Enhanced video conferencing and state of the art furniture from Sharp and Salamander are bringing conference rooms to the next level.
It may be hard to believe during the current state of uncertainty in this country, but the Modern Workspace is a significant piece of the Pro AV industry. When offices eventually reopen, the modern workspace may look slightly different than we’re used to, but there is no denying that room analytics and smart space management will be a tantalizing feature for businesses regardless.
Companies that are upgrading their huddle rooms and conference rooms to enhance video conferencing capabilities should consider the Windows collaboration display from Sharp. The first display to be certified by Microsoft delivers Windows® 10 and Office 365® at room scale on a huge 4K screen, enabling multiple users to collaborate together. It is Skype for Business certified and Microsoft Teams enabled and can be daisy-chained via dual source side-by side capability and extend mode for an even larger collaborative canvas.
Making spaces smarter with the embedded sensor hub is what makes the Windows collaboration display even more special. Using Azure IoT, the sensor hub can detect room occupancy to determine the location of people to turn on displays nearest each individual and even amplify their voice with a three-dimensional microphone. In turn, this allows the opportunity for better management of room-booking systems. Additionally, temperature and lighting are detected by sensors to help provide a better understanding of energy utilization. Whether there’s small breakout with 2-3 people or a large meeting with 12 or more, the sensor hub can help provide data allowing you to optimize your meeting spaces for a more comfortable and productive environment for all involved.
Simply enhancing the video capabilities is but one piece of upgrading collaboration. When it’s time for a technology refresh, it’s time for Salamander Designs. Now is the perfect time to leverage this high quality, fully customizable solution to transform and refresh your workspace. Even simple, preconfigured cabinets and carts will immediately improve productivity and collaboration with premium furniture engineered to make today’s offices mobile, global and better than ever before. Whether your needs require display stands or cabinets, Salamander stands will keep everything safe and supported while still looking great. Mobile stands are also available for easy portability between workspaces.
With Sharp and Salamander products combined, you’ll have top of the line smart display technology supported by the best furniture to bring any conference room to the next level.
Sharp has strategically partnered with Salamander Designs and Almo to offer five Windows Collaboration Display Bundles giving you incredible savings opportunities never seen before. Integrators that become Windows collaboration display certified will save $1700 per display as well as up to an additional $300 on the mobile stand or cabinet when purchased as a bundle.
One way or another, school is coming this fall. Tips for being prepared. Written by Rob Voorhees, Business Development Manager, ALMO
We find ourselves smack in the middle of July when days are getting hotter and in years past, we might find ourselves looking forward to August vacations or days by the pool. However, 2020 has continuously thrown curveball after curveball, and we continue to adapt as best as we can. If your house is anything like mine, one of the biggest topics has been “what is happening when schools open in September?” Considering my wife is an elementary teacher and my daughters will be entering 7th and 4thgrades respectively, I multiply that same question by 3 every day. My home state of NJ is fortunate in that we have begun to reopen in phases, and it was recently announced that our schools could reopen although with a very large “IF” attached to it. School districts nationwide are being advised to space out desks, close cafeteria lunches, and ban recess time in order to protect our children, our teachers, and our communities as a whole. Some schools have already announced the continuation of remote schooling or even a hybrid model for the upcoming year. This is where the term “Distance Learning” really resonates with us all.
