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!

As everyone knows, the pandemic of the last many years created a new work-from-home revolution as companies faced office shutdowns and work went remote. Practically overnight, most employees became proficient with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx, and cloud-based collaboration platforms for a new way of communicating, meeting, and collaborating. 

But was it really a revolution? Or did the pandemic shoot a giant dose of adrenaline into the arm of a long-term trend? The truth is, remote work and workers were already a thing before anyone could spell COVID. Companies large and small had already discovered the benefits of a virtually connected organization. Using the aforementioned tools from Microsoft, Zoom, Cisco and many other companies, organizations discovered the benefits of not having a physical location – in terms of costs, employee satisfaction, hiring flexibility, and other areas. If your organization is completely virtual, perhaps you can stop reading here – you might not care about meeting rooms or hybrid work. 

However, we know that most organizations still need and rely on physical worker interaction and collaboration. It may be due to the business model, product or services, supply chain, or other business factors. And many companies are struggling to define just how hybrid work will work for their organization, which leads us to the meeting room. After all, if all your staff had to do is sit in front of a computer doing their work all day long in a cubicle or open office space, you don't need them back in the office. But if they benefit from and need in-person collaboration, your current meeting room design may not work for a model where some are in the office and others are remote. 

Let’s explore the issues with current meeting room design and how you can reimagine your spaces for a hybrid work model below.

Buying a car can be challenging due to all the decisions that are required. You have to make the big decisions: size, type, electric, hybrid, or gas-fueled. Then there are the medium decisions: manufacturer, model, color. Then, there are the seemingly endless minor decisions: keyless entry, remote start, heated seats, entertainment system, all which impact your experience as a driver or passenger. You can take the family down to Disney in the family truckster but having that entertainment system for the kids makes the ride so much more tolerable for everyone. Many people geek out on those little details. Although, they don’t impact how well the car drives, fuel efficiency, or safety, but they are still very important facets of the car. You certainly wouldn’t ignore them when buying a car or leave it up to the car dealer to pick which ones are included with your car. They are a minor, but still very significant, aspect of the purchase.

AUSTIN, TX (PRWEB) SEPTEMBER 21, 2022

Today Trustgrid and Level 3 Audiovisual announce a technology partnership to deliver next-gen commercial audiovisual systems that enable the AV industry to embrace the next generation of AV technology.

Trustgrid, a leader in networking and edge computing solutions has formed a partnership with Level 3 Audiovisual to deliver and support advanced AV software to its clients across corporate America, higher education, healthcare, government, and hospitality.

If your friend still used paper maps to navigate while driving—pulling over to find the right exit— you’d want to help them, right? You’d likely say, “Hey, you should try this thing called GPS. It’s so much easier.”

We feel similarly towards businesses and their approach to digital signage. We still frequently encounter companies that manually deploy digital signage players on computers. To update the display’s software, they need to walk to every single computer, climb up on a ladder, and plug into the device.

Does that sound like your company? If your organization has several or hundreds of digital signage to manage, that’s a hefty task for an IT department that has other concerns. And if you don’t catch issues quickly enough, there could be Windows update notifications or error screens being broadcasted for days or weeks.

Luckily, there’s a better approach. With managed AV services, Level 3 Audiovisual can remotely update software across all your displays from one platform. Read on to learn how managed services eliminate the headache of updating your company’s digital signage!

If there ever was a time for business as usual, it isn’t now in 2022. The pandemic, high inflation, supply chain shortages, and unrest in certain parts of the world have conspired to make these extraordinary times. What does this have to do with commercial AV? Undoubtedly you understand the effects of today’s business environment on your world. But we’d like to focus on three areas you may want to think about as you consider your AV investments and how they support your business. 

What do supply chains, Microsoft's new Front Row features for videoconferencing, and conference room acoustics have in common? More than you might think – or at least we think so. So dive in with us below, because these three things are representative of issues in commercial AV right now.