Systems Contractor News - October 2020

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October issue of

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C O N T R A C T O R

WHAT YOU  BONUS: NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AV IN A POST-COVID-19 WORLD

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THE HUMAN FACTOR USING DESIGN THINKING TO INNOVATE 8 industry insiders 18 Executive Q&A

WolfVision’s Michael Lisi talks staying relevant during a pandemic.

19 Tech Tales

Adam Shulman of Bose discusses the unique challenges and opportunities of HoW audio during a pandemic.

42 Viewpoint

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AVI-SPL’s Sharath Abraham questions why more AV professionals aren’t early adopters of technology.

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CON TENTS

PEOPLE 18 EXECUTIVE Q&A WolfVision’s Michael Lisi talks staying relevant during a pandemic. By Megan A. Dutta

19 TECH TALES

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The new normal has proven to be particularly challenging for church leaders, who are tasked with bringing parishioners together across a variety of locations, whether they are worshipping in person or attending virtual services from home. By Adam Shulman

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 26 THE INTEGRATION GUIDE TO AV IN A POST-COVID-19 WORLD Much of the tech being deployed to accommodate work and learning during the pandemic already existed before the crisis. Integrators are grappling with how to use it to deliver more refined experiences, both on site and off.

TECHNOLOGY 34 WHAT STREAMING AND SPACING MEANS FOR AUDIO IN HOUSES OF WORSHIP There’s no question that the ways people come together to worship have changed dramatically this year. That has also meant a lot of changes to the way services sound—and what they may sound like in the future. By Mary Bakija

32 GOOOOOAL! NEW SCOREBOARD BY PLANAR WINS BIG

FEATURES

22 | ZOOM ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

COVID-19 has disrupted just about every aspect of life, and its impact on the sports world has been equally notable. Technologists and broadcasters are turning to artificial crowd noise, virtual fan walls, remote attendees, interactive software, and creative audiovisual solutions to keep the athletes’ morale up and fan excitement high. By Margot Douaihy, Ph.D.

42 WE SHOULD BE INNOVATORS As AV professionals, we should be innovators and early adopters of technology ... and hold each other accountable when we’re part of the late majority or the laggard group. By Sharath Abraham

DEPARTMENTS

Whether or not you’ve heard about the principles of human-centered design or the methodology behind design thinking, you’re definitely familiar with user experience design and have probably applied its best practices in your business. After all, the pro AV industry is all about the user experience. By Cindy Davis

ASSOCIATION NEWS............................................. 15 PEOPLE NEWS......................................................... 20 PRODUCTS............................................................... 38

Are You Online? So Are We. 34

Vol. 27 No. 10 October 2020 Systems Contractor News (ISSN 1078-4993) is published monthly by Future US, Inc., 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10036-8002. Periodical postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to: SYSTEMS CONTRACTOR NEWS, P.O. Box 1051, Lowell, MA 01853. Subscription rates are US: 1 yr $59, 2 yr $105; Canada: 1 yr $109, 2 yr $205, Foreign: 1 yr $169, 2 yr $325; Single copy price $10. Subscribe online at www.MySCNews.com. Please allow 6-8 weeks for address changes to take effect. ©Copyright 2020 by Future US, Inc. PRINTED IN U.S.A.

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As corporations rely on remote meetings to keep their businesses running efficiently, videoconferencing is enjoying a renaissance. New uses for it are cropping up in nearly every sector, from healthcare to finance and judicial proceedings. By Ledetta Asfa-Wossen

VIEWPOINT

24 | THE 2020 HUMAN FACTOR

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36 REMOTE COLLABORATION ESSENTIALS

For more on the stories in this issue, visit avnetwork.com/scn1020.

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editorial

S Y S T E M S

C O N T R A C T O R

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avnetwork.com

OCTOBER 2020 VOL . 27 NO. 10

Signs of Recovery

Megan A. Dutta

Follow Me Online megan.dutta@futurenet.com twitter.com/scnmag twitter.com/meganadutta @scnmagazine

As quarantine life drags on (and on and on), lately there have been some hopeful signs that we have established a framework for the new normal and are getting back to business.

In this month’s AVIXA Pro AV Business Index (page 16), we learn that the industry has made the “feeble first steps” to recovery, and AVIXA’s team expects that growth to continue for the remainder of the year.

Employees who have been working from home for months are starting to go back to their offices, though in limited numbers. The list of companies testing a return includes Future, parent company of SCN, though the only offices testing reopening for us are in the UK. Will those spaces look and function differently? Absolutely, but it won’t be long before the new systems and processes seem normal—or newnormal, at any rate.

Because of the state of the world, remote meetings will continue to dominate industry conversations for the foreseeable future. The pandemic has brought remote meetings, and specifically videoconferencing, out of its traditional corporate home and into other sectors like judicial proceedings.

We explore the latest technology and trends in remote meetings on page 36.

Sports have returned—not in the traditional way, but we’re able to cheer on our favorite teams (Go Cubbies!) remotely. In Margot Douaihy’s piece about broadcasting sports (page 22), we discover that organizations are bringing in crowd noises, and many are

filling empty stadiums with cardboard “fans.”

While regulations vary by state, some NFL fans will be able to attend games in person. Differently, of course.

The Miami Dolphins will welcome fans beginning in September, with new policies and procedures. Face masks will be required and attendance has been limited to about 20 percent of total capacity, according to reports. Most relevant to our industry, the stadium is employing technology to assist with carrying out health and safety procedures. There’ll be temperature scans, digital-only entry for tickets, touchless security scans, mobile food and beverage ordering, and more. To learn more about AV in a post-COVID world, check out our supplement beginning on page 26.

COVID-19 has also impacted live events, with that industry’s future still uncertain. In fact, next year’s ISE trade show has moved from early February to early June. We sat down (virtually, of course) with AVIXA to discuss this.

Turn to page 10 to get the inside scoop on the show’s move.

Unfortunately, the pandemic has brought never-before-seen uncertainty into our work and home lives. But with outlooks beginning to improve, we are starting to see signs of life in the pro AV industry, and I’m looking forward to experiencing the “new normal.”

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VP/Content Creation Anthony Savona Content Director Megan A. Dutta, megan.dutta@futurenet.com Content Manager Katie Makal Contributors: Sharath Abraham, Ledetta AsfaWossen, Mary Bakija, Cindy Davis, Margot Douaihy, Ph.D., Carolyn Heinze, Adam Shulman Managing Design Director Nicole Cobban Art Editor Rob Crossland Production Managers Nicole Schilling, Heather Tatrow A DV E R T ISING SA L ES

Vice President, AV/Consumer Electronics & Pro Audio Adam Goldstein, adam.goldstein@futurenet.com, 212-378-0465 Sales Janis Crowley, janis.crowley@futurenet.com, 845-414-6791 Debbie Rosenthal, debbie.rosenthal@futurenet.com, 212-378-0468 Zahra Majma, zahra.majma@futurenet.com, 845-678-3752 SUBSCRIBER CUS TOMER SERVICE

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Registered office: Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.

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news

News Highlights from SCN Online

On Twitter

“Rocket Mapping” Takes Flight with PaintScaping and Christie’s D4K40-RGB

cape canaveral, fl—Christie high-brightness 4K RGB laser projectors helped to mark the impending launch of United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral with the first-ever 3D projection mapping on an operational rocket by PaintScaping. Six 45,000 ISO lumen Christie D4K40-RGB projectors—provided by rental firm Nationwide Video—mapped the façade of the nearly 72-meter rocket at a private event for the National Reconnaissance Office ahead of ULA’s launch in September.

* Top 5 Online Stories

View them online at avnetwork.com/scn1020.

5. Guitar Center Hires Mohit Parasher as President of Business Solutions 4. Crestron Launches Work-from-Anywhere Tabletop Conferencing System 3. Logitech Launches Swytch Platform-Agnostic Videoconferencing Solution 2. Blackmagic Design Ships ATEM Mini Pro ISO 1. Shure Wins Latest Round in ClearOne Patent Dust-Up

Blog bits Now on avnetwork.com

By Seth Powell For large enterprises, it’s becoming less a question of “Will we choose to go with AV over IP?” and more “When will we roll out AVoIP?” Companies now understand that when it comes to distribution, AVoIP offers the flexibility and scalability required to support their conference rooms, huddle spaces, and meeting facilities, while at the same time eliminating the need for the support technologies required with other AV distribution methods.

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Now on residentialsystems.com

By Henry Clifford Our industry is surging right now. COVID-19 might’ve sidelined a lot of workers, but it seems to be strengthening the custom installation channel. As more people stay at home and venues like movie theaters stay shuttered, customers want to enhance their home technology systems more than ever before. This surge has placed an unprecedented demand on our industry for new work. The time to hire is now. Thankfully there are more workers than ever seeking employment..

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Now on Installation-International.com

By William MacDonald Bloomberg predicts that the videoconferencing market will be worth $6.7 billion by 2025. It has already developed significantly over the past 10 years, evolving from being a specialized function reserved for the “top dogs” of an organization into something that can deliver value to almost all employees, improving communication and collaboration and, ultimately, business success.

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news ISE Postponed to June 2021

BY MEG AN A. D U TTA

Integrated Systems Europe (ISE)— scheduled for Feb. 2–5, 2021, in Barcelona—has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will instead take place June 1–4, 2021.

“The health and safety of our team, exhibiting companies, industry partners, and attendees is our number one priority,” said Mike Blackman, managing director, Integrated Systems Events. “Given the understandable concerns among all of our stakeholders regarding coronavirus, and the uncertainty regarding travel restrictions and country lockdowns, we have concluded it is not prudent to maintain our original schedule of an in-person February 2021 trade show.”

“Research shows us that people definitely want to get back to face-to-face meetings,” said Joé Lloyd, AVIXA’s senior director of communications. “While everybody has their own personal timeline of when that will happen, the majority of people feel like May/June is the time of year that people will be able to come back together.”

“As an organization, we’ll be able to bring AV professionals back together in that timeframe,” she continued. “There will be a show in Asia, a show in Europe, and a show in North America, all in a timeframe that our audiences have told us that they want to get together.”

“AVIXA is proud to be a partner with CEDIA in delivering ISE to the audiovisual industry each year. We fully support ISE’s decision to postpone the first show in Barcelona until June 2021,” added David Labuskes, CEO, AVIXA. “This isn’t a trivial undertaking and has thousands of moving parts, but in making this decision, ISE reaffirms their commitment to the health of all those who participate in these events, from the taxicab driver to the exhibitor teams. And all of those same people will be even more committed to be a part of the extravaganza that ISE promises to be.”

Lloyd stated that AVIXA is trying to bring back face-to-face meetings in a safe way, rejuvenating the industry and the community, but always keeping the safety of all of those who take part in their events—from attendees to exhibitors to staff, and even the hotel, restaurant, transit, and other workers in the local communities—at the forefront of plans.

While two major industry trade shows taking place in the same month—InfoComm is scheduled for June 12–18, 2021, in Orlando, FL—may create a conundrum for some AV professionals, Lloyd pointed out that the audiences do not overlap as much as you might think. “From a U.S. perspective, we look at ISE as our show, just in another country,” she said. “But what’s interesting is that when you look at the attendee breakdown, these really are regionalized shows.”

According to AVIXA and ISE, less than 5 percent of ISE attendees in 2019 were from the United States, and less than 11 percent of InfoComm 2019 attendees were from outside of the Americas.

The two shows “are not competitive,” Lloyd claims. While ISE caters to both the residential and commercial markets, InfoComm focuses solely on pro AV. According to ISE’s data, 53.7 percent of ISE attendees focus solely on the pro AV market, with 38.7 percent focused on both commercial and residential. “InfoComm is pro AV all the way,” Lloyd said.

“InfoComm is not moving [because of the ISE date change],” Lloyd said firmly. “The show, with all of our best intentions, is happening in June. We’re moving full steam ahead with a fabulous show and it’s happening June 12–18, with the exhibit hall open June 16–18.”

For more information on ISE 2021, visit www.iseurope.org.

For more information on InfoComm 2021, visit www.infocommshow.org.

VITEC Commits to Becoming Carbon Neutral by 2021 VITEC is launching a green initiative to mitigate the company’s environmental impact. VITEC hopes to become completely carbon neutral by 2021 in all facets of business operations, including the manufacturing of its video products.

VITEC’s carbon-balanced video products will support the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives of customers who share VITEC’s commitment to making the world a better place for future generations.

“Technology providers have a responsibility to contribute to the rescue of our planet, and I want VITEC to be among the frontrunners,” said Philippe Wetzel, CEO of VITEC. “This initiative is important to me, our global employees, and the communities we serve. We have always tried to make positive green choices when developing new facilities or processes. The sooner we reach carbon neutrality, the sooner we will see benefits for our businesses and partners.”

