Seven seconds. That’s all it takes for a first impression to harden into a lasting perception. That's all it takes when a prospective client is stepping through your lobby doors deciding what kind of company you are. The polished floors, lighting, and welcome desk all play a role, but in today’s business climate, it’s the technology that speaks the loudest. A dynamic video wall might display a looping montage of your latest product launches, a real-time social media feed celebrating client wins, or a stunning visual journey through your company’s history. Interactive displays could let visitors navigate a touchscreen map to find their meeting room, or browse recent sustainability initiatives. Digital signage might greet them by name and highlight relevant case studies from their industry.

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.

Picture this: a brilliant professor stands in front of a packed lecture hall, ready to deliver a captivating presentation. But instead of engaging the room, she’s fumbling with disconnected cables, outdated projectors, and inconsistent AV controls. Across campus, a science lab with cutting-edge equipment has no reliable way to capture simulations for remote students. Meanwhile, the IT team fields daily support tickets from frustrated staff trying to figure out ten different AV setups across ten different classrooms.

Sound familiar?

For years, enterprise AV and IT teams have been focused on rooms: conference rooms, huddle spaces, boardrooms, classrooms, training centers. But today, something bigger is happening behind the scenes. As organizations grow more distributed, more digital, and more reliant on mission-critical collaboration tech, the most strategic leaders are shifting their focus from rooms to command centers, specifically, Network Operations Command Centers (NOCCs).

It’s a move that signals maturity. A move from one-off project thinking to platform thinking. From chasing outages to proactively monitoring performance. From waiting for the phone to ring to seeing potential issues before users even notice.

This is the evolution of enterprise AV and IT operations.

If InfoComm 2025 showed us anything, it's that the pro AV industry is evolving beyond cables, codecs, and control panels. Walking the show floor, it was easy to get pulled into a demo with surround sound, immersive lighting, and 20-foot video walls. And while the innovation was impressive (and sometimes downright dazzling), it reinforced a truth that leaders in higher ed, corporate, and government tech teams already feel:

Great AV isn’t just about hardware anymore. It’s about strategy.

InfoComm is a sensory overload; new gear, bold demos, immersive showrooms, and more blinking LEDs than Times Square at midnight. But if you're a technology leader responsible for standardizing AV across your organization, it's not just a tech playground, it's a strategic opportunity.

You’re not just hunting for shiny objects. You’re thinking long-term: consistency, scalability, supportability. Whether you’re rolling out 10 rooms or 1,000, the conversations you have at InfoComm can either bring clarity to your AV roadmap… or add more noise.

So before you hit the show floor, here’s your smart, strategic checklist.

In enterprise tech and IT leadership roles, you're often asked to make complex AV systems understandable to... well, people who don’t live and breathe AV. You might be in charge of standardizing conference rooms across global locations or rolling out Teams Rooms across floors of your headquarters. But none of that matters if your internal stakeholders can't see what you're talking about.

That’s where visual communication comes in. And no, we’re not talking about a rough sketch on a whiteboard or a paragraph in a spec doc.

We’re talking about photo-realistic renderings and clearly documented AV standards that help your team move faster, gain buy-in, and get it right the first time.