Mako spotlight uses interchangeable, prime lenses and is designed for longer throws within large rooms or studios. The Minnow covers a shorter throw and is ideal as a key and accent light. Brightline Minnows have a compact zoom lens, enabling precise and continual adjustment to create the desired beam size. The profile spotlight LEDs offer fanless conduc tion cooling, and are available in tunable variable white and RGBW (Red, Green, Blue, White) versions. The RGBW models provide full color spectrum performance and feature a 4-in-1 LED RGBW for the brightest output and boldest color rendering.

Nureva HDL410

The HDL410 system is the first of a new generation of Nureva audioconferencing systems for getting great audio in larger hybrid spaces without the cost and complexity of traditional solutions. The system combines two Nureva microphone and speaker bars with a new connect module, powered by next-genera tion Microphone Mist technology, as well as a new unified coverage map to deliver pro audio perfor mance in spaces up to 35x55 feet. The unified coverage map enables the two microphone and speaker bars to act as a single device, with a single coverage map that spans the entire space. The result greatly improves audio performance and sound location data accuracy for camera switching and steering, while avoiding the complications and performance challenges of systems that require manual setup and complex processing to stitch together overlapping coverage areas from multiple ceiling microphones.

YoloLiv VertiCam

VertiCam is a vertical PTZ camera for live streaming to major platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Snapchat. Designed for the new generation of content creators, influencers, storytell ers, and videographers, VertiCam can switch easily with multiple preset positions by storing and recalling 255 specific PTZ positions. Its remote control supports a wide rotation range of ±170 degrees horizontally and 30-90 degrees vertically. Control the HD camera remotely for free angle rotation through the RS-232 serial port. Other features include 12x optical zoom with auto focus, professional color mode with camera noise reduction, backlight compensa tion, and low-light performance. It performs HD image quality with 2.07 million effective pixels and 1920x1090 images.

Blaze Audio PowerZone Connect

Blaze Audio has added four models (1002, 1502, 2004, and 3004) to its PowerZone Connect series of multizone installation amplifiers, which are designed for commercial installation projects such as shopping

malls, large-scale paging and distribution systems, auditoriums, hotels, casinos, and more. The ampli fiers deliver flexible, reliable power output with total system power offerings of 1000W, 1500W, 2000W, and 3000W in a full rack, 2 RU form factor with multiple connectivity options. All models include a full matrix DSP design with system configuration and control via Blaze Audio’s PowerZone Control browser-based web app. Leverage full system power and maximum channel count in Lo-Z (4ohms), or employ half the channel count but double the channel power for Hi-Z operation. Create hybrid output setups (Lo-Z+Hi-Z) with a single amplifier on four-channel models.

Magewell Ultra Encode AIO

The new Ultra Encode AIO builds on the flexibility of the company's original Ultra Encode models with expanded features including HDMI and SDI input connectivity in a single unit, 4K encoding and streaming from the HDMI input, simultaneous multi-protocol streaming, higher streaming bit rates, file recording, and more. Ultra Encode AIO supports multiple video encoding formats as well as a wide array of delivery protocols. Video can be encoded at resolutions up to 4096x2160 at 30 frames per second from HDMI sources, or up to 1080p HD at 60 fps from the device’s 3G-SDI input. Configurable presets enable easy streaming to YouTube Live, Facebook Live, Twitch, or custom targets. Ultra Encode AIO can

stream to up to six different target destinations simultaneously, and can stream concurrently in multiple protocols.

Clockaudio CUB-33

The CUB-33 is Clockaudio’s first USB microphone designed for professionals working from home or at the office, as well as for streamers and podcasters. The CUB-33 tabletop microphone comes with the popular C3 series gooseneck and a capacitive touchscreen with integrated VU meter, which will display levels to indicate if the audio Is too low or if the mic is clipping. The mute button can also be configured as push to mute or latch. Bottom heavy for added stability, the CUB-33 is robust and easy to setup. It is driverless, compatible with Windows and MacOS, and is “mutesync” compatible with the Zoom meeting app. With the right adaptors (sold separately), it also works with iPadOS and iOS.

6 Steps for Financial Success in 2023

By Tom LeBlanc

It is a great time to be an integration company leader. No, we’re not being sarcastic or pander ing. Yes, we’re aware of the unprecedented supply chain and inflation-related challenges. It is a great time to be an integration company leader because the decisions you make now have tremendous impact. This is your moment; the tricky part is that you need to make sure you’re well-positioned to seize it.

Well-positioned integrators have an enormously high ceiling, as Internet of Things (IoT) is the fastestgrowing trend in the smart building sector. Integration is also the fastest-growing segment in the construction industry, because we enable workflows and make buildings safer for those doing the work.

