Go Ahead, Search Our Blog...

Smart Home Automation and Alexa are a Perfect Match

The Amazon Echo really is an amazing device—just plug it in, connect to Wi-Fi, and enjoy having your own voice-controlled assistant! The smart device hit more than 10,000 unique skills in February of this year, so there certainly are plenty of things you can take advantage of.

But get this: late last year, Experian did a survey to find out exactly how people were using Amazon Alexa. The most commonly tried skills were setting a timer (84.9%), playing a song (82.4%), and reading the news (66%). Those are useful skills, but if you want to do more with your Alexa in your St. Petersburg, FL home, then it’s time to explore smart home automation. Keep reading to learn about these creative ways to put voice control to work.

Bring the Latest AV Equipment into Your Conference Room for Truly Successful Business Meetings

With so many employees now working remotely, either from home or while on business travels, conference room AV systems have become an increasingly popular tool for modern offices. Conference rooms are now designed not only for face-to-face meetings but also to make the most of virtual meetings! This allows employees outside the office to remain involved in every aspect of the business.

Want to learn more about how you can keep communication flowing and collaboration running smooth among your team? Keep reading our blog to find out!

The newest version of the Crestron iPad™ app is available from the iTunes® App Store, where it has been ranked the #1 Top Grossing Lifestyle App. This update includes landscape rotation and gestures navigation on the iPad for both Crestron and Prodigy® control systems. A beautiful graphic template with user-selectable backgrounds designed especially for the iPad is available free from the Crestron website, and there are also infinite possibilities for customization. Dealers can create their own branded designs and clients can enjoy the same look and feel on their iPad as on their Crestron touchpanels thanks to Crestron tablet integration.

When I'm out and about I often run into poor AV installations. There are many reasons that I would consider the installations poor. Sometimes it's merely an ugly or sloppy installation. More often than not, it's a sloppy installation and also a poorly chosen product. 

The best speakers money can buy will never live up to their potential if they are not hooked up to quality components. That is why I am excited about the Marantz product line. Their single philosophy of "Because Music Matters" should tell you all you need to know about the brand. Your Tampa Bay area home audio system will not be complete without Marantz Reference Series components.

Understanding AV Installation Costs

Starting a discussion about AV Installation can feel intimidating, particularly when so many corporate settings are trying to reduce overhead costs. In recent years, there's been a transition from focusing on cost to, instead, focusing on the quality of the system installed.

Without a doubt, setting up a home office can be a pleasure or a chore depending on how one decides to use it. In either case, however, setting it up properly will make it more productive and less stressful in the long run. Here are a few suggestions for setting up your home office in the right manner:

An Update to My Favorite Music for Evaluating a System

A while back I wrote a blog about my favorite music to listen to when evaluating a system. I decided that though many of those CD's are still so awesome to hear, I've felt that I had so much more to add to the list. As stated in the last article, being a professional AV installer is kind of cool. Everyone is always bringing in music and saying things like listen to this or that. Or, you need to hear what these sound like. Or, check these out and listen to the difference, or something along those lines. At trade shows people are always playing what they think really shows off their systems. From the various trade shows I've often heard and learned about some good music I didn't already know. Even including tracks from artists like Beck and Dianna Krall that I did know. One of the CD's that is on this list was brought in by my AudioQuest representative.

At AV Specialists we do audio video installation in the Clearwater, Tampa at St. Petersburg, Florida area. As the owner of an AV design and installation business, I am often surprised by the amount of really bad workmanship I see in my travels. Sometimes it amazes me that contractors actually get paid when I see what their jobs look like.

It's not uncommon to see cables hanging from the TV instead of being neatly zip tied together. I also often see TV's that are not hung straight and you can obviously see that they are mounted on a tilt. 

There are a few things to consider here. One is how far you are going to be sitting away from the display. That's pretty easy to figure with a simple formula. It's also important that the TV looks good, wherever you decide to have mounted. A large screen TV can be made to look very small on a long blank wall. The opposite of this is also true. A relatively small 32" TV can look monstrous and out of place on top of a small dresser or cabinet. If you have enough room and can sit a reasonable distance from the display, buy the largest screen size you can. I have never had a single customer want to switch to a smaller TV. I have had many that later wished they’d have gone larger. This rule does not apply the same when applied to projector.

When it comes to your business, your office workplace is a direct reflection of who you are and how you conduct business. To that end, you will always want to project the best possible appearance to current and prospective clients. This means giving your staff the tools they need to excel if you want your business to grow.

Learn about the ROI of Surveillance Cameras

A home surveillance system is something that few Clearwater, FL homeowners would object to having, but the main thing holding them back is usually cost. However, what you may not know is that it’s quite easy to recoup the cost of surveillance cameras. Unlike a traditional security system, surveillance cameras don’t have to come with recurring monthly costs, which means the benefits quickly outweigh the initial investment. So what are those benefits, and are they worth taking the leap and upgrading your home? Read on to find out.

It's not a Boardroom (too elaborate), it's not a Conference Room (too big), it's a Huddle Room. A huddle room is the name that's been given to a small meeting room where a lot of the "real" work at the job actually gets done.

An Outdoor Sound System is the Perfect Option for Florida Businesses

Last month on our residential blog, we talked about how to avoid common mistakes when setting up an outdoor sound system. Of course, homeowners aren’t the only ones who can benefit from outdoor sound. The residential guide is still applicable for business setups, but today, let’s go one step further to talk about the best ways that businesses throughout the Palm Harbor or Tampa, FL area can use outdoor audio to their advantage.

Gone are the days of the traditional dry erase board. Electronic whiteboards are increasingly making their way into boardrooms and conference centers. The touch screen technology found in most interactive whiteboards on the market today allows the meeting presenter to capture feedback and update meeting content with the touch of a finger. Today’s whiteboards are far more useful and allow you to enhance your conference room audiovisual experience.

The medical field demands the very best technology. While this need is most pronounced in diagnostic and treatment equipment, it is also crucial in the area of communication. The right cath lab and operating room AV can provide a host of specific benefits that will help ensure that the patients receive the very best of care. Here's how:

It’s been a long time since we’ve been this excited about a new product around here. However Control4 is one of those products, that the more you learn about the Control4 system the more you love it. I know you’re probably saying to yourself, what’s the big deal there certainly is no shortage of remote control products out there. Especially these days. And.. if you said that you would be correct. These days there are apps for smart phones, there are cheap poorly conceived products (ie ones that begin with an H or L), and then there are the big names that have been long established in the AV industry. However in many ways Contro4 is different and it’s different than each of those categories list above in different ways.

Your music collection is a long standing thing - you curate it, it defines you. Because you aim to keep your music collection a long time, it's worth investing in making it more usable, maintainable and secure.

A couple of us here at AV Specialists, were recently were given the opportunity to take a trip to Binghamton NY and tour the McIntosh Audio factory. Being able to see how this product is made as well as formal training on how the circuits work was eye opening indeed. Also valuable was the explanation on why they have so many different models.

The home network has come a long way from it's simple beginnings. From even as recently as a year or two ago, the AV related data we move over the network has increased significantly. At first, the home network was used mostly for accessing the internet or downloading music files. Then as time moved on and technology progressed we started seeing streaming music and video services such as Pandora and Netflix.