On June 15, VITEC signed the United Nations’ Climate Neutral Now initiative, joining other global organizations to measure,

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reduce, and offset carbon gas emissions to achieve climate neutrality. As a first step in its Climate Neutral Now pledge, VITEC calculated its greenhouse gas emissions for the 2019 fiscal year and purchased carbon offsets from U.N.-affiliated organizations to bring the company’s 2019 carbon impact to net-zero.

A recently completed study of VITEC’s current carbon footprint across its global offices and supply chains has identified areas in which VITEC can continue to reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emissions. These include opportunities to modernize VITEC’s approach to energy use, materials, travel, and shipping. As the company’s plan of action is finalized, employees have been challenged to do their part in developing carbon-balanced MPEG and IPTV video products.

Learn more about VITEC’s green initiative at www.vitec.com/ green-initiative.

trends

news Entries Now Open for 2020 SCN Top 50

NAB Show is launching NAB Amplify, a year-round digital platform designed to extend the impact of NAB Show throughout the year by providing opportunities for networking, discovery, and education. Launching in November 2020, NAB Amplify will engage and grow the global NAB Show community through an innovative and interactive online experience.

NAB Amplify will also serve to fuel commerce beyond NAB’s live events and increase global collaboration and conversations by creating an accessible and essential destination and resource for the community to connect and engage in real time, 365 days a year.

The platform will feature targeted networking forums, regularly updated educational content, and an extensive online marketplace showcasing diverse media and technology companies ranging from leading global brands to up-and-coming startups.

“NAB Amplify is a key component in NAB’s larger innovation strategy aimed at super-serving our global audience,” said Gordon Smith, president of the National Association of Broadcasters, organizer of NAB Show. “This evolution will serve to enhance our well-established live events, while expanding the NAB Show brand into a year-round service and experience driven by meaningful connections and community engagement.”

Cristina Clapp will serve as NAB Amplify’s content director. With more than 25 years of experience working in media and entertainment, the former content director of Future brand Creative Planet Network will lead efforts to deliver relevant content and fresh perspectives that reflect the interests and needs of the NAB Amplify community.

NAB Amplify will launch in November. Learn more at www.NABAmplify.com.

Systems Contractor News (SCN) is now accepting entries for its annual Top 50 Systems Integrators list.

Entries are due by 11 p.m. on Oct. 28.

“The team at SCN recognizes that 2020 has been a difficult year for integrators, and we realize that opportunities in the pro AV market have changed significantly from 2019. Because of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the industry, we are taking a different approach to the SCN Top 50 this year.” said Megan A. Dutta, content director, SCN. “For the first time ever, the Top 50 will be based on a three-year average of revenue in lieu of predicted one-year revenue.”

To be eligible for Top 50 consideration, the firm’s revenue for commercial AV system design and installation must account for more than 50 percent of its total revenue. Entries must be submitted by 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28. No extensions will be granted.

To submit your firm’s entry for the 2020 SCN Top 50, visit http://bit.ly/2020SCNTop50.

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NAB Show to Launch NAB Amplify in November

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news Spinitar Announces Virtual Day of Giving for City of Hope

Prime­stream Joins SRT Alliance

© 2020 Arlington Industries, Inc.

Primestream, a provider of asset management and automation software solutions for media production, has joined the SRT Alliance.

“IP-based stream production workflows are the wave of the future for all types of media enterprises, but a critical success factor is the ability to transport high-quality, low-latency video in a secure and reliable manner,” said Claudio Lisman, president and CEO, Primestream.

“That’s why we are happy to be working with the SRT Alliance in its groundbreaking efforts to create an open-source video transport protocol and to introduce SRT solutions like Media IO.” “We’re excited that Primestream is joining the SRT Alliance,” said Jesús Carrillo, director, SRT Alliance at Haivision. “By adding SRT into their suite of products, Primestream is providing its customers with flexible, robust, and easy-to-use tools to manage multiple streams 508S_ LVMB .qxp_Layout 1 4/6/20 7:24 AM Page 1 from capture through to distribution.”

In lieu of its annual golf tournament, Spinitar will host a Virtual Day of Giving on Thursday, Oct. 15, with proceeds benefitting cancer research at the City of Hope. As a private, not-for-profit research Made in USA FOR WALL CAVITIES AS SHALLOW AS 3/4" • NEW WORK & RETROFIT center, City of Hope combines leading-edge sciTM ence with compassionate care to support the fight against cancer and other W I T H ST E E L BAC K • F O R U S E W I T H M ETA L CO N D U I T life-threatening illnesses.

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news

LG Electronics USA was selected as Official Technology Provider and Official 4K UHD Display for the 2020 Democratic National Convention and 2020 Republican National Convention.

Under its agreement with the Democratic National Convention Committee, LG supplied 4K Ultra HD displays to support the Milwaukee-based video production of live speeches and pre-recorded segments from across the country during the convention. The 43-, 55-, and 65- inch LG screens were at the heart of the convention’s multimedia control center in the Wisconsin Center, the event’s nerve center for hundreds of feeds from all 50 states and the virtual hub for media coverage worldwide.

As Official Technology Provider for the Republican National Convention, LG supplied 4K Ultra HD displays to support convention operations in the Charlotte Convention Center, where delegates gathered for the nomination roll call and for various meetings.

Complementing on-site activities, the 65- and 75-inch LG screens

Synnex Signs Strategic Agreement with Five9 Synnex Corp. has signed an agreement with Five9 to provide cloud-based contact center services to the North American IT channel. Synnex now acts as a master agent for Five9 as the two companies address the convergence occurring within the channel partner ecosystem around Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) and the need for intelligent, cloud-based offerings.

“We are pleased to extend our relationship with the team at Five9 to further support our mutual partners and their clients’ migration to cloudbased CCaaS offerings,” said TJ Trojan, senior vice president, product management, North America, Synnex. “This strategic agreement widens our offering beyond the ability to leverage Five9’s innovative CCaaS solutions and provides truly differentiated value by extending service and support with Synnex GoldSeal.”

To learn more about Five9 through Synnex, email UcaaS@ synnex.com.

OCTOBER 2020 //// SCN

LG’s 4K Ultra HD displays were at the heart of the DNC’s multimedia control center in the Wisconsin Center.

installed in VIP viewing areas and greenrooms showed live speeches from Washington, D.C., and pre-recorded segments from around the country.

“Innovation is non-partisan, but it plays a critical role in political conventions, especially this year due to the pandemic,” said John I. Taylor, senior vice president, LG Electronics USA. “As official provider, LG is proud to help make this year’s reimagined digital conventions a reality. Our role as a key technology partner underscores LG’s position as a technology and policy leader in the United States.”

Arich Joins SDVoE Alliance Arich Technology, manufacturer of high-performance audio and video products, has joined the SDVoE Alliance as an adopting member.

“At Arich, we are committed to providing complete, world-class AV distribution solutions to our customers. AV over IP is definitely a requirement in the markets we serve, and SDVoE is the only technology that offers 4K60 4:4:4 HDR with no picture delay, no compression, and no artifacts while taking advantage of the flexibility and cost savings of standard Ethernet,” said Arich CEO Hongjiang Dai. “We look forward to working with other SDVoE Alliance members in advancing the technology for uncompromised video distribution systems.”

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LG Supports Democratic and Republican National Conventions

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news austin, tx—When the Texas Card House, the first legal poker club in Texas, was looking for a broadcast-quality livestreaming solution that would bring its online audience close-up, personal views of tournament action, it turned to 30-year industry veteran Omega Broadcast, whose team found that cameras from Marshall Electronics would fit the bill while not compromising on quality. Specifically, Omega selected Marshall CV503 miniature HD cameras and CV350-10X compact zoom cameras.

Lifesize Acquires Kaptivo Lifesize has acquired Kaptivo, further expanding its portfolio of cloudbased unified communications and collaboration (UCC) solutions for contact centers, video conferencing, and meeting rooms.

“Kaptivo is a natural addition to the Lifesize platform, and its unique technology and talented team will allow us to accelerate our rate of innovation while simultaneously delivering new value to customers,” said Craig Malloy, CEO of Lifesize. “We look forward to rapidly expanding our advanced collaboration offering and helping organizations work, engage, teach, and learn more naturally and effectively, from wherever they are.”

“The entire Kaptivo team is excited to join Lifesize, a trusted partner and seasoned leader in the unified communications industry,” added David Hsieh, CEO of Kaptivo, who will join Lifesize’s executive team to head the company’s advanced collaboration business. “As schools and businesses adjust to remote work, advanced collaboration solutions that make all forms of work more productive are vitally important.

Together, we are uniquely positioned to lead the market.”

Kaptivo is privately held and backed by a transatlantic syndicate of venture capital investors including Benhamou Global Ventures, Draper Esprit, and Generation Ventures.

PSNI Adds Barco as Preferred Vendor Partner In an effort to expand its presence and portfolio, the PSNI Global Alliance has added Barco as a preferred vendor partner for North America.

“We are delighted to welcome Barco as the latest PVP of the PSNI Global Alliance,” said Tom Roberts, PSNI Global Alliance director of vendor programs. “Barco is a brand whose products are known and trusted around the world. With a strong product range and support network, they are a fantastic addition to the PSNI Global Alliance throughout North America and we look forward to great things together.”

“Barco’s core strategy is to build a community of channel partners that strives to create extraordinary experiences utilizing our full portfolio of solutions. The PSNI organization is composed of progressive, forward-looking integrators that are focused on building remarkable outcomes for their customers, just like Barco,” added Kurt DeYoung, vice president of channel sales, Barco. “These shared values made a partnership with PSNI a perfect fit.”

The PSNI Global Alliance Preferred Vendor Partner Program connects vendors and integrators in order to pursue market opportunities, cultivating deeper relationships and increased sales within member organizations.

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NAB Show 2021 Moves from April to October Next year’s NAB Show, originally scheduled to take place in April, will now be held Oct. 9–13, 2021, in Las Vegas.

“Through [the COVID19 pandemic], we have witnessed growing concern and uncertainty over what the next six months will bring—enough that there appears to be a good deal of reluctance around participating in large events in the first half of next year,” said National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) president and CEO Gordon Smith.

“The pandemic remains a significant threat and the evidence suggests it will be well into next year before it could be under control in the U.S. We also have our own concerns around being able to deliver the type of event in April that will not only drive results, but one that can be produced safely for all involved and without significant limitations on the experience.”

According to Smith, the 2021 Radio Show will co-locate with NAB Show in Las Vegas, as will NAB’s Sales and Management Television Exchange, and there is opportunity to add additional partner events. NAB is considering alternate dates for NAB Show New York 2021, which is held annually in October.

For more information about the 2021 NAB Show, visit https:// nabshow.com/2021.

More Manufacturers Join ONErack Alliance tvONE has shared the growing list of manufacturers that have joined the ONErack Alliance, indicating their support for tvONE’s ONErack power and rack mounting solution as an approved alternative to supplied power adapters.

“ONErack Alliance members reinforce our high level of confidence in the ONErack solution,” said Mark Armon, global product manager for tvONE. “Manufacturers that sign onto the ONErack Alliance formally agree that ONErack will not void their product warranty.”

Fourteen manufacturers currently approve ONErack as an acceptable alternative to supplied power adapters, including BrightSign, Camplex, Covid, DVIGear, EvertzAV, Gefen, Green Hippo, Key Digital, Kramer, Magenta, Nortek, Ocean Matrix, Sescom, and tvONE. The ONErack chassis is available in 4RU, 5RU, and 6RU and can hold up to 16 modules, with up to two voltage selectors each. When using the ONErack power supply, each voltage selector can provide selectable power @ 5V, 7.5V, 9V, 12V, 13.5V, 18V, and 24V up to 35 watts. A pass-thru is available for custom power sources.

association news

news

Following a rise to $71 billion in 2019, the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) pro AV market is set to fall by 9 percent in 2020 to $65 billion as COVID-19 impacts regional economies, according to the new 2020 AV Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA) EMEA Summary produced by AVIXA. However, the region is expected to mount an extended recovery starting in 2021, with revenue set to return to its 2019 level in 2022, hitting $71.5 billion. The industry will continue to swell, reaching a projected $81 billion in 2025.

“The pro AV industry and economies at large are reeling from the effects of COVID-19. The pandemic has broadly impacted the nearterm and longer-term outlooks for economic growth and business activity in the EMEA region, spurring reductions in our forecast,” said Sean Wargo, senior director of market intelligence, AVIXA. “But recovery is in sight. Growth for pro AV in EMEA will far exceed the expansion of the regional economy, with the industry growing in the range of 5.1 percent to 4.8 percent in the coming years.”