Distance Learning is not as simple as just recording a lesson and emailing it to your students. I certainly learned that earlier this year as I saw the hours that my wife was spending on lesson plans, zoom calls, and videos to help her students as best as possible. Not to mention the frustration she would have with managing the shrinking attention spans of children and ensuring her video calls did not crash on a daily basis. A close friend of mine, who is also a teacher, has told me “distance learning was challenging. I worked more hours than I did while in the classroom and nearly everything had to be created from scratch to best accommodate each of her students. The technology component was also a challenge because teachers were expected to learn each of these new platforms with little to no preparation or background.” As most can attest, one particular challenge in distance learning is the need to now rely on the internet and technology more than ever. Simply put, if you cannot access the internet, you cannot access the day’s lesson. Comcast, amongst other internet service providers, took the initiative early on and made affordable internet available to everyone while others managed their nationwide networks to prevent from congestion or outages. You then also need to ensure you have the proper tools to access the internet. Several districts across the country will supply students with Chromebooks each year, which is a great start.Internet Bandwidth Service remains an essential service and if schools are debating on hybrid schedules or full remote learning models, they will need to ensure the bandwidth is available for the lessons to be streamed each day. Hybrid models will mean every teacher has a smaller class during the day while simultaneously being recorded so their remote students at home can learn at the same time. Now imagine 20+ teachers all doing this at the same time and you can see where network congestion and outages will become a headache. It becomes important to team with an A/V integrator and solution partner like ALMOwho can provide an analysis of the current bandwidth at the school and then make recommendations for improvements based on the number of employees and the number of devices. In several cases, this type of analysis could also lead to larger cost savings over an annual basis, which is one thing most school districts would love to see! “What about the students at home?” you might be asking. School districts can now supply mobile hotspots or tablets with built in access to students in need to ensure that everyone can access the same material. There is also a reporting and device management layer to this, which the schools would find essential. Administrators can have access to deactivate lost or stolen devices, escalate issues due to improper usage, or even identify cost saving measures by using the account analysis features. All of this becomes a necessity if we are truly looking to embrace a new norm for our children and educators. I think my closest friends and I are in agreement in that virtual schooling has become a necessity. While currently imperfect, there is definitely a bigger opportunity in September for improved engagement between teacher/student as well as some much needed social interaction between student/student.
In closing, I commend our school districts for navigating these difficult times and my hope is with the above suggestions and by partnering with the right integration firms and AV distributors they can alleviate some of the technological stress our students, teachers, and parents are facing and will face moving forward. To help, ALMO Pro AV will be hosting a special Distance Learning Preparedness webinaron July 31st at noon ET to share ideas and insights on pivotal technology equipment for a smoother and more effective hybrid learning environment when school is back in session. Lastly, let us all continue to stay safe and do our small part to make the learning experience easier this fall and beyond.
Not in my lifetime have I been a big fan of Las Vegas. This June I never missed it more. (I’m one of those rare birds that have only been to Vegas to attend InfoComm.) I’m not a gambler. I don’t party late into the night (any more). I live in Florida, so it’s really hard to justify paying for access to a hotel pool party – I do that pretty much every weekend all year long!
The list could probably go on and on (I won’t blame the Vegas heat, though. I love the heat).
I was going to do Vegas right this year! I’d planned to extend my stay after helping with the booth tear-down and stay another night or two so I could experience the ever-famous Strip with my Almo friends. I wanted to stay out LATE! I was going to dance and sip colorful cocktails and laugh, and blow on dice for whoever was throwing!
Thanks to the worldwide pandemic we’re all so sick of hearing about, I never even got the opportunity to book my flight. So I spent the week at home like the rest of us, attending the virtual event that had some incredible content, but none of the smiles and hugs I took for granted in years past.
Early on in 2020 I put together a loose calendar for the Almo Blog. It takes some effort managing multiple contributors, you know, and I had planned to pen the “InfoComm Social Butterfly of 2020”. The booth tours, the dinners, the happy hours, the after-hours… even though I’m not a night owl I love it. I enjoy the networking with our vendor partners, the interaction and introductions with our customers and end-users. It’s invigorating!
It was definitely different this year. The InfoComm we know became a virtual infocomm CONNECTED, thanks to the world we are living in. (NOTE… you can still check out the virtual replay until August 21!)
Obviously AVIXA and the industry made the right call. We have to protect ourselves and our loved ones. I know I’m not alone, though, when I say I really, REALLY missed InfoComm and Las Vegas this year.
So, my “InfoComm Social Butterfly” blog post feels more like a Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me post. I did manage, however, to find one social highlight. Normally at InfoComm I attend a happy hour networking event organized by the USAV group. At the end of the week they hosted a “Coffee and Cocktails” virtual happy hour on ZOOM. Certainly new to us all, but a way to connect just the same.
Oh, thank goodness for Zoom! Just 30 minutes, but I met some new people and got to virtually “cheers” some old friends.
Zoom is no substitute for in-person events, but I’ll take all I can get these days. Thankfully we have Zoom and other platforms that enable us to have face-to-face interactions when we can’t be in-person. I’m so grateful for that.
If I didn’t work at Almo, surely I’d have heard about ZOOM thanks to the pandemic, but like my parents and countless others, I’d have had to adopt it and learn how to use it. The silver lining is the window has been thrown wide open, and businesses and organizations everywhere are open to incorporating this technology into their daily operations. Almo has experts on-staff who can help our customers offer Zoom Rooms to end-users with bundles that include the hardware and the license for a complete solution with multiple options for different sized huddle and conference rooms.
