“The proper design and integration of a videoconferencing system requires time, coordination and communication upfront,” notes Fred Grob, design engineer (CTS-D) for AVI-SPL. “Aside from the technology, there are many other parts to the puzzle. It’s important that collaboration takes place between the AV system designer, interior designer and architect on several key points.”

These key points include:

• Ceiling type and height. There are many reasons that these factors are a primary concern, as they effect: speaker type, possible sound wave reflections problems, VTC light fixtures and placement. These are crucial factors in ensuring the quality of viewed images.
• Upholstery and lighting. A qualified and experienced AV system designer will be able to communicate with the interior designer and help choose upholstery patterns that the camera can easily pick-up and transmit, or choosing paint colors and scheme that complement the lighting. Recommendations need to be made regarding wall fabrics and decoration, as this will have a very positive or negative effect on the acoustics of the room.
• Furniture. Aside from the electronics that make up the VTC system, another huge cost is the table. This can often be the most expensive single item in the room. The layout of the table, display(s), and camera(s) has to be such that every participant has an unobstructed site line with the display(s) and camera(s).
• Microphone positioning. Another factor to discuss regarding the table is microphones and location. For example, is it feasible to have them cut into the table? Or, are ceiling microphones that automatically drop down from the ceiling more appropriate and functional?
• Ambient noise. This is another important consideration in the room. The biggest culprit of noise pollution is most often the HVAC system. In this case, the AV system designer will need to work with the MEP engineer to help create a quiet HVAC system.

Click here to learn more about videoconferencing. »

Avoid the 3 common pitfalls of expanding your video conference setup beyond the boardroom.

Over the last few years, the battle for the desktop has been intensifying between some of the biggest technology names in the world. It wouldn’t surprise folks to see Microsoft, IBM and Cisco all pitching to convince companies to use their platform and suite of applications across an enterprise.

However, just as the line has blurred between work and play, the traditional “enterprise” players are seeing new entrants join the fray. Frost and Sullivan’s recent article on Google’s acquisition and development of a Unified Communications (UC) and Collaboration suite reveals the heightened interest of traditional consumer-based players, as they try to penetrate the workplace as well. They do have a ways to go to before they can compete with the established, feature-rich solutions provided by the traditional players. However, the brand recognition and “cloud”-based approach Google will most likely take with its UC offerings could enable them to make inroads into the corporate world.

Here at AVI-SPL, we take a neutral approach to technology solutions. We help our customers deploy and leverage UC tools and applications, and are focused on solutions that best fit their requirements and budget. We do not see Google UC gaining a large market share in the enterprise in the near future. In the next few years, however, we expect that Google will be considered a viable option for corporations on a wider scale.

The above is written by Michael Brandofino, executive vice president of VTC and UC, AVI-SPL.

As momentum on this story grows, we’d like to hear from you too. Does Google have what it takes to become a strong contender in such a tightly-established market?

We’re giving you a sneak peak at the recent photo shoot for AVI-SPL’s project for the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD) – one of the largest fire departments in the country! With nearly 4,000 dedicated personnel responsible for fire suppression, emergency medical services, lifeguard operations, airlift rescues and additional operations, how does the fire department effectively coordinate all their efforts?

Simple: The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the LACFD headquarters in Commerce, Calif.

About 26 operator stations fill the main EOC floor, with each dispatcher supporting designated North, Central and East regions of Los Angeles County. Dispatchers previously relied on the use of 36-inch CRT TVs on carts to relay critical information throughout the EOC. Unfortunately, with this type of arrangement, sharing reports from neighboring regions required personnel to constantly rush between stations, costing valuable time and energy in a larger crisis like wildfires or earthquakes.

AVI-SPL’s solution: A video wall arranged in a 2 x 4 array featuring 70-inch video wall cubes with 16:9 widescreen capabilities.

What else? Check back soon to learn much more about the advancements made with LACFD’s Emergency Operations Center and to view a complete gallery of photos. To check out other control room AV installations, click here.

To bring today’s K-12 classrooms into the 21st century, installing projectors in each classroom and accessing them through the school’s IT network is an affordable, scalable solution. Crestron RoomView Connected™ technology is built into many popular projector brands to deliver direct connectivity and control of AV devices via the IT network – and it’s free.

Projector manufacturers — including Acer, BenQ, Dell, Mitsubishi and Viewsonic — have embedded Crestron RoomView® Express software into their projector models, and the list is growing every day. It gives teachers in the classroom and main office administrators the power and flexibility to completely manage and control all projectors on the network using a simple, easy-to-use interface.

RoomView Connected provides reliable, easy-to-use control of ceiling-mounted projectors directly from any connected laptop. No more hunting for lost remotes or standing on desks to turn on the projector. Teachers can simply use the mouse to point and click an icon on the Web-based control page to turn the projector on or off, select the computer or video source and adjust the volume.

