One of the most important, but most overlooked, aspects of designing a commercial space is improving the way that the space sounds. It’s funny because at the core, we are a technology company, but one of the most effective things we can do to improve sound doesn’t involve wires, microchips or speakers. Well at least not directly. What it does involve is controlling the way that sound behaves in a fixed space with the use of acoustic sound panels.
The boardroom is usually the last room that is considered when the office is being updated, yet is most often the 'war room' or 'creative birthplace' and influences the office culture. Does your staff have a central location that is used for meetings other than the boardroom- or is it missing altogether? Companies have come to realize that boardrooms are vitally important to the productivity and profits of the organization, so much so that even airlines now offer use of boardrooms in the airport terminal!
Years ago, a quality control system for your AV setup would cost as much as the system you wanted to control. With the advent of new smart devices, customers will now have far more options than ever before.
But why do you need a control system? There is nothing more frustrating than hosting a gathering with your friends, and not being able to put on a movie or show that you had planned because your equipment doesn’t work. Settling on a lower quality control system can leave you open to this type of situation, which is entirely avoidable!
Keep reading below to learn more about bringing a high-end home AV control system to your living spaces today.
AV Specialists has been offering AV solutions to commercial, corporate, and residential clients in the Tampa Bay area since 1995. When we moved into our current facility in 2008, we never dreamed that we would outgrow our space. But we have, and we are excited to announce that on Saturday April 26th, 2014 we started our move to a new, larger facility at 1163 N. Hercules Ave, Clearwater, Florida 33765.
One of the great joys of the holiday season every year is all the sights and sounds associated with it. To the casual observer, this situation is just part of the festive atmosphere but to the business owner, the state of his digital signs, speakers and other AV equipment is of utmost importance as it helps to bring customers into the store and, once inside, to drive sales. In fact, it is a prudent idea for business owners to consider upgrading their location's signs and speakers every year or two to fully capitalize on the holiday rush.
With 2014 upon us and a whole host of new conference toom technology continuously being released, we thought it would be a good idea to look at some of things you should be thinking about for your business conference rooms.
Video conferencing is used for everything from providing guided tours of remote manufacturing facilities, to conducting legal depositions, to interviewing job candidates across the globe. Due to its cost effectiveness, video has another purposeful use that businesses leverage on a daily basis.
A video conferencing system is a major investment for any business, but if it's done correctly, it will result in considerable ROI for years to come. If your company relies on live meetings and conference calls to sell your product, engage with customers, or manage remote employees, a video conferencing system can save you thousands of dollars in travel expense while also improving the ways that you communicate.
Even if they relied on acoustics alone, century-old places of worship have some kind of sound system to engage the participants and lead them through the service. But since audio products don’t age quite as gracefully as the stone and marble of ancient cathedrals, what was once considered state-of-the-art no longer meets the needs of today’s congregations. Of all the church sound systems we’ve done, we’ve found two extremes. Either the system is completely outdated and prone to failure, or we uncover a collection of obsolete components cobbled together with electrical tape and a prayer until something better can one day be implemented.
I have been noticing a trend lately when I go to see clients. Everyone seems to think that a flat panel display is the better tool for the job in conference or meeting rooms. I'm not sure if this is unique to the Tampa-St.Pete area or if it's nationwide.
While in some cases a flat panel display may be the better choice, in many cases it is not. In a very small meeting room, say 6-8 people I think you could get away with a flat panel comfortably. Even then, I wouldn't consider anything less than 50 inches but preferably 52"-60". This also depends what the display is going to be used for. For example, a Power Point presentation with large graphics could get away with a smaller display than a meeting where you might be looking at Excel spreadsheets.
Back in the Stone Age – and by that, we mean the 1970s – the idea of speaking to another person with a real-time image was just a dream for the average business person. Sure, there were some huge corporations that could accomplish this by having TV cameras set up, but the reality was, most well-heeled business organizations could not really afford to have real-time video conferencing. Still, as technology progressed, modern video conferencing systems became an affordable, real-time way to communicate with employees and clients. And today, the newest technology surpasses expectations by turning any video conference into an online video collaboration.
For many businesses that rely on the distribution of HD or "High Definition" video content, there is some potential bad news coming. That "bad news" in my opinion will affect Sports Bars and Restaurants more so than any other industry.
At the risk of oversimplifying this, I will attempt to breakdown what this means to our customers over the next few paragraphs.
Obviously being in this business we do a lot of jobs that require the installation of a video projector. There are multiple issues we run into when we visit a job site to tale a look at the project. One major issue is, currently almost any laptop you'll buy is going to be a widescreen laptop. The widescreen has become, it seems the de facto standard. However, most companies that have had an AV setup for any length of time, seem to usually have the old 4:3 ratio screens. This presents a problem because the preferred "new" source is widescreen but the display area is not. Not every customer wants to change a perfectly good screen just because they are replacing the projector.
When considering a projector in a conference room design, there are many things to consider. Here in this article, we try to narrow it down to the top few items you should consider.
The big question businesses owners often face is not whether they need a surveillance system, but how advanced that system needs to be. It can be tempting just to get an “off the shelf” generic CCTV solution, but before you go down that road, consider the advantages that modern surveillance technologies offer. The best approach for Florida companies is to get a system that is tailored to their needs, and that means considering all of the surveillance cameras’ possible capabilities. Keep reading to learn about some innovative features that could add value to your business:
If you have ever considered the idea of wall mounting flat panel TV's in your place of business you may want to read on. One of several reasons to mount those flat panel TV's and quickly is a recent (2007) study* that shows injuries to young children is up over 41% since 1990.** Those injuries cited in the study occurred because the flat panel TV fell over and caused an injury to the child.
One of our favorite newer projects is the audio system we installed at the new Idaba Spa at Innisbrook Golf Resort. As you walk into the beautifully manicured grounds, set amongst the landscaping are several SoundTube outdoor speakers. Peaceful music emanates from these speakers setting a relaxing tone as the client walks from the parking area towards the main entrance.
We just finished a major renovation for the DoubleTree Hotel in the Westshore area of Tampa. The goal was to replace the worn out and dated room combining/sound system with something newer.