We all can’t help but reexamine how we do business and how we can learn from this experience and save ourselves time and money when we are living that “new normal” we keep waiting for.
I wish we’d have been able to connect last week, and I’m (not so) patiently waiting for whenever it’s safe to return to in-person conferences and meetings, though they’ll certainly be different.
The projector was once predicted to be something that was headed for the archives as the Digital Signage market took over. Despite the growth and vast variety of digital signage solutions, the projector can provide benefits in particular venues’ that digital signage may not. If you’re of the age bracket I am (which I shall not divulge) just hearing the word “projector’ brings back fond thoughts of family memories of my childhood because other than movie theaters, where else did we see a need for projectors? OK, we also had those oh so awful “projectors” in the education market, and if we were well behaved we got to watch old movies in class as a reward. So look how far we have come! Projectors of all sizes have not only remained a viable solution in numerous venues, but new projectors are providing options for solutions that are new and innovative.
LG Electronics has been in the projection market globally for many years. I have thoroughly enjoyed working as the ALMO PRO AV Business Development Manager dedicated to LG, and now LG is taking its technology in the US to the next level which is so exciting!
LG Business Solutions USA introduced two new 4K laser projectors designed for the needs of a diverse range of commercial spaces. LG’s expansion into commercial-grade laser projectors provides businesses with professional-level projection solutions that create new opportunities thanks to their incredible brightness, sharpness, color accuracy, 20,000-hour lamp life and state-of-the-art functionality that includes screen mirroring and 12-point keystone adjustment.
LG Electronics recently launched the LG ProBeam series (BU50N) and the BF50N Series of business projectors. These projectors are designed for portability and value, with Laser lamps offering up to 20,000 hours of lamp life and amazing spec of 5000 ansi lumens. LG projectors are ideal for the corporate environment and higher education. They are designed for portability and value, with LED lamps offering up to 20,000 hours of lamp life. This puts LG in a competitive space with Sony, Epson and Panasonic. What is even more appealing is that these projectors offer small connectivity through LG’s award winning WEBOS platform. With the release of the BF50N WUXGA Laser Projector, LG provides a non 4K model with WebOS Smart Connectivity. Two flavors to meet your price range.
In my opinion, the most impressive of the models is the LG CineBeam HU85LS. LG has provided the perfect projector in this space. The HU85LS brings a truly cinematic experience with an incredible 8.3 million pixels (3840 x 2160). The panel can be quickly adjusted in four directions to obtain an effective resolution of 3,840×2,160 (8.3M pixels). It delivers impeccable precision and detail at four times the resolution of Full HD and even images up to 120 inches remain clear and crisp. Enjoy a premium theater experience in your own home. In addition to the “dream come true” home entertainment system, this product is of most value in the Enterprise, Education, and Entertainment. It adds a cinematic atmosphere to your space while its slim, stylish design naturally blends into your interior design.
Impressed? I am! Here at ALMO PRO AV we are looking forward to working with you and answering your questions regarding these great new projector designs from LG. I personally look forward to providing you more information as your LG Business Development Manager. Please do not hesitate to contact me!
Corinne Furmanek – O’Rawe, DSCE Business Development Manager
AV-over-IP continues to pick up traction among integrators in the ProAV industry, but there are still quite a few that find themselves questioning if they should start implementing this technology. In fact, 45% of respondents in a 2019 industry survey revealed that they either do not embrace, or are on the fence with adopting AV-over-IP as a viable AV distribution solution – nearly half. So why all the hesitation, and furthermore, why is now the right time for using AV-over-IP?
Let’s start with asking what is AV-over-IP? It stands for Audio-Visual over Internet Protocol, which might sound a little challenging to some AV integrators who don’t know anything about networking.
AV-over-IP (also known as AVoIP) refers to the use of standard network equipment to transmit and switch video and audio. At its foundation the basic AV-over-IP system is quite simple. Sources are being encoded, connecting through a network switch to decoders that are then connected to displays (see image below).
Image courtesy of Atlona
What about more complex AV-over-IP applications in ProAV? Just take a look at the sample below where you see converged usage of Digital Signage, IP Surveillance, Content Servers, Blu-Ray players, Set Top Boxes, and Personal Computers…. all on the same network.