Western Europe leads pro AV revenue for EMEA, with 39 percent of the regional revenue—a share that will largely hold steady through 2025. Western Europe is forecast to hit $25.3 billion in 2020 and reach $30.6 in 2025. The smaller Sub-Saharan Africa market will generate the strongest growth in the region, with a 6 percent CAGR from 2020–25, growing from $1.7 billion to $2.2 billion during that time.

The Central European pro AV market is set to expand to $12.5 billion in 2025, rising at a CAGR of 5.8 percent from $9.4 billion in 2020.

In EMEA, the media and entertainment market stands out among the pro AV industries for its relatively strong performance during the COVID-19 crisis, with revenue declining by only 5.6 percent in 2020 and rising by 8.5 percent in 2021. The consumption of digital content from mobile apps to TV and gaming has sharply increased during the pandemic. This gives rise to production, storage, and distribution equipment, software, and services.

In the era of increased cyberthreats and nationalistic outlooks, the military and defense industry is expected to invest heavily in pro AV technology in the mid to long term, driving growth from $3.6 billion in 2020 to $4.4 billion in 2025. Government and military, education, and corporate will generate the most demand for security, surveillance, and life safety solutions during the short and long terms as they seek

to update their infrastructure to handle the needs of monitoring and responding to the pandemic.

Digital signage growth will be driven by an increased need for onpremise and out-of-home (OOH) communications, especially for security and new health protocols. The functionalities of digital signage merge with those of surveillance and security. This is applicable to both employee-facing and customer-facing situations. For example, surveillance cameras already in place will be augmented by AI, software, and displays and used for business analytics for assessing customer journey, tracking, and heat-mapping.

Looking at the ranking of pro AV solutions in EMEA from 2020 to 2025, conferencing and collaboration leads the region thanks to the prevalence of work from home. Revenue will increase by a CAGR of 2.6 percent during this time. Spending will continue to increase in this area as legacy infrastructure gives way to the cloud. Cloud traits such as flexibility, scalability, ease of use, and cost effectiveness will help drive collaboration in the short- and long-terms.

The IOTA report is produced by AVIXA in conjunction with Omdia (formerly IHS Markit), a global research firm with expertise across a number of underlying supply chain markets, many of which overlap with the principal components of the pro AV industry. This specialization provides connections with manufacturers, distributors, integrators, and larger end user firms that provide and consume pro AV products and solutions. This translates into sources of data that are modeled in conjunction with key macroeconomic data to generate the forecasts shown.

To learn more about the 2020 AV Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA) EMEA Summary, visit www.avixa.org/IOTA.

Eco Series Outdoor LED Displays Great Solution for: • Stadiums • Billboards • Outdoor Signage 20200916 Neoti third page SCN Oct FINAL.indd 1

(877) 356-3684 | neoti.com 9/16/20 5:16 PM

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AVIXA: EMEA Pro AV Industry Will Decline to $65 Billion Beginning in 2021

association news

Pro AV Recovery Makes Feeble First Steps Growth at any level is good news to hear during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, AVIXA’s Pro AV Business Index shows that August sales barely qualify as growth.

At 51.8, August’s AV Sales Index (AVI-S) is only two points above the no-net-growth level of 50 and two points below the pace recorded in July. While it’s not shocking that AV provider sales would show frailty given the overall economic environment, the AVI-S had improved in four straight months leading up to August, making the weaker observation unexpected.

“An unanticipated result like this makes us anxious for the next month’s number. Is this slight deceleration a blip or a trend?” said Peter Hansen, economic analyst, AVIXA. “Given the generally increasing strength of most macroeconomic indicators and the positive trends in our other measures of the AV industry, we continue to expect growth to strengthen as we close out the year.”

Survey respondents reveal that as the world adjusts to living with COVID-19, the net impact on pro AV is complicated. Offices, houses of worship, and schools are now largely remote, reducing in-person investment. And yet, AV is the solution to remote needs, which actually boosts spending. Unfortunately, money is tight, and many institutions are preferring cheaper DIY, consumer options to professional-grade ones. The result is an unsteady mix of growth and contraction across markets and solutions, changing from month to month.

“Lots of interest in streaming systems for schools and houses of worship, but the professional and semi-pro offerings that we would provide are too expensive for most clients. Many people are opting for iPads, Mevo cameras, and other DIY solutions,” shared an integrator in North America.

The current job market faces a pair of powerful trends, one strongly positive and the other strongly negative. On one hand, the economy is reopening and bringing jobs back along with it, while on the other, the damage absorbed during the past six months is causing major job losses. The positive side appeared in the August U.S. employment report, which revealed that the economy added 1.4 million jobs as unemployment fell from 10.2 percent to 8.4 percent. The negative side was illustrated by the unemployment insurance numbers, which showed that an average of about 1 million people filed initial claims for unemployment benefits each week of August—every single week of which was beyond the pre-pandemic record.

How do these contrasting negative and positive signals net out for pro AV employment? With no net growth. The AV Employment Index (AVI-E) for August was 50.1, signaling that payrolls neither expanded nor contracted in August. This was a similar result to July, when the AVI-E measured 51.2.

Visit www.avixa.org/AVindex to access the free monthly Pro AV Business Index reports and learn more about the methodology. For more information about joining the AVIXA Insights Community, visit www.avixa.org/AVIP.

JOIN THE SCN TOP 50

Get recognized as a top AV integration firm by submitting your entry for the 2020 SCN Top 50.

For the first time ever, entries will be judged on a three-year average of revenue in lieu of predicted one-year revenues.

2020

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news

Visit bit.ly/2020SCNTop50 to enter today!

To be eligible for Top 50 consideration, the firm's revenue for commercial AV system design and installation must account for more than 50 percent of its total revenue.

Entries must be submitted by 11 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

executive q&a

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people

Easy as a Service WOLFVISION’S MICHAEL LISI DISCUSSES STAYING RELEVANT IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING TECH LANDSCAPE SCN: What is your position, and what does it entail? What are your responsibilities?

MICHAEL LISI: As the national distribution manager for WolfVision, I am a key contributor in the development and execution of our overall channel sales and marketing strategy in the United States. This includes identifying target markets and key applications for our solutions, supporting the engagement and development of our reseller partners, managing our U.S. distribution partners, and coordinating our outbound marketing activities.

for hardware, and massive companies entering and exiting various marketplaces with little to no advance notice. It truly presents a gantlet of threats for the modern manufacturer that presses us to watch closely in every direction.

SCN: How long have you been in this position?

ML: I first began working with WolfVision in 2013 as an independent manufacturer sales rep, and then joined the company as a direct hire in 2017. I began serving in a management role within the company in 2018.

SCN: Where do you see the pro AV market heading?

ML: I believe we are seeing a shift in what our customers value, and we need to respond accordingly. In the past, much of our value resided in our ability to design and install complex audiovisual systems that were too technical for the average person to understand or install without in-depth training.

At that time, organizations were willing to pay a premium for function. Today, however, function is assumed. Highly capable processors and computers, like WolfVision’s Cynap, are simplifying system design while user-friendly software configuration tools are replacing the need for custom programming.

SCN: How has your background prepared you for your role?

ML: I’m fascinated by how my past experiences have benefitted me in later roles. I continually apply my education in journalism, mass communications, and public relations when crafting communications, creating marketing materials, and planning events. I constantly draw on the networking and IT knowledge that I gained while working with an IT distributor when speaking with customers about AV over IP (AVoIP), the Internet of Things (IoT), and how various technologies can interconnect.

I vividly remember the experience of working as an account executive with an AV systems contractor. It is a complex role that you have to experience to understand, but I’m able to better serve our integration partners by having been there.

I was also greatly helped during my time as an independent manufacturer sales rep. It was in that role that I learned how to integrate cutting-edge AV/IT technology into practical solutions and how to build custom channel strategies around unique products.

SCN: What are your short- and long-term goals?

ML: Right now, WolfVision’s solutions are uniquely positioned to solve many of the biggest technology challenges facing corporate, legal, and education institutions. As many organizations struggle to see their way through the COVID-19 pandemic, my short-term goal is to let these organizations know how WolfVision can help. If they are ready to start bringing people back to the office, classroom, and courtroom, we can help them include those who are still remote via webconferencing, recording, and streaming. If they want to keep people safe by minimizing the spread of germs, we can help them create touch-free meeting spaces where users use their personal devices to control the meeting environment.

Long-term, I look forward to supporting the burgeoning expansion of WolfVision’s U.S. operations—including the addition of new sales, marketing, and technical resources and the rolling out of new channel programs that are focused on 100 percent customer satisfaction.

SCN: What is the greatest challenge you face?

ML: Like all technology manufacturers, our continual challenge is to make sure we stay relevant. The world is moving fast, and disruptive change is always just around the corner. Technical innovations are constantly shifting the way we do things while making old business models obsolete.

We can now add society-altering pandemics to the list of catalysts for change. We have industries colliding, software replacing the need

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Quick Bio Name: Michael Lisi Position: National Distribution Manager Company: WolfVision Overtime: When he unplugs from work, Lisi enjoys spending time with his family, remodeling his house, and participating in church activities.

SCN: Are there new initiatives we are likely to see from WolfVision?

ML: As the creators of the world’s first all-in-one networked-AV appliance, we have seen that organizations are looking to leverage easyto-deploy and easy-to-scale AV-as-an-endpoint solutions whenever possible. Following this trend, you can expect new products from WolfVision that will be even more capable, interoperable, and intuitive than the solutions we’ve delivered to date.

SCN: How can systems contractors better position themselves to profit from products and/or services you have to offer?

ML: The secret is simply to be open-minded. If they ask their customers to describe their ideal AV system, most of them will probably describe one of our Cynap solutions without realizing it. Some likely elements include a high-quality solution that gives them the functionality they need and a user experience that their people like; something that is easy to deploy and scale, preferably without large equipment racks and custom programming; a solution that can leverage existing investments, be flexibly configured for different scenarios, work seamlessly with their favorite software solutions, and be easy to troubleshoot (both inperson and remotely); a reliable, secure, network-manageable solution that requires minimal maintenance—overall, a solution that works well and doesn’t create problems for anybody. Oh, and it must be affordable.

Ultimately, if the customer doesn’t respond by saying, “My ideal system is the one you’ve been selling me,” it sounds like there is room for improvement, and we should talk. *

tech tales

people

Making an Empty Room Sound Great With smaller congregations more spread out and rooms at lower occupancy, church leaders need an expert resource to help them understand the impact and their options with respect to the two factors they can control: where sound is directed and what happens to it when it gets there.

As AV professionals, we know that not all room spaces behave the same acoustically—rooms that are wide but not deep need a wide coverage pattern, and ceiling height is also an important factor. Designers and installers can explain how both the space and the objects and materials in the space will alter how sound behaves in it. This can be examined objectively through acoustic modeling tools like EASE, CATT-Acoustic, Odeon, and others that enable integrators to design and install the best solution based on room geometry, worship program material, budget, and other considerations.

Current social distancing guidelines mean that a pre-pandemic 400seat church could reach capacity at just 75 occupants today. This can be challenging both for church leaders, who are used to seeing full pews,

Focus on Audio First, Then Video It is easy for church leaders to become overwhelmed when making the move to streaming weekly services. And while video quality is certainly important, audio delivers significantly more value to congregants who are eager to connect with the spoken word. It may be tempting for churches to stream in the highest resolution possible, but they need to understand this may cause playback issues and degrade the audio quality on the receiving end, so choosing 1080p (over 4K UHD) combined with compression will deliver the service to more individuals—regardless of their bandwidth. Members may be willing to forgive a video stream that is closer to standard definition than high definition, but if the audio is poor, it won’t matter.

The service won’t come through and church members won’t be able to experience a true connection to their community To ensure attendees connect with the messages being shared, worship spaces need to have access to technology that delivers consistent, high-quality audio, regardless of whether it’s a church’s installed sound system or a portable P.A. set up in the church’s parking lot or nearby green space. Integrators who partner with manufacturers who offer a breadth of audio systems across applications gain the confidence of providing a consistent level of quality, ease-of-use and system flexibility regardless of the form factor or location, from portable to installed P.A.s and even wearable devices such as headphones—which are often overlooked. This consistency enables technical teams to make these shifts in worship location and style without having to reinvent the wheel each time.

Delivering a Dynamic Experience As houses of worship open back up, congregations will expect the audio experience to be clear and consistent, no matter where they worship.

Some will be eager for an in-person service, whether in a socially distanced church, a park, or the parking lot outside. Others who can’t be there physically or who are hesitant to attend in the current climate will continue to join from home.

By partnering with manufacturers who offer a variety of audio equipment, integrators can ensure their solutions and advice to houses of worship address a variety of audio challenges in these changing environments, ultimately delivering a dynamic, high-quality sound to their congregations each time. This ultimately puts the system designer and integrator in an ideal partnership position, helping to guide houses of worship as they navigate these transformations while delivering what is needed for each situation.