With built-in help desk messaging, teachers just click the “Help” button from the RoomView software screen to instantly send an alert to tech support with any questions or problems related to classroom technology. A member of the support staff can immediately respond and even take control of the classroom device from any remote location. Issues are resolved quickly, and teachers can focus on teaching.

RoomView enables administrators and support staff to perform remote system diagnostics, track projector use and lamp life. Remote capabilities allow efficient scheduling of routine maintenance – such as lamp replacement – and instant notification if devices are disconnected, preventing theft. It even allows AV managers to turn off all the projectors at the end of the day with one mouse click. Functions such as “ALL OFF” may be scheduled, saving energy, money, time and extending lamp life automatically.

RoomView software works with most popular projector brands and models, so no programming is needed to swap out projectors. Simply connect the new projector and Crestron RoomView automatically recognizes the device for immediate, seamless communication and control. You can even integrate previously installed projectors that are not natively RoomView Connected.

Once you take control of classroom projectors with RoomView, you’ll want to monitor, manage and control every device in every room, including DVD players, SMART Boards and document cameras. Easily connect Crestron MPC pushbutton classroom controllers and QuickPacks™ bundled AV systems for additional functionality. If you need to connect more rooms, or want more power and flexibility, you can globally control your school, campus and even an entire district with ease and confidence. Upgrade from RoomView Express to the more advanced RoomView Server Edition.

AV managers can centrally manage rooms in every school throughout the district with RoomView SE. Built-in logging and reporting show device usage for budgeting and procurement decisions. Plug-ins for modules such as Web cameras enable administrators to check in and monitor classroom activity.

Start by simply installing a RoomView Connected device using standard mounts and cables, download the free client executable software from the Crestron website, and enjoy the benefits of network managed and controlled classroom technology. Scalability makes it effortless to adjust to growth and changing needs; ask your AVI-SPL account manager for more information.

Contact an AVI-SPL representative at (866) 559-8197 to learn more about Crestron’s RoomView Connected solution.

Click here for more featured Crestron products. »

Polycom and Microsoft have announced a channel partnership to increase Microsoft’s Unified Communications (UC) offerings. As a part of the multi-year global agreement, Polycom will develop and provide integrated end-to-end UC solutions, including room-based video systems, for Microsoft’s clients. Under this partnership, Polycom becomes a member of Microsoft’s key strategic global alliance.

AVI-SPL Director of Video and UC Project Management John Vitale shared his thoughts about the partnership: “I think this is a good step for both Microsoft and Polycom to take and help accelerate the adoption of Unified Communications. In the past, video has always been the ‘leave it for later’ feature of UC due to its challenges with mass scale deployment in an enterprise. Polycom and Microsoft teaming up to help solve these issues can only help the situation. I’m looking forward to the fruit this partnership will bear.”

For more information about the agreement, click here to read the announcement and watch a brief video featuring Microsoft Corporate Vice President of UC Products and Polycom President and CEO.

AVI-SPL is your resource for the best visual learning equipment including accessories and supplies for VariQuest’s Poster Maker Systems, Laminators, Cutout Makers, Design Center, Labeling Systems and more.

To better serve our customers, we’ve opened our new online store! This new site offers a one-stop shop to quickly and easily order VariQuest supplies with a credit card or purchase order. The helpful tracking system keeps you in the loop so you can monitor when your orders will arrive. In addition to refreshing your supplies in a snap, you’ll be on top of what the latest specials are, find bright ideas on how to use your visual learning tools and help you to become a VariQuest expert with the helpful tips and troubleshooting pages.

For our product specials and offers, click here. »

AVI-SPL is authorized to sell Varitronics products and supplies in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Maryland, Washington, DC and Fairfax County, Virginia. Currently online sales are for k-12 or higher. If you are a non-educational customer, please call (866) 559-9192 for price and to purchase.

Or contact us at (866) 559-9192.

By David Jones, Sales Manager Control Room Group.

A friend of mine who works for a manufacturer that we represent asked me what I thought the control room of the future will look like. To broaden my response, I put the question to our sales team. After some discussion, it occurred to me that we had ignored our most valuable resource if we truly were interested in the control room of the future – those that are using the control rooms of the “now”.

The Control Room of the Future

As a provider of 24/7 mission critical control room systems, my experience is that control room design is driven by the technology immediately available to us at the moment the design goes from mind to paper. When you think about it, that is a very narrow perspective.

Would our system design perspective be broader if we worked 24/7 in a fully operational control center knowing exactly what was needed to make the control room more efficient and productive – the control room of the future? I think it would.

