Picture this: It’s 8:45 AM. Your day is mapped out with back-to-back meetings, a budget review, and a walk-through of the new lobby renovation. Then the call comes in: the AV system in your flagship conference room is down. Not glitchy, not laggy, but completely offline. In fifteen minutes, your executive team is supposed to pitch to a high-profile client. The vendor you used is “on their way,” but it’s already too late to save the impression.

For a facility manager, moments like these aren’t just inconvenient; they’re reputation-shaking. One failed system can throw an entire day, department, or event into chaos. The difference between a crisis and a non-event often comes down to one thing: whether AV maintenance is handled strategically or reactively.

That’s why this first part of our two-part series focuses on the strategic mindset behind AV system maintenance. In Part 2, we’ll get into the nuts and bolts of proactive upkeep and how Comprehensive Service & Maintenance Agreements (CSMAs) keep your facility ahead of the curve. But first, let’s talk strategy.

You walk into a high-stakes boardroom presentation. Half the team joins remotely, the in-room screen flickers, and the audio delays by two seconds. The CTO winces at the lag. The CIO shakes their head, knowing this wasn’t the first time. You’re not alone.

For many enterprise organizations, AV systems have long been treated as isolated upgrades or departmental whims. But in today’s world of hybrid collaboration, global teams, and unified communication, disjointed AV strategies are no longer sustainable. Worse, they can become a competitive liability. The challenge? Bridging the divide between tech innovation and IT infrastructure and aligning those priorities through standardization and long-term strategy.

This is where forward-thinking CIOs and CTOs have an opportunity to shine together.

If your organization has ever tried to roll out meeting rooms across multiple buildings, departments, or campuses, you know how fast things can go from "simple tech update" to "how do we have five different room types for the same use case?"

For enterprise leaders and higher education decision-makers alike, the question isn’t whether to invest in AV—it’s how to do it strategically.

One of the most critical decisions is whether to standardize room types across your organization or customize for every space. The answer, as with most things in AV, is: it depends. But there’s a smart way to balance both.

The new primetime for advertising means constantly being able to reach your desired audience during their daily commute, in their office building, at the gym and at the bar – all while complementing other media channels. It also means accepting nothing less than ease, performance and accountability from digital place-based networks. Digital Signage is the path of reaching this advertising primetime.  If you want to maximize all benefits to your consumers and company this strategy of technological displays is the way to go.