Adam Shulman is the market category lead for installed sound at Bose Professional.

With more than 15 years of experience in system design and product development and a Master of Engineering degree in acoustics, he has a deep understanding of sound and how to achieve quality audio experiences.

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“Members may be willing to forgive a video stream that is closer to standard definition than high definition, but if the audio is poor, it won’t matter. The service won’t come through and church members won’t be able to experience a true connection to their community.”

and for those responsible for the church’s audio system. AV professionals can walk through how each room is set up—including its shape, structure, and the materials used—providing context as audio is remapped and specific equipment and acoustical treatments are recommended.

BY A D A M SHULMA N

T

he global health crisis has introduced a number of challenges as we navigate how to move forward with work, school, and attending services each week. Integrators and system designers are on the front lines, helping to make this transition smooth and successful for their customers. Finding the right solution has proved particularly challenging for church leaders, however, who are tasked with bringing parishioners together across a variety of locations, whether they are worshipping in person or attending services virtually from home.

We are in a transitional period in which some sermons are given outdoors, some inside with a limited number of socially distanced people, and an increasing number are delivered online to parishioners attending streaming services. Now more than ever, houses of worship need technology partners with the expertise to guide them toward solutions that are situationally adaptable, while delivering consistent sound quality and reliability.

As regathering increases, church leaders need to maintain a focus on audio quality for those “in attendance,” whether outside the church, inside it, or online. These different scenarios have created unique challenges—and opportunities—for AV professionals, who need to guide church leaders when considering how both spaces and AV equipment will be used differently, helping them to define suitable and flexible solutions. As church leaders figure out how to serve, connect, and inspire their members, it’s key for industry experts to help guide them to create successful online and in-person worship services.

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Creating Divine Sound in Houses of Worship

newsmakers

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people RACHEL BRADSHAW is now vice president of account services at CASTER COMMUNICATIONS. She is responsible for creative ideation, development and implementaRachel Bradshaw tion of communication strategies, and media outreach for Caster’s clients.

Prior to joining Caster, Bradshaw was director of program design at AVIXA, where she was responsible for the InfoComm show program and acted as staff liaison to the Content and Learning Steering Committee.

YAMAHA CORP. OF AMERICA (YCA) has hired RANDY BECK as vice president of integrated marketing. In his new role, Beck is responsible for managing and leading YCA’s key marRandy Beck keting departments, including consumer audio, guitar, keyboard, percussion, professional audio, and winds & strings.

STEVE YOUNG, CTS, has joined AUDIX as director of U.S. sales. Young was most recently the director of largevenue sales for Biamp/Community Loudspeakers. Prior to Steve Young that, he was vice president of sales and marketing at AtlasIED. CCS PRESENTATION SYSTEMS has promoted LAURA WATSON, CMA, CPA, to the role of chief financial officer.

Watson has worked at CCS’ Scottsdale headquarters for Laura Watson over 14 years and was previously the company’s chief operations officer.

DATAPATH has named IGNACIO (IÑAKI) VILORIA LÓPEZ its new training manager. López has more than 16 years of technical experience Iñaki Viloria López with audiovisual systems, specializing in 24/7 control room applications. He will manage Datapath’s training program around the world, ensuring customers and trading partners are fully upto-date with Datapath’s latest hardware and software developments.

DAVID CARROLL ASSOCIATES (DCA) has added three new positions. ALAN MAYS, a veteran of live broadcast and post-production whose past successes include launching E! TV, has been promoted to senior media

Alan Mays

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Jeff Allen

Dean Burns

engineer. JEFF ALLEN, who has over 25 years of AV industry experience, has joined the company as an account manager. DEAN BURNS, who comes to DCA with over 40 years of experience in the live production and installed AV industries, is now the company’s integration manager.

VISIX has overhauled its professional services offering and named JILL PERARDI director of professional services, a position that combines creative Jill Perardi services, implementation, consulting, training, user support, and technical support. Perardi was formerly the company’s creative services manager. She graduated from Southern Illinois University with a B.S. in communications and has been with Visix since 2012.

DAVID PEDIGO has been named CEO of AURALEX ACOUSTICS. His primary focus will be on accelerating innovation and growth, particularly in international markets.

David Pedigo Pedigo joined Auralex in February as director of residential technology. His previous experience includes stints at THX, SBCA, and CEDIA. KUDO has hired CLAUDIO FANTINUOLI, PH.D., as its head of research. Fantinuoli holds a Ph.D. in applied linguistics from the University of Mainz/Germersheim and a Claudio Fantinuoli master’s degree in conference interpreting from the University of Bologna/Forli. He has 10 years of experience as a researcher and innovator, and extensive experience consultFrank Shirmo ing for international organizations about language technology. KUDO has also hired FRANK SHIRMO as vice president of compliance and cybersecurity. In this new role, Shirmo will further develop and execute the company’s security strategy and implement it in the product roadmap. In addition to holding degrees in computer science, he maintains multiple certifications including Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP), Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP), and Certified Mobile Device Security Professional (CMDSP).

REFLECT SYSTEMS has added TOM WALSH and ANDREA VARRONE to its sales team.

Walsh and Varrone will serve as directors of strategic accounts, supporting Reflect’s Tom Walsh rapid growth in the digital signage space. Walsh, who has more than two decades of digital signage experience, was

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>>>Rep News MEDIASTAR SYSTEMS has appointed SYMCO as its field sales and marketing team in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States regions. The agreement includes representation in CT, DE, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA, VT, DC, and WV. The company has also partnered with TOTAL MARKETING to extend its brand profile and boost sales in the South Central (TX, OK, LA, and AR) and Rocky Mountains (CO, UT, and NM) regions.

FULCRUM ACOUSTIC has hired ALLIED PROTECH WEST as its exclusive sales representative for California, Nevada, and Arizona. Allied ProTech West, based in Orange County, CA, will be responsible for Fulcrum product sales and support within its assigned territory.

LEA PROFESSIONAL has partnered with LVX MARKETING to bolster its sales in Southern California and Nevada.

most recently a regional sales manager at Nanolumens. Varrone spent over a decade with Exponation, owner of Digital Signage Expo (DSE), where she was responsible for the overall Andrea Varrone management and direction of DSE. She is also co-founder of Women of Digital Signage.

DRAPER has added TOM BROCHARD as AV regional sales manager for the northeastern U.S. He joins Draper after more than 20 years in the consumer electronics industry, Tom Brochard including experience at SnapAV and Control4. Brochard will serve the territory from his home in Connecticut. In addition to Connecticut, his territory includes ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, and VT. SYNNEX CORP.’s pro AV senior solutions architect PARKER DINGLER now holds the AVIXA Certified Technology Specialist – Installation (CTSI) designation. In combination Parker Dingler with his designation for Certified Technology Specialist – Design (CTS-D), Dingler joins an exclusive group of professionals in the world who hold both certifications.

DENNY MCLANE has joined SYMETRIX as the manager of the company’s customer experience team. McLane brings a wealth of knowledge and an array of experiences to the Denny McLane position from his decades of service in the pro AV industry, including stints at Harman Pro and AtlasIED.

stadiums and arenas

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Zoom Me Out to the Ball Game STADIUM AND ARENA AV EXPERTS DELIVER CREATIVE SOLUTIONS DURING THE PANDEMIC

ALL PHOTOS: VAN WAGNER

BY MA RG O T D O UA I HY, PH. D .

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business trends

T

he frenzy of a touchdown. The magic of the “wave” in a packed arena. The sounds and sights of sports stadiums are as integral to the fan experience as the games themselves. Would a World Cup goal be as compelling without the roar of the crowd, the jubilation of fans, or the sighs of the crestfallen?

COVID-19 has disrupted just about every aspect of life, and its impact on the sports world has been equally notable. Football, baseball, basketball, hockey, tennis—every team and league has its own opinions about fan attendance during the pandemic. Some teams are living in isolated “bubbles.” The Chicago Bears football team will begin the 2020 season without fans in the stands. Other NFL teams, like the Houston Texans, will allow fans in their stadium at a limited capacity, with new social distancing and safety measures in place.

Most teams are keeping the matter open, with the possibility of visitors taking their seats at live games when it’s deemed appropriate.

Safety is still a paramount concern; more than 193,000 Americans have been lost to COVID-19 as of September 2020. But to help beloved sports leagues weather the financial fallout, the sports shows must go on. Technologists and broadcasters are turning to artificial crowd noise, virtual fan walls, remote attendees, interactive software, and creative audiovisual solutions to keep the athletes’ morale up and fan excitement high.

Bring in the Noise Bob Becker, executive vice president of productions at Van Wagner, knows his way around a baseball diamond. The Van Wagner company has been connecting brands to sports for more than 20 years, offering a range of services across the sports landscape: TV-visible signage, stadium construction and development, collegiate multimedia rights, video production, and other key aspects of the sports industry.

The way Becker sees it, AV professionals who service sport facilities must remain flexible. The variables of the COVID-19 crisis are pausing certain projects while ramping

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Van Wagner producers prepare for NFL’s Virtual Draft using cloud-based NDI routing.

up demand for others. “When basketball and hockey started again, it opened a new model in the game presentation world because games would be played with no fans in the stadiums,” Becker explained. “That had never been done before.”

Becker quickly realized that fan engagement—crowd noise, cheers, jeers, laughter, riotous applause—was critical to the game experience. Not only does crowd noise amp up suspense and enthusiasm, it is crucial for the athletes. “The NHL and NBA—and most leagues are picking up on this now—realized that there was a void for the players and the fans watching at home,” said Becker. “It’s one thing to play in an empty arena or an empty stadium and not see fans, but it’s different thing to not hear them at all, not to feel them— not feel the crowd’s energy.”

Interactivity Is Key There have been various technological advancements that enable virtual fan engagement and mixing the ambient noises of a venue with remote sounds. Some digital signage boards located in broadcast rooms or placed by the competition surface bring in window

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tiles of fans and their real-time reactions. This dynamic method helps the players feel connected to the fans. It helps the viewer at home, too, because of the vital real-time experience.

Security With interactivity comes vulnerability, however … like the rampant “Zoom bombings” that upended school districts at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s why sports teams who use virtual crowd noise and interactive platforms are locking down security and, very often, using live moderators.

“There’s a moderator for the video side and there’s a moderator for the audio side of the experience to avoid any content you would not want seen on the screens or heard on the P.A. system,” Becker explained.

Optimizing Current AV Arenas and stadiums across the country are evolving to promote social-distance guidelines and accommodate the mix of on-site and remote fans. Many venues are looking for new ways to optimize the core elements of their installed AV and game-presentation systems.

“It’s not just audio but the graphics as well,”

stadiums and arenas

business trends

“Typically, game presentation and broadcast go their own separate ways and eventually meet up together for a few moments at game time,” Becher said. “But even then we’re doing our own things for the 80,000 people who are out in the stadium, and they’re doing their own thing for the millions who are watching from home. But now we have to work in tandem with each other and let them know, ‘When you come back from break, we’re going to have this graphic on the board,’ or ‘We’re going to have this headshot of this hockey player who just scored the goal.’”

This is why Becker’s sees AV becoming even more important to the broadcast experience.

Pro AV is helping people at home feel like the game is one cohesive entertainment package.

“That’s what we’re seeing now—much more cooperation between those entities,” he said.

Becker said. “The ribbon boards are so important. If a player hits a home run, you better light up that stadium. A home run still needs flashing lights.”

Another creative challenge: How can systems originally designed for live fan engagement, such as the “kiss cam,” be adapted to meet the needs of today’s hybrid sports lovers?

Digital Signage While some digital signage specialists have paused their stadium install projects, there are many venues currently specifying large-scale video boards and software solutions for 2021.

Becker is optimistic. “There are so many visionaries out there,” he said, “people who know that we are going to get to the other side of this [pandemic], and when we do, we want to be truly ready.”

Solutions, like Hypersign’s The Arena, are helping to bridge the gaps between soft-codec conferencing and broadcast.

The Arena Fanwall consists of LED video walls positioned in the stands that broadcast life-size images of remote fans cheering and participating in the event. It offers integrated one-way broadcasts to streaming services including Akamai, Facebook Live, Twitch, YouTube Live, Ustream, and Wowza for on-network services.

Silver Lining for Sports AV Specialists Becker is proud of his colleagues in the pro AV industry because “we’re figuring out new ways to provide the same level of game presentation and excitement that we’ve always had.”

Still, he confessed, it’s been hard. There’s been a lot of convincing to do. But showing your resilience, ability to pivot, and creativity will help companies grow. “The men and women in this industry have really taken to it and are doing a great job,” said Becker.

AV integrators, vendors, and broadcasters are learning new ways to work in sync to reconceptualize fan engagement.