When looking at these examples it may cause some AV dealers to avoid taking on AVoIP due to apprehensions about the technology, networking skills, cost, interoperability, flexibility and scalability. Let’s address some of these concerns head on.
There are numerous products available for AVoIP, which can cause difficulty deciding which technology, networking hardware or brands to use. In contrast with past attempts at accelerating AV over IP, it’s not just one or two obscure vendors that are stepping into this change. The largest and most influential AV vendors in the industry are leading the change. For example, the Software Defined Video over Ethernet (SDVoE) Alliance is an eco-system of companies in and around the AV-over-IP space, working together to create a fantastic platform for the next generation of audiovisual applications. Not only do all SDVoE products and solutions work together, network hardware manufacturers, like NETGEAR, are making it easier than ever to deploy them. SDVoE partners provide the audio-video products while NETGEAR, one of the founding members, provides the backbone network products that make it all possible, with interoperability being key.
What about the networking skill sets and support required for these systems? NETGEAR, for example, not only will provide design engineers (with ProAV experience) to help specify products, but will actually provide an optimal network topology design for you. Their Pro AV Engineering Services team are trained AV and IT professionals to help you both before and after the sale as well as during installation, all for free. This takes a huge load off of the AV system designer and often leads to the best outcome for the project.
NETGEAR has also taken out much of the complexity with setting up an Ethernet switch with the various protocols required for video and audio to ride over the network. Preconfiguring protocols like IGMP, Multicast and VLANs make the network switch a plug-n-play device right out of the box, saving time, money and resources usually dedicated to this task. NETGEAR’s IGMP Plus™ is a fantastic and unique feature simplifying the deployment of multicast solutions, which especially helps people who are uncomfortable with some of the more complicated IT configurations such as Layer 3 Protocol Independent Multicast or PIM routing.
AVoIP also solves the distance limitations with traditional AV cables (by utilizing copper Ethernet & fiber cables instead), is more scalable and flexible than traditional circuit-based AV products (by adding more ports & stacking the switches), and equipment costs are decreasing. All of these factors will contribute to more adoption and it will only get better as time goes on. IP convergence has already happened with telephony (POTS vs. VoIP), surveillance (analog vs. IP cameras), audio (ex. Dante, AVB) and other industries, and at some point, everything else will move to the network. AV-over-IP is happening right now and the ProAV industry will continue its way down this inevitable path, so don’t get left behind.
Don’t you think it’s time to invest in AV-over-IP to advance the future of your business? Please drop me a line and share your experience, or let me know if you would like some help getting started.
There’s a great solution for integrators wanting to learn a
lot more about all aspects of Digital Signage. The Digital Signage
Federation(DSF) has worked with subject matter experts from around the
industry to create over two dozen online classes as part of a
micro-credentialing program. Training covers everything from the basics,
to specific topics for hardware, software, scheduling, project planning and
content. Courses were developed by Digital Signage Federation members working
as volunteers to deliver educational content to industry peers.
Courses are about 30 minutes so they are perfect for learning a topic at whatever pace makes sense. Courses include a short quiz at the end and return a certificate of completion when done. Courses area always being added throughout the year as more contributors add to the growing library.
These courses are limited to DSF members, so you do need to
first register yourself or your company to gain access. Once in, there’s hours
of courseware available.
Ryan Cahoy, DSF Board Member and Managing Director of Rise Display provides some clarity about
how these courses were developed.
“The Digital Signage Federation’s mission is to help
our industry grow through ongoing education. We have a very diverse
membership so our approach has been From Members – By Members. This
approach has allowed experts in each field to share their expertise, such as
the 2 courses contributed by Almo on
interactive content design.
Today we have over 30 active courses with new releases each month. We
would encourage Almo reseller partners to join the DSF to get access to the
entire library to and expand their digital signage knowledge.”
Learning about content
As Ryan mentions, I contributed two courses, a basic
overview of content and a more advanced course on experiential content. The
basic overview provides a good introduction to content creation, content
strategy and workflows. The experiential course goes over interactive and
dynamic content, both for close up touch screens and more complex at a distance
experiences.
Getting involved
The great thing about this program is the DSF is always looking for more content, and they accept multiple contributions on similar topics. If you’re interested in contributing a course, reach out to me and I’ll connect you with the right people at the DSF.