So if you presently have a control room of any shape or size I have a favor to ask of you. Please send me an email at David.Jones@avispl.com describing your present control room. Please include details like when the control room was installed, the size of the room, which technology is used and what you like and don’t like about the facility. Then tell us what you want your control room of the future to look like, again including information such as size, technology, functionality and anything else you’d like to mention.

To show our appreciation for your input, I’ll trade you a cool piece of Control Room Group swag for your email.

Let’s go forward to the future!

By Michelle Oswald, VP Marketing Communications

At InfoComm 2010, the new, flashy buzz was about Cisco and 3D. At the same time, in the world of not necessarily new, and perhaps not as flashy, but certainly as relevant, was the ever popular subject of “Green AV”.

For the past several years, InfoComm has dedicated some part of its programming to covering the subject of “Green AV” – and every year the question of what that means – exactly – has not been well defined. Certainly, we would all like to reduce our carbon output, save energy and be able to offer something truly unique and valuable to our clients, but defining Green AV, and larger still, where the AV world fits into the world of Green Building in general, is almost like creating a whole new language, then trying to teach everyone to speak it. It’s a process that takes time, perseverance and definitely, patience.

On Friday, June 11, a new rating system – STEP (Sustainable Technology Environments Performance) – was unveiled at InfoComm that truly takes a big step in the right direction. The new framework was developed by a consortium of subject matter experts representing AV manufacturers, consultants and integrators that have been working collaboratively with InfoComm International on establishing standards for what it means to be practicing “Green AV”.

Anyone familiar with the USGBC’s rating system for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) will appreciate the new STEP system. While STEP employs some of the same rating system concepts as LEED, such as broad subject categories and points valuation for specific achievements, the rating system itself is all about the AV integration process. The new STEP system categories include: Program Phase, Architectural and Infrastructure Design, System Design, Systems Integration, and Operations. Points are earned based on factors such as equipment recycling, use of reclaimed/existing equipment, utilizing teleconferencing (video, audio or web) for at least 50% of project team meetings, and delivering project drawings/specifications electronically vs. paper, for example. Like LEED, which is a voluntary, consensus based, market driven approach to building, STEP will also be a voluntary program between InfoComm members and their clients.

The STEP program will be formally launched in early 2011. As AVI-SPL has already launched several sustainability initiatives, we are watching this program with great interest and are excited about the potential for truly defining “Green AV” and what it can mean to our customers, by providing the ability to provide unique, top quality communications solutions that provide energy savings and waste reduction, and fit into our customers’ own sustainability efforts.

To learn more about AVI-SPL’s sustainability initiatives, visit our Green AV page. »

To learn more about AVI-SPL’s recycling programs, click here. »

Michelle Oswald Michelle Oswald is the Vice President of Marketing Communications at AVI-SPL and has been working in the AV industry for 10 years. She is preparing to take the LEED Green Associate exam in the next few weeks. She has been leading the key sustainability initiatives at AVI-SPL, including AV equipment recycling, waste reduction and utilization of greener sales and marketing tools.

A recent study by the Carbon Disclosure Project, an international organization dedicated to greener business practices, estimates that US and UK businesses could save $19 billion over the next 10 years by using TelePresence technology instead of taking business trips, according to the San Jose Business Journal.

The study said organizations could see $400 million in savings the first year alone, easily offsetting the cost of their initial investment.

TelePresence technology doesn’t just help the companies’ bottom lines, it also greatly reduces their carbon footprints. Over the next decade, TelePresence could cut those organizations’ CO2 emissions by 5.5 million metric tons. That’s equivalent to taking 1 million vehicles off the road for a year.

An individual business with four TelePresence rooms can reduce its CO2 emissions by 2,271 metric tons over five years, equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from more than 400 cars, according to the Carbon Disclosure Project.

The study said TelePresence technology also provides non-monetary incentives for employees, including increased productivity, better work-life balance and faster decision making.

Read the full study here »

To learn more about how TelePresence technology could boost your organization’s bottom line, call (866) 559-8197.

View from the third floor

By Jeff Fink, VP of Sales

Note to Self: Never assume anything. Especially if a 700-lb, 103” monitor is involved.

When a client wanted to upgrade the AV equipment in his 3rd-floor Washington, D.C. boardroom, we determined that a 103” Panasonic plasma display was the ideal solution.

Our team has delivered and installed large screens into buildings all over DC for years. Surely this client’s building, like all the others, would have a freight elevator or at least a few large stairwells, right?

A crane hoisted the Panasonic display to the window

Wrong.

Not only did the building lack a real freight elevator, but the stairwells were narrow with low-hanging pipes. A simple delivery quickly became a real challenge.

We called in the experts – piano movers and building engineers. Our group came up with a solution: Take a window out of the building, close one of the nearby streets and hire a crane.

A half hour later, the display was in the room.

No install is too difficult for AVI-SPL.

To learn more about our products and services, call (866) 559-8197.