Margot Douaihy, Ph.D., teaches at Franklin Pierce University.

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Bob Becker (left) and Kenny Walker in the NFL International Series “Live Producer” Booth, Wembley Stadium, London, UK.

Step Up, Vendors The pandemic has introduced new chances for AV vendors to innovate by delivering higherquality, broadcast-driven video platforms for the sports ecosystem.

“I would love to see a more robust broadcast package or quality,” Becker said. “We’re doing more and more virtual presentations.

For instance, when we did the NFL draft, it was virtual. In this kind of broadcast, it is based on finding somebody on Zoom or another type of platform and putting them on the broadcast.

We need to find ways to do things remotely at much higher quality. We have to be prepared to continue to provide the same level of entertainment to the fans whether they’re at home or—God willing—in the stadium.”

Going forward, games should be shot with the best quality cameras and transmitted with the highest quality transmit devices. Anything that would typically be done for a broadcast or an in-stadium show should now be done for people watching on computer screens, phones, or tablets.

There is no excuse for poor quality just because it’s virtual.

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human-centered design

business trends

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The 2020 Human Factor W

hether or not you’ve heard about the principles of human-centered design or the methodology behind design thinking, you’re definitely familiar with user experience design and have probably applied its best practices in your business.

After all, the pro AV industry is all about the user experience.

By the end of the year, AVIXA is expected to publish a new standard called User Experience Design for Audiovisual Systems. Lisa Perrine, Ed.D., CTS, Cibola Systems’ CEO, is one of seven task group members helping to develop the standard, which focuses on human interaction with AV systems. Perrine explained that much of the discussion has been about human-centered design, which is always important, but is particularly pertinent in the current climate of “work from anywhere.”

A Different Way of Thinking Innovation is on everyone’s mind right now.

“You can default into doing the same old thing in a different way, or you can take this great opportunity to really rethink what you do,” said Perrine.

“The world is changing, and the assumptions that we have probably aren’t the right assumptions anymore,” added Perrine.

“It takes a village to figure out how to navigate forward, and it’s not something that you want

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to try to do alone.”

At Cibola, Perrine and her team use a combination of human-centered design and co-creation, a five-step process of design thinking to develop solutions for clients. Both are a similar iterative processes, but Perrine puts a greater emphasis on design thinking because it involves the end user.

The first step to design thinking is to empathize. “You’re empathizing with your stakeholders, which are usually end users,”

Lisa Perrine

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said Perrine. “They are the students and the faculty, the people who are really hands-on.”

The second step in the process is defining the problem to be solved. “In a complex AV integration project, there could be more than one problem to solve,” she said.

Next in the process is ideating, or coming up with ideas to solve the problem. Then you prototype the best of those ideas, and “then you test the prototypes with the people who actually have the most at stake. The people who you started with—you bring them back at the end. That’s a very specific design thinking process, and I use it on everything,” said Perrine.

Throughout the process, a deep sense of trust is built between all individuals on the team, as well as the clients, Perrine said.

“How powerful is that—to have it be a trustbuilding process, and especially right now when everyone is so uncertain about what’s happening and not feeling exactly safe?”

The process also helps builds self-esteem in the people who participate. “For our own team and our company, that’s a huge outcome. And then the last thing is, for our clients typically, it builds connections across silos. So that’s really valuable from their perspective. As an integrator, I care about that,” said Perrine.

Solving the Right Problem Today, when you have to find novel solutions, design thinking is even more important. “You need the collaboration and you need the iteration,” said Perrine. “Clients are open to prototyping, so they’re quite willing to try something in a couple different spaces to see how it works, which is something they haven’t done before, and then roll it out on a much broader basis. That iteration is so important.”

Because prototyping is done quickly, it

human-centered design

business trends

Work to Be Done The many different kinds of hybrid workplaces make it nearly impossible to apply a universal solution.

“You have to understand the work to be done, the nature of the team doing the work, and the amount of time they’ve worked together,” said Perrine. “Those three are really important.”

Integration firms are used to dealing with complex systems and simplifying the overall user experience. “A lot of us have gotten really good at taking all those factors and creating something really spectacular in terms of an experience—and then somehow when we go to virtual, we don’t apply the same thinking that digs deep into the jobs to be done, the people doing those jobs, and the nature of the relationships,” said Perrine. “We say, ‘Oh, why don’t you use Zoom with a Logitech camera and a certain kind of microphone?’ The potential to apply that same set of disciplines to hybrid work is huge, but the value that can be delivered is enormous.”

Work-from-Anywhere State of Mind Pre-COVID, if you asked most people if they would like the flexibility to work from home (WFH), most would have jumped at the opportunity. But nobody could have predicted that WFH would be a mandate, and that the new office would become the corner of a bedroom or half of the dining room table— and that not only would the usual distractions of a familiar environment be a challenge, but children would also be at home and needing assistance with virtual learning. The past several months of WFH has most clamoring to return to the office.

In January 2020, we could say with great confidence that the modern workplace was designed with many different environments to support varied modes of thinking, connection, and work. Mark Coxon, CTS-D, CTS-I, sales director, technology, Tangram Interiors, knows this well. “Natural lighting

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Mark Coxon

and biophilia were ushered in for increased wellness and also to accommodate LEED initiatives,” said Coxon. “Work cafes offered casual places to escape the desk and commune with co-workers. Huddle rooms facilitated small group meetings. Breakout rooms were available for private calls or focus work, away from the open office spaces.” The workplace environment, moving from the desk to a meeting room, and even the commute to the office supported different states of mind.

“The home-based environment offers none of these advantages, and other than having a ‘great commute,’ it offers a lot of disadvantages in the way of human-centered design,” said Coxon. “The ability to transition from one task to another, or one mode of work to another, can become inhibited by all of the activities being performed in the same place,

with little transition time between activities or change in environment to cue our brains that we’re switching modes.”

Today, “Zoom fatigue” has become part of our vernacular. “Staring at a backlit screen, with its unnatural light and refresh rates, also does something different,” said Coxon. “Our analog brains still pick up differences between virtual and in-person interactions, not only visually but from a chemical neurotransmitter standpoint.”

Wherever someone chooses to work outside the traditional office needs a great deal more consideration. “To embrace humancentered design in a work-from-anywhere environment, we need to be aware of creating environments that facilitate mental transitions, vary digital and analog interactions, and support our different brain states,” said Coxon.

“We should be setting up different areas of the home for these purposes, or leveraging community areas, coffee shops, office visits, etc., to provide for these very human needs.

The home office can be the center of much of the work, but it can’t be the only plan or option if ‘work from anywhere’ is to have a lasting impact and continued productivity.”

The Future As we look to hybrid and the future, Perrine concluded, “I think we need to not ignore all the value that can come from putting equal effort into creating a great virtual experience as we put into creating a great in-person experience. Because if our virtual experience isn’t good, then people will soon tire of the physical part of it and their level of satisfaction will be minimized.” *

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provides an opportunity to evaluate whether something works, make adjustments and continue to iterate. “You’re not just rolling out what you prototyped on a broader scale, but learning from that and going back and saying, ‘Are we really solving the right problem?’ ‘Did we really talk to the right people?’ and ‘Are there other ways we could accomplish this even better based on the feedback we got?’” said Perrine.

COVID-19 AND AV

SPONSORED BY 1 Beyond PTZOptics SYNNEX Corp.

GETTY IMAGES

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A supplement to

AV’s Evolution in a Post-COVID Climate

BY CAROLYN HEINZE It’s clear that AV technology is playing an important role in helping organizations continue operating through a very challenging time. And much of the tech being deployed to accommodate work and learning during the pandemic already existed before the crisis. As enterprises and educational institutions move from temporary solutions and into what is at least a semi-permanent new normal, AV designers, integrators, and tech managers are grappling with how to deliver more refined experiences, both on site and off.

One issue that has historically plagued AV is the project model itself. Too often, integrators arrive on the scene near the end of the project, resulting in the need to make compromises that could have been avoided had they been invited to the drawing board from the beginning. “That’s a broken model. If we wait that long, then the true power that AV and IT can bring to a project—the ability to transform a simple application into a truly immersive environment—is lost,” said Kay Sargent, senior principal and director of workplace at HOK, an architecture, design, engineering, and planning firm headquartered in St. Louis, MO. “We need to design from the beginning of a project with that in mind, because if we don’t size rooms appropriately, if we don’t have the right proportions, the right dimensions, everything set up appropriately, then we make it really difficult for the AV and the IT solutions ever to be successful.”

Sargent argued that the pandemic has provided the AV industry with the opportunity to build a better model. “It is the thing that will hopefully accelerate what we need to do,” she said. With organizations the world over experimenting

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with what the post-COVID workplace will look like, this is the ideal time to establish a better relationship between architects, designers, and integrators, she said. “If we blow the opportunity to [approach projects] more holistically and we just focus on knee-jerk reactions like throwing up plastic screens and drawing 6-foot circles around each work point, we will condemn ourselves to this industry’s Kodak moment, I believe.” The capabilities are there, “but now everybody has a heightened sensitivity to touch, and they all have a heightened sensitivity to proximity.

Kay Sargent

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BYOD, POST-COVID Rudy Rodriguez, CTS, is associate director of technology for the Office of the President at Columbia University in New York, NY. He concedes that while BYOD is nothing new in the higher education environment, he would like to see more seamless interaction between devices and platforms—much like the screen-sharing functionality offered by consumer-grade smart TVs. “Google Chat doesn’t have to be exactly like Zoom, but wouldn’t it be great if there was a way—without having to get too complicated—to bridge those platforms and let people connect however they want in a space?” he asked. “Most conference rooms have a specific platform that nobody really knows about, and you have to download that app to get it to work. And then you [move] to a different building, or you deal with older buildings on campus that are managed by different funding sources. Literally, I might be in one classroom that has a Cisco system deployed, and then I might go to another classroom on the same campus that has a totally different system deployed, and I have to download all of the apps for those, as a student, just to be able to function. These days, what we have at home we should have at work. If I can put my phone on my screen at home within 30 seconds, why can’t I do that in a typical conference room in the world today?”

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business trendsAND AV COVID-19 Technology could really shift from just the Internet of Things monitoring us to the Internet of Experiences, where we are creating environments that are more responsive to us so that when we go in [a location], they understand us more.”

Peter Charland is executive vice president of global sales and service at HB Communications, an SCN Top 50 firm headquartered in North Haven, CT. He stressed that post-COVID, the focus should be not only on delivering great experiences for those attending a meeting or collaboration event in person, but on delivering experiences that also satisfy the needs of those joining remotely.

“The experience needs to be a visual presence.

You have to have a compelling experience whether you’re going to be physically present or if you’re going to be remote,” he said. This is important in “democratizing” meetings. “More people want the flexibility and comfort to be able to be visually present and on equal footing—for any number of reasons, not just the pandemic. I think this is what AV needs to achieve with its technology: to make people all feel equal, whether they’re attending in person or participating remotely,” Charland explained.

Rudy Rodriguez, CTS, associate director of technology for the Office of the President at Columbia University in New York, NY, oversees AV/IT management and support for the office’s activities, and regularly interfaces with other departments as well. Gearing up for this fall’s class schedule, Rodriguez noted that one of his main concerns was scaling up to provide adequate support for events and classes—both of which now have a virtual component. He cites the university’s World Leaders Forum event series as an example: “It’s a great in-person event, and we usually get leaders from countries that are a little more off the grid, or maybe even more controversial, and that creates engaging dialogue between the students and these world leaders,” he explained.

The challenge is re-creating that engaging experience in an online environment. “[We’re asking ourselves] how do we do that in a way that not only retains the goals of the program—to promote intellectual discussion—but also the branding and aesthetic that goes with it? How are we connecting these world leaders? How are we connecting with our own president?” And what’s the secret to making all of this look

Rudy Rodriguez

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AT ISSUE: How can integrators pivot their business strategies as we re-enter schools, the workplace, events, etc.?

Rony Sebok, Co-Founder and Vice President of Technology, 1 Beyond

Peter Charland

professional when many participants will be joining from home (perhaps with their own limited technical resources), with only a skeleton crew on campus that has access to more professional-grade equipment?

It’s also necessary to take bandwidth into consideration. Rodriguez recounted that Columbia’s commencement ceremony at the end of May was broadcast from his desk to approximately 33,000 viewers. The event, which featured one live segment combined with pre-recorded footage, was pushed out to five different streaming services. A month before the event, he explained, he and his team worked with central IT to gain bandwidth clearance—a lesson he has brought with him into the fall. “Going into our fall programming, we’re very conscious about having two to four bandwidth-exempt video production machines on the network that can handle some of these events,” he said.

He added that he and his team are also developing a system that can support last-minute meetings with far-flung participants, each using different software and devices. “[We want to] make sure that if that meeting needs to happen in 20 minutes, it can happen.”

