Professional Sound - June 2017 | Page 42

opportunities that are available . It is always good to have a tech-savvy person on a team with the client , but it is also important to listen to needs of the entire key team members to fully realize AV projects .
MCCARTHY : Customers and the purchasing process have changed significantly . Our customers are much more savvy , usually highly informed about the things they are buying , very demanding in their requirements , and are now owning the lifecycle of the systems that they buy . How we market and sell has to adjust to meet that change . Information used to be the currency that we traded in ; now , information is just another commodity .
ongoing training and IT expertise whilst resisting to the urge to “ race to the bottom .”
BOOKER : There is a lot of technology coming up in both the consumer and professional markets that is going to change the landscape of our AV industry in the next five years . We are seeing OLED being printed cheaply on materials now .
There is also huge convergence of AV and IT and it will only continue to become larger in scale as we move forward . AV standardization is the key to the future . I would love to see … unified standards to which all manufacturers must conform in order to correctly predict AV outcomes and help prevent consumers from making poor choices .
RUSHTON : Access to information is a double-edged sword . Access to simple interfaces has become the norm and is expected , thus we find clients make assumptions and see simple interfaces as the status quo ; however , on the contrary , many contractors are using the same approach as they have in the past , particularly when it comes to control system GUI and workflow , resulting in a disconnect .
WILLIAMS : This has created a greater client awareness level , which we feel is good for our industry overall . There is more video content available today for a client to get a well-rounded idea of what they are looking for or see what others in their industry are leveraging . There has been an increase in our inbound sales leads with clients requesting larger full-scale systems and having a list of manufacturers they ’ ve reviewed prior to contacting us . Our role at this point focuses on providing further client education on the system integration aspect .
PS : Are there any current or incoming trends that you think will have a significant impact , positive or negative , on the AV integration industry as a whole , or perhaps any you would like to see emerge for any reason ?
BERGERON : We are very impressed with microphones integrated into ceiling tiles that can be programmed for multidirectional audio capture with impressive accuracy . It is a small revolution but it will definitely change the look of conference rooms – no more table microphones .
BERNATSKY : We are noticing some commoditization of our industry in some segments , such as commercial displays for digital signage . As in the residential market , there is a trend by some end-users to do it themselves , especially in the small-medium project segments . What ’ s more concerning is even large enterprise end-users are taking the position of “ self-design , self-install , self-administer contracts ,” which leads to a further commoditization of various market verticals . Thankfully , skilled integration expertise can ’ t be bought online , so the up shot is for strong companies to invest in
GREGORY RUSHTON , Senior Associate AV Design , Mulvey & Banani International Inc .
KHALIL WILLIAMS , General Manager , Design Electronics
MCCARTHY : Cybersecurity will quickly rise to the top of the list when it comes to challenges . Most integrators have no idea of how at risk they and their customers are . Second , proving value to a client has always been important but never more than it is today . We have seen systems in the U . S . being installed where the integrator is paid based on the ROI that they can prove to their client . Solve the problem properly and meet the client ’ s goals for ROI and you get paid well . Fail and you may not get paid at all . Finally , industry consolidation on both the manufacturing front and the integrator front has changed a great deal about the business .
PUTHENKULAM : We feel collaborative electronic white boarding using interactive displays will replace passive displays . Technology being designed with an efficiency perspective , both operational and energy consumption , is one we would like to see being implemented . Also , the disappearance of the laptop and the mainstay of the tablet . IT administrators will not like it as they do not have the tools to administer them , but they will not have a choice .
RUSHTON : One of the biggest trends we see that will greatly affect AV system integration is the migration of distribution through IT channel partners . I think this commoditization or death by SKU will have two main effects : hindering true integration in favour of onesize-fits-all solutions and the reduction of competitive bid scenarios . This also goes hand-in-hand with the licensing models of Cisco , HP , Polycom , and others .
Another trend we believe will start to happen is bid package tender responses . As major conglomerates like Harman , Crestron , and other major distribution channels form entire end-to-end catalogues , we suspect that the industry will see complete line card-based responses similar to other industries , such as lighting fixtures .
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of Professional Sound .
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