For these reasons and more, the value that integrators bring to their customers is more in demand than ever. It’s a great time to be an integrator, but:

• the supply chain creates project profitability challenges.

• product availability puts project timelines and customer satisfaction at risk.

• labor costs make healthy margins more difficult to attain.

• the pandemic continues to create workplace and talent management challenges.

• inflation uncertainty leads to tremendous challenges with budgeting and forecasting.

Financial leadership is always an important topic for integrators, but the current market and uncertain economy make it even more business critical as companies plan for success in 2023. NSCA is willing to be the not-so-fun uncle. We’re focusing on financial leadership because given all these factors, that’s what’s critical to integrators being able to capitalize on that great value in 2023. With that priority in mind, here are six steps that NSCA recommends to position your integration company for success in 2023.

1. Prioritize Back of House

Many integration companies may need to elevate their focus on the glamorous parts of their business in 2023. While the solutions remain important, it’s essential to pay attention to the little things to protect profitability.

That has been the focus of the NSCA Financial Leader ship Council (FLC), a group of NSCA member company financial leaders and NSCA board members that collaborate on finance-focused resources for integra tors. Integrators can leverage FLC guidance for intelligent supply chain, scheduling, cashflow, staffing decisions, and more.

2. Consider Cost Structure vs. Revenue Change

Leading into NSCA’s Fall 2022 Pivot to Profit business transformation conference, the FLC conducted a survey of 30 NSCA member company CFOs. The small, focused survey aimed to shed light on budgeting challenges and concerns heading into 2023.

One of the questions asked how they’ve seen their cost structure (total payroll plus general and adminis trative expenses relative to revenue) change over the past couple of years. For 80% of respondents, it has increased—and they’ve had to increase their cost structure (payroll, rents, vehicles, marketing, IT, etc.). The remaining 20% said it has stayed the same; none said it decreased. To put these findings more simply, it means that at least four out of five integration compa nies need more revenue in 2023 in order to just break even. If they’re not already, integration company leaders should be cognizant of this metric so they can get a logical view of company performance in 2023.

3. Take Supply Chain Risk Mitigation Steps

Another question asked about the impact that the supply chain is having on their businesses. It’s no surprise that the results show an overwhelming impact. Supply chain discussions are tricky and proposed solutions are often misleading. NSCA recently released its Supply Chain Risk Mitigation Strategies for Integra tors paper, which is based on input from board mem bers and financial leaders in the NSCA community, as well as NSCA business resource partners with legal, sales, system design, and project management expertise.

4. Recognize Source of Gross Profit Erosion

The FLC asked integration company financial leaders to evaluate their

gross profit erosion and identify the biggest impact. The results show that about 65% said lack of equipment to finish projects, so it comes back to the supply chain. According to NSCA, profit should be north of 30%, but it’s very clear that lack of equipment to finish projects is crushing many integrators right now. The advice here is for integration company leaders to pay close attention to where that gross profit erosion is coming from—if you don’t understand the root of the prob lem, it’s very difficult to address.

5. Take Stock of Backlog Trends

During the depths of the pandemic, there was so much uncertainty about when customers would start spending money on integration again. Then things changed. Return-to-work strategies led to great demand for integration services, so backlogs filled up again. That would be great news were it not coupled with supply chain challenges that often prevent those projects from being completed.

Solid backlog is a good thing, but not too much because of scorned customers and higher inventory. A good exercise for integration company financial leaders is to examine their best year in business and what was their backlog was at that point. Create a goal to hit that target. Also, take note of whether the backlog is of the variety that will produce high gross profit backlog versus jobs that aren’t likely to break even.

6. Reconsider Your 2023 Forecast

It’s not too late to reexamine how you budgeted for 2023. Integration company leaders should think about baking inflation into their budgeting for 2023. A $10M company might have to be an $11M company just to cover the inflation side of things. But remember, that’s not real growth—that’s inflation adjusted growth.

NSCA’s best advice, again, is to focus on mitiga tion impact by focusing on areas that integrators can control. Take a hard stance on de-risking your proposals with terms and conditions that are favorable to you. Set parameters and eliminate projects that are below your minimum anticipated gross profit threshold. And don’t undervalue yourself. This has been a topic of emphasis in the integration market for years, but it’s even more important these days.

For integration companies, financial leadership is every bit as important as the bells and whistles in 2023. Thanks to supply chain, inflation, volatile labor market, and other factors, being profitable isn’t easy. Take this challenge seriously. In 2023, be the type of integration company leader that recognizes these challenges and puts your company in position to succeed. That means making sure you have the right financial leaders in place and empowering them to pursue profit ability in 2023.

Tom LeBlanc is the executive director of NSCA.

Integration company leaders should think about baking inflation into their budgeting for 2023.