While commencement and the World Leaders Forum are high-profile projects, much of Rodriguez’s time is spent offering virtual support for everyday events such as small panel discussions and classes.

“Ultimately, at that point, you end up needing hybrid solutions,” he said. “There’s not one platform or one piece of software or hardware that does it all.”

He noted, however, that vendors are beginning to work on this issue, pointing to NewTek’s recent launch of the TriCaster 2 Elite video production platform.

“That kind of equipment is what people are going to be interested in now—equipment that goes the distance with scalability and cross-platform support.”

As the AV industry moves through this pandemic and beyond, Charland encourages his fellow integration firms to consider every experience from two main perspectives: on site and remote. “Will [the solution] work equally well for both? What’s different if [a participant] is not physically present?” he illustrated.

“For the end user experience that we’re creating, let’s get really clear on what that is. When there are people who are going to be remote, how is the experience for them? And how do we improve on that?”

Carolyn Heinze is a freelance writer/editor.

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COVID-19 has transformed offices and universities into hybrid environments that must accommodate remote as well as on-site participants. Integrators have the unique opportunity to improve their customers’ experience with innovative technologies like automated camera solutions.

People are returning to boardrooms and classrooms in larger spaces to allow for social distancing. Integrators must provide both new audio and video capture for spaced-out participants. A single wide shot will not be effective in these rooms, since remote participants are now used to seeing all participants, not just the presenter, up close. This opens the door for integrators to recommend systems that provide the higher level of production clients now expect for videoconferencing.

Paul Richards, Chief Streaming Officer, PTZOptics COVID-19 holds many new opportunities for integrators, specifically for online communications and live streaming across multiple industries. In education, there is no turning back for organizations’ commitment to distance learning and lecture capture. Autotracking cameras like the HuddleCamHD SimplTrack2 are a perfect solution integrators can use to help modernize education.

Businesses of all sizes are looking for new ways to meet online and make professional presentations.

Livestreaming is powerful but complicated to get right. This is the perfect opportunity for integrators to build out streaming studios for YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. PTZOptics cameras that integrate into software such as OBS, Wirecast, and vMix are being integrated into many of these new streaming studio spaces.

Sandi Stambaugh, Vice President, Product Management, SYNNEX Corp.

Creating safe spaces is a key part of the return to public and group environments. As integrators work to support customers faced with overcoming safe entry and safe space challenges, it is important to do your research, align with a trusted partner, and think beyond the immediate need. Diversifying your offerings will be an important part of supporting your customers’ new business challenges. Having a thoughtful and well-devised plan for providing technologies such as thermal scanning and occupancy management solutions will most likely be necessary. Future-proofing your offerings to allow for short- and long-term applications will also increase the value you can provide to your customers beyond their immediate needs.

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COVID-19 AND AV NEW PRODUCTS 1 Beyond Automate VX Improve hybrid meetings in conference rooms, training rooms, and classrooms with automatic camera switching based on the active speaker. Using popular DSPs like Biamp, Shure, and QSC, and the microphones in the room, the 1 Beyond Automate VX solution can switch between up to 10 cameras, including 1 Beyond’s presenter and audience tracking cameras. The system is adaptable for rooms of any shape or size as cameras can be mounted anywhere. Output can be used for videoconferencing, including soft codecs like Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

Aurora Multimedia Tauri Temperature Tablets In stock and shipping now, Tauri temperature tablets from Aurora include the ReAX control system.

ReAX lets users create graphical user interfaces and advanced logic with Aurora’s free software, allowing them to control third-party devices or cus-

tom applications. Additional expansion hardware allows users to expand beyond network control protocols, providing physical ports to control devices using RS-232, IR, relays, and I/Os. PTZOptics HuddleCamHD SimplTrack2 The HuddleCamHD SimplTrack2 has been designed to automate camera control and reliably track subjects at distances up to 50 feet away from the camera. The SimplTrack2 features a plug-and-play USB 3.0 connection, which is perfect for videoconferencing solutions such as Zoom. SimplTrack2 features professional outputs including 3G-SDI and DVI, which are ideal for use with lecture capture recorders such as Echo360, Mediasite, and Epiphan Pearl.

Hanwha Techwin Occupancy Monitoring Application through Synnex The Hanwha Techwin Occupancy Monitoring Application combines 4K camera resolution with edge-based video analytics to allow users to easily control building occupancy levels while keeping employees and customers safe and healthy. Using edgebased video analytics and deep learning AI, the solution aggregates data from up to eight cameras at eight entrances to deliver highly accurate people counting and increased security and customer behavior insights.

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subaru park

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snapshots

The Philadelphia Union soccer team upgraded its existing LED scoreboard with outdoor LED video wall technology from Planar and Lighthouse Technologies.

Goal!

NEW SCOREBOARD BY PLANAR WINS BIG AT SUBARU PARK

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he Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer (MLS), which debuted in 2010 as an expansion team, plays its home matches at Subaru Park, a soccer stadium in Chester, PA, that overlooks the Delaware River. Built in 2010, the 18,500-seat multipurpose stadium features 30 luxury suites, a full-service club, restaurant, and sideline roofs to protect fans from the elements.

In the summer of 2019 and ahead of the 2020 season, the Philadelphia Union set out to upgrade its existing LED scoreboard, which had been installed when the stadium was built and was approaching its end of life. The soccer club selected outdoor LED video wall technology from Planar and integration partner Lighthouse Technologies. The display integrations include a giant outdoor LED scoreboard and LED video walls designed as ribbon boards.

“First and foremost, the purpose of the LED upgrades was to elevate the entertainment value of the stadium,” said Carl Mandell, director of broadcast and video production at the Philadelphia Union. “In reviewing the investment, the team owner said that he wanted to see the sharpest replays and highlight videos. He wanted to see it large and be able to feel [the action] through the pictures. With the installation complete, the new displays look fantastic and 100 percent better than what we had before.”

Tim McDermott, Philadelphia Union president, said Planar was chosen because the company had the right products and the expertise to manage the construction and installation process. “The result of Planar’s sports and entertainment team will dramatically enhance the experience for Philadelphia Union fans at Subaru Park for years to come,” he said. “We look forward to partnering with them again on future projects.”

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LED Scoreboard Expands Partner Opportunities The centerpiece of Subaru Park is a 10mm-pixel-pitch outdoor LED scoreboard that’s nearly 109 feet wide and 32 feet tall. Its 3,440 square feet of LED surface area is 281 percent greater than the previous scoreboard. The resolution is also 200 percent higher.

In addition to being bigger and clearer, the new scoreboard provides much more in the way of sponsorship opportunities and creative advertising than the old one, which consisted of a video screen flanked on either side by Trivision billboards.

“For our signage on rotation, we’ve gone from 10 ads over the course of an event to the ability to have close to 45 different placements,” Mandell said. “And even though our capacity for ad inventory has increased, the board still looks cleaner. It’s less cluttered.”

On the creative side, the flexibility of the LED scoreboard gives them more options. “Our go-to layout is a video screen in the middle with space for three ads on either side, but we can morph it any way we want to,” Mandell said. “We can split the board up several different ways or go full screen. It gives us the ability to take a vision and implement it.”

MLS’ goal is to provide an authentic experience for fans, which puts restrictions on how the team approaches in-game sponsorship. “A corporate partner can’t sponsor a goal, and the league doesn’t want random in-game sponsorship mentions because it’s unauthentic to the game,” Mandell said. “So we’ve gotten creative with stoppage time and our substitutions—those moments when fans are more apt to look up at the board.”

Keeping Fans Updated and Engaged Subaru Park features three LED video walls configured as ribbon boards. There are two 16mm-pixel-pitch upper fascia ribbons—a nearly 181-foot-wide west ribbon and a nearly 357-foot-wide east ribbon— and a 549-foot-wide LED field ribbon with a 10mm pixel pitch.

“The ribbon boards allow us to give fans what they’ve been asking for: real-time game stats including MLS scores and updates,” Mandell added. “After 10 years, the fan base in Philadelphia has become more sophisticated with soccer and MLS. They’re not just coming to games because it’s a new experience. They are invested in and educated about the other teams and players. The fans want to know what’s happening around the league.” *

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technology

The New Service WHAT STREAMING AND SPACING MEANS FOR AUDIO IN HOUSES OF WORSHIP

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sorts of system tweaks can be easily made here’s no question that the ways in the system software configuration.” people come together to worship have changed dramatically this Expanding Audio year. That has also meant a lot of changes Another challenge that goes beyond the to the way services sound—and what they pandemic-related ones currently facing may sound like in the future. houses of worship? L-Acoustics’ Maichele “COVID-19 has pushed everybody to noted the trend of expansion, pointing to understand that a lot of their congregathe issues that arise when, say, a megation base, even in the future, has found church expands to a multi-campus model ways to make home church, and church that features smaller satellite spaces. home,” said Joshua Maichele, applicaProviding the right sonic fit for partion engineer, install and house of worticular spaces is also the goal of new augship specialist, USA and Canada, at mented arrays from d&b audiotechnik.

L-Acoustics.

The A-Series is built for spaces in need The various ways that houses of worof a Goldilocks solution. As Marc Lopez, ship (HoW) may handle this new frontier— vice president of marketing Americas at from procuring new audio and video gear, to repurposing existing church gear, to d&b audiotechnik’s A-Series combines variable splay angles, two approach- d&b audiotechnik, noted, “They serve as providing more streaming-focused sup- es to acoustic optimization, and advanced waveguide design, addressing ap- the best balance when a point source is plications that require flexibility in both horizontal and vertical coverage. too little for a space and a line array is too port and training—may seem at first like a much.” daunting challenge to those who provide “The A-Series models are low-profile how to deal with that.” audio services, but as Jeff Hawley, marketing enclosures that help preserve sightlines in Tres Cozad, systems engineering manager maestro at Allen & Heath, noted, it might be venues with lower trim heights while still at Yamaha Corp. of America, agreed. “Streaman opportunity for those who are considering delivering high SPL,” he continued. “They ing is here to stay. There is no doubt about the deeper issues at hand. are designed for variable dispersion through that. This means systems contractors need “The main concern I’m hearing on the intemodularity and adjustable angles. They solve to be thinking about network bandwidth and grator and consultant side has to do with how the mid-band coupling issue found in tradiways to prioritize streaming on Sundays. Well to best tackle this sudden shift in requiretional constant-curvature or arrayable point before the building is constructed or modified, ments from in-person services to streamed sources and feature virtually no audible seam church production teams and integrators need and on-demand video production,” he said. between cabinets.” to be more cognizant of the quality of audio “The root concern, though, is likely some variand video production for the ‘at-home’ viewer ant of ‘Can we continue to provide a sense of Adjusting to the New Normal experience. Contractors have to remember community and real connection in all formats A new issue that Yamaha’s Cozad sees for the that the experience needs to be just as engagand flavors to the congregation?’” future for houses of worship will be to ensure ing on a 5-inch phone screen as it is inside the For systems contractors, determining how their congregants feel comfortable coming room.” to provide assistance in creating a welcomback to what may have previously been packed One complicating factor for making the ing space, both physically and virtually, may indoor spaces. virtual experience match the live one is budbe a part of the workflow for the foreseeable “The main challenge will be getting the conget—although finding funding to update aufuture, Maichele said. “I think web streaming gregations to be comfortable in large gatherdio systems is not a new challenge for many services is not just an option anymore, which ings again,” Cozad said. “Most will need to houses of worship. However, as Hawley means your P.A. selection is very important. begin transitioning other parts of the church pointed out, protocols like Audinate’s Dante Maybe that colored sound you like in your into comfortable overflow spaces.” may provide more evident benefits these days. room doesn’t translate well to streaming, To that end, he noted, there’s a benefit to “In scenarios where church budgets don’t and you have to figure out having an existing networked audio system allow for major new purchases, it may be Yamaha DZR speakers (piclike Dante, which can allow staff to make that possible to shuffle audio gear around and retured) and DXS XLF subwoofers come in Dante-equipped “D” sort of transition quickly. “With Yamaha DZRpurpose a secondary console that was previmodels that enable integration D powered speakers with Dante, all they need ously used for monitor mixing or the with Yamaha consoles and other Dante devices via the Dante I/O is a wired network connection to their Dante youth worship space and rejigger (2-in/2-out). The speakers also network and an outlet,” he said. “A café or it for tailoring the broadcast feature sample rate conversion, allowing 48 kHz device compatlobby can quickly be turned into that muchmix,” Hawley said. “With a wellibility. needed second venue.” designed Dante network, these Until congregations begin returning to services in numbers like they were before COVID-19, acoustic conditions in nowemptier spaces will certainly be an important consideration.

