The business case for A/V systems has been well established for years. They deliver proven reductions in travel costs and offer a uniquely immersive way to engage users and share ideas and information. Still, many organizations considered them to be “nice-to-have” tools that were used only occasionally.
That all changed in 2020. Video conferencing became an essential tool for remaining operational in the face of strict travel limitations and social-distancing requirements. Today, organizations continue to invest in video conferencing systems and other professional A/V technologies to optimize communication, collaboration and engagement among employees, partners and customers.
Although advanced A/V systems are essential to today’s work-from-anywhere models, they aren’t always user-friendly. A/V sessions can be tricky to set up, and participants might have to complete multiple steps to join a conference. Technical glitches can cause blank screens, device syncing problems and unresponsive touch panels.
Such issues are often the result of implementation errors. That’s why it is important to enlist the services of an integrator with specific expertise in A/V systems as well as the networking technologies required to support them.
A/V Integration Challenges
Until a few years ago, A/V systems had their own wiring, switches and user interfaces, which kept them effectively isolated from the rest of the technology environment. Today, most organizations choose to use standard networking equipment to route audio, video and control signals to various destinations. This reduces cabling requirements and enables extremely high-resolution 4K video with very low latency over long distances.
However, transmitting A/V data across IP networks presents some unique implementation challenges. For one, there are no uniform industry standards for this relatively new technology, which can result in compatibility issues between products from different manufacturers. Some AV over IP solutions are tightly coupled with specific manufacturers, requiring their encoders and decoders for compatibility.
For example, some manufacturers have proprietary standards for encoding A/V traffic for IP transmission. Unless you are also using their encoder and decoder products, you may have to pay additional licensing fees to make everything work.
The Value of Professional Implementation
Deploying a professional A/V system also requires the careful integration of a complex array of hardware, software and communication protocols. Integrating A/V systems with the IT infrastructure can be particularly challenging, requiring a deep understanding of network architectures, protocols and security, and how A/V systems impact the corporate LAN. Few organizations have those skillsets in-house.
The good news is that proper installation and integration will mask this complexity, creating a user-friendly system that just works. Experienced integrators understand the configuration requirements and protocols that enable seamless operation. Qualified integrators will also ensure that the network has adequate bandwidth to ensure high-quality A/V transmission.
Experienced integrators can handle everything from smaller huddle rooms to large meeting rooms and even training facilities with high-resolution video and theater-grade sound. They will ensure that the solution is highly reliable and easy to maintain. Most importantly, the right integrator will make today’s advanced A/V systems easy to use, with simple and intuitive touchscreen commands.
How Verteks Can Help
The Verteks team has specific expertise in professional A/V solutions, including industry-leading equipment from ClearOne. We work closely with customers to understand their environment and can design a system that will meet their needs today and scale to support growing requirements. We can also help customers upgrade existing A/V systems to provide a more streamlined and immersive experience.
In our next post, we’ll discuss why it’s also important to partner with a professional A/V integrator for ongoing maintenance and support. Meanwhile, give us a call to schedule a consultation with our A/V professionals to learn more about enhancing your communication and collaboration capabilities.
