In an era of email, Slack, text, and videoconferencing with screen sharing, is audio still as important? It may be true that with all the communication and collaboration tools available to businesses these days, some meetings might be less necessary. It’s also true that with hybrid work environments, with workers both in and out of your Phoenix, AZ offices, meetings may not be as convenient to hold as before. 

However, that doesn't mean communicating by voice has gone out of style. Unfortunately, voice sometimes takes a back seat to more visual communication. That is sometimes reflected in the choice of equipment for conference rooms. The trend in many spaces is to install all-in-one soundbar-style videoconferencing systems with a microphone, camera, and speaker. While the microphones and speakers in these systems might work well in ideal conditions, sometimes they're not up to the task. Stay with us below as we explore audio issues in modern collaboration spaces and how distributed audio can help.

Hybrid workplaces—what a great idea! Work-from-home enthusiasts can take their laptops on the go and work from their home offices, cafes, or wherever they roam. Those who prefer the office’s face-to-face camaraderie can work on location. And a few times a week, everyone collaborates in person.

In theory, it may sound like a dream, but hybrid work models are proving to be more difficult than some imagined—especially during hybrid meetings. Without proper cameras, microphones, displays, and speakers, your teams at the conference table will hardly see or hear remote participants. And those at home won’t feel included in the spur-of-the-moment discussions happening in the conference room.

Luckily, technology brands like Logitech are working to fix this problem with solutions like the new Sight AI-powered camera. We think Sight is a great step in the right direction—here’s why.

Do you guys remember that Verizon guy? He’d walk around the US on his cell phone asking, “Can you hear me now? Good. *Take a few steps* Can you hear me now? Good!” His character’s name was literally “Test Man”. Paul Marcarelli was a phenom with that one character and that one line. He’s now worth over $10M and has not only worked for Verizon, but also for Old Navy, Merrill Lynch, Dasani, T-Mobile, and Heineken in a similar capacity. Clearly, he was on to something. The idea that a company would pay someone to walk around the nation and stop every few feet to make sure the performance was good struck a nerve with the public. That’s a company that cares about their users’ experiences, right? (Well, at least their marketing department painted a great picture.)

Much has been written about the newer generations, especially millennials and GenZ, and their propensity toward less ownership and more paying for things as services. Think Uber and Lyft for transportation, Airbnb for vacation rentals, HelloFresh for food, and Rent the Runway for special occasion clothing. Even automakers like Volvo and Porsche have experimented with automobiles as a service. In addition, Apple has offered iPhone plans that effectively turn smartphone ownership into a subscription of sorts. 

What's the attraction to these services? It's mostly about convenience, paying a set price for a (mostly) all-inclusive service, and the flexibility of little or no upfront investment and few long-term commitments. What's the downside? You might pay a little more for all the convenience and work being done for you. But even then, you might argue that few people ever account for the total cost of ownership of cars or what they really spend on food overall. 

What does all this have to do with your conference rooms and AV infrastructure? Walk with us below as we explore how AV integration as a service can make great sense for your Scottsdale, AZ, company.

An LED video wall transforms any blank space into an engaging, exciting experience. From corporate offices to sports stadiums, video wall displays are the ultimate visual technology. 

But video walls can be costly and aren’t always a practical solution. If you still want to create a larger-than-life display, we can join together a “video wall” using multiple smaller LED or LCD displays—even using screens from different manufacturers. 

You may worry: will it look seamless if we use many smaller screens? Well, if the displays aren’t calibrated and color balanced, you’ll likely be distracted by mismatched-looking screens. 

But Level 3 Audiovisual can calibrate all the displays at your business—even other screens like projectors and touchscreens—to match with the same colors and brightness. Here’s how it works.

Back in the good old days – let’s call them the 1980s and 1990s – service for AV technology was still delivered by people. In that era, companies usually bought a preventive maintenance package to go along with their AV equipment. Of course, the solutions from that time included a lot of analog technology, which tended to require more maintenance. With preventive maintenance, a real technician (gasp) came out and ran through a myriad of physical tests on AV setups. They would test microphones, speakers, VHS decks, DVD players, projectors, and more. They'd clean projector lenses, clean tape heads, and do other things that might seem quaint in today's digital world. They would even spend time with users to ensure they understood how to operate the equipment and get the most out of their capabilities. 

What happened to the good old days? Perhaps they weren't any better than today's times; they just look better through foggy memories. But AV equipment did change, commoditizing into fewer components that relied on digital technology and formats and requiring less physical servicing. The preventive maintenance plan mostly languished, just like the doctor who makes house calls. What's taking its place? Read on to learn more about managed support services and how you can design the right AV support plan for your Tempe, AZ, organization.

Crestron® Virtual Control (VC-4) is a Linux-based control platform for enterprise applications that can be used in place of traditional hardware‑based Crestron control systems.   The VC-4 platform controls multiple rooms over the network from a single, centralized location. Cloud‑based monitoring is also available through XiO Cloud, Crestron’s IoT (Internet of Things) monitoring system.

Readers should note that the Crestron VC-4 is not, as shipped, a secured platform. But rather, has the ability to be secured. Without going too deep into the differences between Alma Linux versus Rocky Linux, let’s just say, it’s not easy, and you will want an experienced Linux administrator to secure the device.

If you’re a technology manager looking for a skilled low-voltage contractor, how can you know you’re partnering with the best?

For your projects to succeed, you’ll need on-time delivery, performance as expected, and an installation done to best practices. Of course, every vendor will claim that they do a great job. However, there are signs you can look for to discern the best from the rest. 

So before you hire a low-voltage contractor, ask the following questions. Their answers should clue you into their experience and skill!