“Who knows how long before we go back to having a church service where every seat is

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filled,” L-Acoustics’ Maichele said. “When you strip it down, when everybody is distanced or there are so few people in the room, it’s really hard to find the same feel. How do we make it feel the same, so the emotion is still there?”

Dealing with challenging acoustical issues is not new for those working in houses of worship. Pierre Germain, Meyer Sound’s Constellation design manager, says he often hears from audio pros about spaces that “are either too reverberant for speech intelligibility or too acoustically dry for choral singing, congregational singing, or organ music.” He noted that Constellation, their acoustic system, ad-

ment, the focus should be on implementing changes and making adjustments that can make a difference.”

In examining the space and considering how it might be filled differently in the future than it was before, one option is to install a system that can adapt to evolving needs.

“From the source side of the equation, selecting the right loudspeaker allows you to cover the meeting space efficiently and effectively,” Shulman said. “If portability is a requirement, the Bose F1 flexible array loudspeaker system provides high output and full bandwidth while also allowing adjustments to the coverage for different audience geometries.”

Planning for all these possibilities—for better streaming of services now and in the future, for the differences in acoustics for a potentially smaller congregation initially—are all important today. But it’s equally important to remember why people gather for services in the first place.

“Worship is about sharing experiences together,” said Lopez. “While we are currently limited in our ability to be together, the desire to share music and spirituality will bring us together once it is safe to do so, and the expectation for an impactful and engaging in-person experience will still be a high priority.” *

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The Bose F1 Model 812 is a 1,000-watt full-range loudspeaker featuring Bose Flexible Array technology. At the heart of the F1 is a 12-inch woofer nested behind an array of eight highoutput drivers. These nine speakers are supported by a low crossover point, which can help give full voice to sound and deliver clearer, more natural vocals and midrange clarity, even at high volumes.

dresses these concerns.

“By adding acoustic treatment to the space (as specified by an acoustic consultant), the room reverberation can be reduced to a level that is suitable for speech and some amplification,” he said. “Then Constellation can be installed to increase the reverberation to various lengths to sound like a larger church or cathedral and make it suitable for singing and organ music.”

With fewer people occupying spaces, and with those people spread further apart, there are more exposed surfaces from which audio can reflect, reducing intelligibility and increasing noise. “The rise in empty seats increases the number of hard surfaces in the room—and removes a lot of the sound dampening benefits with larger groups—which can create an echo chamber effect that distorts the audio, introduces artifacts and reduces the overall quality,” said Adam Shulman, market category lead for installed sound at Bose Professional.

The solution is not necessarily to increase the audio volume, he said. “In an effort to bring parishioners back together while they remain physically apart, churches might be tempted to add more speakers and raise audio levels to compensate for these problems, but that only exacerbates the acoustic issues. Instead of spending money on additional equip-

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technology

Remote Collaboration Essentials

1 Beyond’s Automate VX is compatible with hardware and software codecs such as Zoom and features built-in recording and H.264 streaming.

A

s corporations rely on remote meetings to keep their businesses running efficiently, videoconferencing is enjoying a renaissance. New uses for it are cropping up in nearly every sector, from healthcare to finance and judicial proceedings.

And those markets that have not yet embraced it certainly see its potential.

“The most pertinent videoconferencing trend we’ve witnessed this year—outside of the obvious skyrocketing of remote work—is that video is spreading far beyond remote meetings. Over the course of 2020, we’ve seen video extend into enabling telebanking, remote legal depositions, and online or distance learning. Integrators must understand that it’s not just about outfitting customers for conferencing and collaboration anymore.

It’s about creating entirely new and competitive business models and revenue streams based on video,” explained Michael Helmbrecht, COO of Lifesize.

Videoconferencing solutions will always serve as meeting tools, but Helmbrecht said the role of video in communications has become far broader than imagined.

“Telemedicine has become the natural evolution of healthcare in the digital age. Coming out of the pandemic, we’ll continue to see enterprise-grade cloud video play a critical role in improving its accessibility and mobility. In education, online learning through a hybrid classroom or a fully remote approach is also here to stay at all levels during the coming school year and even post-pandemic. Videoconferencing can make learning more engaging and extend the reach of classrooms through the addition of digital whiteboard collaboration exercises, recorded lectures for later playback, and real-time access to subject matter experts around the globe.”

Priorities for integrators, particularly when it comes to education projects, are likely to change, he said. “Integrators should heed the fact that they must work with education customers—especially higher education institutions—to enable remote meetings and learning at scale through cloud solutions and subscriptions more often than in-classroom hardware.”

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A Hybrid Working Model “One of the chief misconceptions that integrators should be aware of in videoconferencing and remote meetings is that it’s an all-ornothing proposition. In the vast majority of current scenarios, especially in healthcare, banking, finance, and legal, it’s going to be a hybrid work model,” where some meeting participants attend in person and some are remote, said Helmbrecht.

“Video quality and meeting experience has to be consistent and top-notch for both sets, and it’s often going to require integrators to outfit clients with both cloud-based service licenses that work on a laptop or mobile phone and purpose-built hardware systems that give participants in the physical office the utmost level of control and visual detail.”

Bridging the divide between an in-person and remote workforce—and allowing all stakeholders to connect, communicate, and collaborate equally rather than investing more fully in one group than the other—is going to be the secret to business productivity, noted Helmbrecht. It’s important to understand that remote meetings are not going away, even as more people return to the office.

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Are You Experienced?

“Before COVID-19, most meetings were held in person, and only a few people attended remotely. Remote participants typically had more of a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ type of experience, looking at a wide shot of the room. During the shutdown, more people were completely remote, which leveled the playing field The Atlona AT-HDVS-CAM-HDMI features an HDMI output plus a USB 2.0 interface for video and camera control from popular soft codec and UC clients.

for all participants. [New technologies enabled everyone] to see each other up close and personal and engage with each other equally.

[In the future] some people will need to be physically in a room together, albeit socially distanced; however, there’s no going back to the old way of online meetings. Remote participants are now accustomed to a more intimate meeting experience, and there will be more remote participants than ever before,” said 1 Beyond co-founder and vice president Rony Sebok.

“Remote meeting experiences can now be enhanced by technology for better collaboration and communication that enables virtual participants to interact with the people attending in person as close up as if [everyone] were joining from their home laptops. This is possible by optimizing the meeting room with high-quality cameras and microphones,” she added.

As time goes on, Sebok says, virtual meetings with a large number of remote participants will become the norm—and AV equipment needs to be optimized for this eventuality. Technologies like 1 Beyond’s automated camera solutions, which can highlight the active speaker, will be paramount in this environment.

Paul Cords, director of sales and product management at Vaddio, highlighted the importance of camera quality and described some rookie errors when it comes to remote meetings. “A big misconception is thinking that all cameras are created equal when it comes to remote conferencing. With education scrambling to be ready for hybrid learning, we’re combatting the idea that ‘good enough is good enough.’”

While webcams may feel temptingly “free” or low-priced, Cords explained that there are a lot of features lost in that trade-off, “features that are often critical to making content more engaging, which is the name of the game in this environment plagued by virtual fatigue.

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Security First With increased use of remote conferencing technologies can also come risk. And, as many organizations are still adapting to remote working, security is still a learning curve for some.

“The pandemic caused a dramatic increase in companies attempting to put digital communication and collaboration tools in place as quickly as possible as they rapidly transitioned to remote work. With those organizations racing to download software

The Lifesize Icon 800 video collaboration system, designed for large meeting environments, can be combined with the Lifesize Camera 10x and Lifesize Phone HD.

and apps to stay connected, the consequences of rushing normal software-vetting processes have become readily apparent. As we’ve all seen, users of videoconferencing platforms that don’t place an emphasis on security and privacy have frequently run into issues like the exposure of sensitive corporate information, having their personal data shared without consent, or becoming a victim of cybercrime, like hacked meetings,” said Helmbrecht.

Ron Berty, business development manager at Matrox, elaborates on the growing need for security and how it is influencing the role of AV and IT integration engineers.

“Network administrators are now challenged with constantly integrating new networked devices. Any new device and software poses a potential security threat, so vulnerability control and management are becoming key elements of any network administrator’s role and duties. Making sure that data and content on the network are not lost, stolen, or manipulated in any way, and that services and content are not denied are at the top of any IT administrator’s duties.”

Berty also stressed the importance of identifying products that have vulnerability

Vaddio’s EasyIP Base Kit includes an EasyIP 10 PTZ camera with 10x zoom, EasyIP Decoder, and Luxul EasyIP Switch.

update programs associated with them. “Managing vulnerability is an ongoing process when it comes to content streaming and recording of any kind, and there needs to be a specific program in place by manufacturers to update and maintain vulnerability resistance throughout a product’s lifetime.”

Ledetta Asfa-Wossen is a freelance education, technology, and business journalist based in the UK.

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By ditching the webcam and opting for a professional PTZ camera, you gain the ability to zoom up to 30x, set presets, or deploy multiple cameras, which can be used to seamlessly switch from presenter to whiteboard to content and back again. That’s really the closest you can get to an in-person experience.”

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technology Yamaha Adecia The What: Adecia is a family of communication products designed to be installed easily and to work seamlessly together to provide complete and customizable communications solutions for enterprises or meeting spaces.

Adecia helps organizations overcome challenges with implementation, configuration, and room acoustics by providing all components required for a successful installation and automatic technologies that reduce setup time, cost and complexity.

The What Else: The Adecia solution combines Yamaha’s new dynamic beamforming ceiling microphone (RM-CG), room control processor (RM-CR), a Yamaha Dante-optimized network switch, and VXL Series line-array PoE+ powered speakers.

The complete conferencing solution immediately detects all components of the system and configures them optimally for the room environment, accounting for the location of speakers and microphones, reverberation, and echo behavior. Room setup takes place in four steps in the system’s configurator. With USB, Bluetooth, Dante, and analog connections, the system can accommodate a variety of room types.

The Bottom Line: The system supports multi-beam tracking technology, human voice activity detection, noise reduction algorithms, speaker tracking, adaptive acoustic echo cancellation, and more.

Meyer Sound MAPP 3D

The What: Meyer Sound has released MAPP 3D, the most extensive upgrade to its system design tool since the original MAPP Online software program was introduced in 2001. The MAPP 3D sound system design tool delivers high-resolution predictions of sound energy distribution in a three-dimensional sound field. Three-dimensional modeling makes it easier to visualize complex models, measure off-axis response, and compare performance across sections of a venue.

The What Else: In addition to traditional calibration signal sources, MAPP 3D supports M-Noise, an emerging industry standard for determining the maximum linear SPL with music.

MAPP 3D offers complete integration with the Galaxy Network Platform and Compass control software for a seamless workflow from initial design through on-site tuning. Comprehensive processing parameters for complex systems can be optimized using MAPP 3D predictions, with the resulting processor settings pushed directly into multiple Galaxy processors.

From system design to on-site optimization to post-event analysis, MAPP 3D simplifies workflows and streamlines crew resources.

MAPP 3D’s intuitive interface supports multiple loudspeakers, arrays, and measurement microphones. Users can input multiple systems, build immersive systems, model gradient subwoofer arrays, and other custom configurations. Layer-management features make quick work of refining models.

The Bottom Line: MAPP 3D works on both Mac and Windows platforms, employs local processing (no internet connection required) and is available as a free download from the Meyer Sound website.

Crestron 4-Series Control Systems

The What: Crestron says its 4-Series models are the fastest, most powerful, and secure control systems it has produced to date. The 4-Series control platform gives organizations the ability to manage AV, voice and data, lighting, security, streaming media services, and HVAC from a single device.

The What Else: The 4-Series control platform offers the ability to

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unify networked technologies on application-appropriate hardware or software, from small appliances all the way up to enterprise-grade virtual servers. As such, individual rooms can be managed with the compact MC4 and RMC4 models; floors or complex rooms with CP4/CP4-N, or the AV4, PRO4, and DIN-AP4 (releasing soon); and buildings and campuses with the server-based Crestron Virtual Control platform.

The 4-Series enables programmers to use standard development tools to create C# programs, with SDKs made publicly available on nuget.org. Crestron is also making it easier for customers to upgrade from the 3-Series to the 4-Series control platform. Programs created for the 3-Series will run on the 4-Series with no need for code changes, just a simple recompile.

The Bottom Line: With 15 times faster processing, up to four times more memory, and meeting robust security standards, the 4-Series is configured to give organizations greater power and flexibility to integrate and manage disparate networked technologies on one secure platform.

QSC Q-SYS Core Processors

The What: QSC has added two smaller-sized AV and control processors to the QSYS Ecosystem. Q-SYS Core 8 Flex and Q-SYS Core Nano are intended to expand design options to meet a wider variety of installation spaces and topologies.

The What Else: Driven by the proliferation of networked endpoints and the expanding processing needs of a wider variety of spaces and topologies, the Core 8 Flex includes onboard analog audio I/O and GPIO plus network I/O, while the Q-SYS Core Nano offers networkonly audio I/O processing and control. Built on the same flexible and scalable software foundation as the rest of the Q-SYS processor portfolio, these new Cores expand design options to meet a wider variety of installations.

The Q-SYS Core 8 Flex includes a 64 x 64 networked I/O channel capacity with eight onboard FLEX audio channels and eight GPIOs to integrate analog audio and control devices into the Q-SYS Ecosystem.

Q-SYS Core Nano offers the same 64 x 64 networked audio I/O without the onboard analog I/O, supporting smaller installations with centralized processing and fully networked endpoints. Both of these new Q-SYS Core processors occupy a smaller, half-width, 1RU footprint and include pre-installed 8 x 8 Software-based Dante audio channels (license upgradeable up to 32 x 32 channels), driverless USB audio, and AV bridging capabilities.

The Bottom Line: These smaller Core processors use the same software-based architecture, control engine, and design software suite (Q-SYS Designer Software) as the rest of the Q-SYS Core processing portfolio. They both offer scalable DSP processing, video routing and bridging for web conferencing, as well as third-party endpoint integration without the need for separate dedicated control processors.

JBL Professional VTX B28 Subwoofer The What: The VTX B28 is JBL Professional’s next-generation dual 18-inch subwoofer, designed to complement the company’s flagship VTX fullrange sound reinforcement systems, and capable of deliver-

new products

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Netgear AV Line Switches for AVoIP Market

The What: Netgear has introduced a series of switches designed and built from the ground up for the growing AV over IP market. Netgear says the AV Line combines “years of networking expertise with best practices from leading experts in the professional AV market.”

The What Else: The user interface featured in AV Line switches is simplified for AV professionals and doesn’t include

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IT-specific functionality they will ing uncompromised low-frequency performance. never need. The M4250 AV inThe What Else: The B28 offers JBL Differential Drive transducers, terface presents common AV an exclusive port design, and the same industrial design found in JBL’s controls right up front, with VTX A-Series products. It is equally ideal flown or ground stacked, in user-selectable profiles for comomnidirectional or cardioid configurations. Simple and fast rigging, a mon AV platforms, making it a snap to selection of accessories, and software support make the B28 a solid ensure the settings are correct for a specific audio or video application. choice for rental, AV, and touring companies, as well as in high-end The M4250 line of switches also supports more advanced confixed installations. figuration and 11:58 a robust set of A simple, integral, two-point rigging system allows flown arrays of REV Plas_1pg TVBox SCN_RESI_2020.qxp_b 5/06 1pg IN BOX/BLDR 12/10/19 AM Page 1 features for many different types of inup to 16 B28 enclosures.

Three M20 pole mount attachments on the enclosure’s top can interface F O R F LU S H -TO -T H E - WA L L M O U N T I N G O F L E D , H I - D E F T V s with standard base plate accessories for the A12, A8, and V20 systems to TM create ground-stacked systems. B28 systems are powered exclusively by Crown I-Tech HD amplifiers and are fully integrated into JBL’s software ecosystem. The B28 integrates seamlessly with HiQNet Performance Manager and Line Array Calculator (LAC) software.

The Bottom Line: CED130 At the core of the B28 are two JBL Differential Drive 2288H-M 18-inch woofers, engineered for improved linearity, efficiency, and extra-long for EW WORK or ETROFIT excursion. The combination of the 2288H-M drivers and the large, central, flared port deliver superior low-frequency output without distortion or artifacts—even at elevated SPL. FEA-optimized integral bracing eliminates inter-cabinet standing LISTED POWER/LOW VOLTAGE BOX waves, improves rigidity, and simplifies the strucCED130 with slotted cover TVBU505 with CED130 tural design.

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technology stallations. Netgear’s web-based IT GUI—along with console, telnet, and SSH connections and a standard, out-of-band Ethernet port—is available for deeper settings adjustments. Additional features include static, RIP and PIM routing, DHCP server, and PTPv2.

The M4250 product line offers full support for Audio Video Bridging (AVB), and all of the AV Line M4250 switches can be optionally licensed for AVB support.

The switches launching as part of the AV Line series range from 8 to 16 ports with a variety of PoE+ (30W per port) and Ultra90 PoE++ (90W per port) options. In addition, uplink choices include 1G for audio installations or standalone video installations, and 10G uplinks for larger-scale video deployments. The AV Line M4250 series also includes 12-port multi-gigabit Ethernet and 16-port 1G/10G fiber models for plug-and-play aggregation in a totally automated star topology.

The Bottom Line: The M4250 switches are designed for a clean integration with traditional rack-mounted AV equipment. Netgear’s ProSafe Limited Lifetime Hardware Warranty includes 90 days of technical support via phone and email, lifetime technical support through online chat, and lifetime next-business-day hardware replacement.

Datapath Image2K 4K Graphics Card

The What: Datapath has added the Image2K to its range of pro AV 4K graphics cards.

Designed to power multiscreen, video wall, and LED installations, Image2K enables the seamless mixing of 4K and HD outputs, all at 60 frames per second over direct HDMI outputs.

The What Else: Fully integrated with Datapath’s graphical setup wizard, the Image4K is easy to configure for different combinations of monitors, projectors, or LED controllers. Output resolution, rotation, and wall layout are all easily configured using the intuitive graphical interface. Systems built using Datapath’s VSN or iolite 600 chassis can use up to 8 Image2K cards, giving a total of 32 HD outputs, 16 4K outputs, or a mixture of the two.

Connectivity is provided by four HMDI outputs, capable of 2560 x

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1600 at 60 fps resolution. Users can configure this as two 3840 x 2160 @60, or one 3840 x 2160 @60 and three HD (1920 x 1080 @60) from the same card. The Image2K also supports 7680 x 1080 @60.

An industrial-grade, nearly silent fan is integrated alongside the heat sink to ensure optimal operating temperature is maintained.

The Bottom Line: With outputs synchronized across all cards, multiple video walls and single screen displays can be powered from a single system, making the Image2K ideal for security suites, corporate office displays, retail signage, or multi-video wall applications. Image2K is available as card-only, or pre-installed in a Datapath VSN or iolite video wall controller.

Neoti Affinity Pro

The What: Affinity Pro is an all-in-one direct view LED display with touchscreen, speakers, and a built-in operating system. This plug-and-play display is configured for use in high-traffic areas and as a mobile solution, with applications in corporate, education, and broadcast environments.

The What Else: Models in the Affinity Pro series include the 110inch (diagonal) AP110 with 1.2mm pixel pitch, 138-inch AP138 with 1.5mm pixel pitch, and 165-inch AP165 with 1.9mm pixel pitch. These models offer 1920 x 1080 resolution, 450-nit brightness, 6,000:1 contrast ratio, and a 170° horizontal viewing angle.

The display’s ten-point infrared touchscreen features a module accuracy of 1mm for single-finger writing, double-finger scaling, multifinger roaming, and hand back erasure.

The Bottom Line: Affinity Pro is easy to assemble, with a single power cord and standard USB and HDMI inputs. The Affinity Pro can be wall-mounted for permanent installation or placed on wheel mounts for mobility.

Planar HRO Series Outdoor LED Video Wall Displays

The What: Planar’s new HRO Series of outdoor, highbrightness, fine-pitch LED video wall displays are built for close up daylight viewing. The series features a 16:9 aspect ratio, making it ideal for outdoor viewing of movies, live sports, or presentations.

The What Else: The Planar HRO Series features models with 1.5mm and 1.9mm pixel pitches. The fine pixel pitch paired with 3,500-nit brightness and 16:9 aspect ratio make the series ideal in a variety of outdoor applications ranging from uncovered business pavilions and amphitheater backdrops to poolside hospitality, transportation signage, and retail exteriors.

Planar HRO Series LED displays are built to endure the weather, with LED treatments that protect them from ultraviolet rays, dust, water, and casual contact—without negatively impacting the viewing experience. Planar HRO Series displays feature protective plates on the backside of the displays to cover cables and mechanics, helping ensure a longer life for the solution regardless of environmental factors. The displays enable wall-mounted or stacked installations and feature full front service for simplified maintenance.

The Bottom Line: HRO Series displays may be purchased separately or in a prepackaged solution (HRO Complete) that reduces the time and complexity of video wall design and installation. Planar HRO Complete is available in 130-, 174-, 217-, and 260-inch diagonal sizes. HRO Complete packages include the display, controller, cables, trim and wall mount, and are delivered ready to install. Optional floor stands and hanging mounts are also available.

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viewpoint We Should Be Innovators WHY ARE AV PROFESSIONALS LAGGING IN ADOPTING NEW TECH? B Y SH A RA T H A BR A HA M

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The pace of technological progress is increasing, and it can be difficult to keep up.

New technology is adopted by users in a model generally broken out into five groups: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. Innovators are the ones who dive into the new technology immediately, no questions asked. Early adopters are the people who read the first couple of pages of the how-to guide and put the new technology to use. The early majority waits for the early adopters to play with the products, asks them questions, and then uses the product themselves. The late majority is skeptical, and will not use new technology until a large number of people have confirmed its worthiness. Then, lastly, there are laggards, who stick to what they are used to and wait until there are no other alternatives but to use the “new” technology.

Where do you land on this technology adoption lifecycle? As AV professionals, we should be innovators and early adopters … and hold each other accountable when we’re part of the late majority or the laggard group. How can we provide the best possible solutions to our clients if we, as the experts, do not use the latest software and hardware to its full potential whenever we can? Let’s look at a few examples before we discuss solutions.

Since the beginning of the pandemic and the mass migration to working from home, tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Cisco Teams, and others have enjoyed the limelight. Yet despite the general availability and popularity of these real-time collaboration tools, our inboxes still fill up with emails we must respond to in between bouts of actual work. Many of these emails could have been communicated more effectively as instant messages, and many of the issues could have been solved easily over a video chat. Synchronous communication—where participants are on the same page at the same time—works better for solving problems than asynchronous platforms like email.

Communication is the bread and butter of the aforementioned collaboration tools, but we aren’t using them to their full potential.

Programs like Microsoft Teams and Slack allow you to host files for discussion in their platforms, so why are we still sending attachments via email?

It’s pretty clear that despite having been on videoconference calls nearly nonstop since March, not everyone has explored the settings of their conferencing hardware and software. Every participant should double-check their audio device at least five minutes before a call using the testing methods available in the settings—anything to avoid the “Can you hear me now?” conversation that seems to dominate the first 10 minutes of every call.

Take the time to familiarize yourself with other settings that can be adjusted to help you make the most of an online meeting. For example, Zoom has an option to use the space bar to temporarily unmute yourself.

Zoom also offers a “touch up my appearance” option that applies a soft focus/airbrushed look that makes your skin look flawless. I discovered this feature by accident and, truthfully, I liked it.

Eventually we will be returning to our offices, but I expect that in-person collaboration will look different in the future. Offices will need no-touch hardware solutions like wireless sharing in conference rooms, where participants can connect and display presentation material wirelessly, without plugging a cable into a laptop or smartphone. The funny thing about wireless sharing is that it has been around for years and available through many vendors, but how many of us used it in our own office spaces? Not many.

In recent client meetings, I discovered that many technology managers do not understand how wireless sharing works in Zoom or Teams—something that was easily remedied with a quick demo. I got to wondering, How many AV professionals don’t even know the option is there? When was the last time you shared wirelessly? Do you know how to share wirelessly with any of the products you recommend to

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your clients?

What’s the solution? You can either read the user guide or manual, use the technology yourself, or simply ask someone how it works. Doing so will allow your business to grow, because you can now talk the talk and walk the walk. The competitive advantage you gain by adopting new technologies will allow you to engage in deeper and more meaningful conversations with your clients about the solutions you can provide.

“As AV professionals, we should be innovators and early adopters … and hold each other accountable when we’re part of the late majority or the laggard group. How can we provide the best possible solutions to our clients if we, as the experts, do not use the latest software and hardware to its full potential whenever we can?”

Times are changing, and so is technology—in both the AV and IT industries. It is time for those of us in pro AV to find our curious spirit again and use technology as much as we can in our daily lives. There will always be someone in your company who knows more than you about a particular technology. Get to know them, engage them in conversation, and learn something new.

Take the time to dig deeper into the technology and discover how tools that we use daily can make us more efficient. Be the technology expert your clients expect you to be.

Sharath Abraham is an experienced technical professional with a demonstrated history of working with products that are designed and built to work together as a complete system. He is currently an engineering manager at AVI-SPL; prior to that, he was a technical director at Crestron Electronics. Abraham was featured in the 2020 class of SCN: The Nine and holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Information Systems: Computer Networks.

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