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But I Don’t KNOW Audio!

by | Mar 27, 2019 | Pro Audio, Uncategorized

Wise words from one of our own.

More times than not, it seems the “A” in A/V becomes an afterthought.  I like to think it is the first letter because it is the most important, but opinions will vary on that.  Much like any other product or service offering, salespeople will always gravitate towards their comfort zone, whether it is the right solution or not for the end user and even if it means leaving margin/revenue on the table.  The concept of audio systems is a prime example and my goal in writing this piece is to illustrate how to avoid doing a disservice to your customers and to your own company.

It was 7 months ago when I was approached with an offer to manage our Harman product line.  My first thought was pure excitement of the new responsibilities, not to mention the opportunity to become further entrenched in the Pro A/V industry.  I have always considered myself a “student” and the more I can learn, the better version of me I would become.  With that being said, my 2nd thought was a resounding “but I don’t KNOW Audio!” From my past experiences in consumer A/V, I was well aware of how vast of a product lineup Harman carried, however I also became aware of the fact there were now 9 different lines I would be responsible for learning.  Yes, I said 9!  My competitive side wanted to immediately learn every feature of every sku of every line…..which I later realized was not the wisest decision by any means.  That is when it dawned on me- Harman and pro audio were no different than my responsibilities in Telecommunications in that all I needed to do was ask the proper qualifying questions while also relying on the support team I was given. Harman has an incredible team of inside support staff and product engineers who are available for the simplest inventory requests to the most complex system designs.  I found that you only needed to learn WHO to turn to and at WHAT time should you turn to them.  This also allowed me the ability to learn the products and features as we went along in the process.

Let’s dive into the one aspect I mentioned above which was, learning to ask the right qualifying questions.  I have always been a firm believer that you can’t sell something if you don’t ask.  Simply put- if you don’t ask your customers about their audio solutions, chances are they won’t be asking you!  So how exactly do you ask about audio if YOU DON’T KNOW AUDIO?  “Mr. Customer, based on your needs I think we can put together a perfect display solution for you.  Now let me ask, what are you currently doing to address your AUDIO needs?” THAT’S IT!  That one question is normally all you would need to ask in order to get the conversation started and get your foot in the proverbial door to audio. This is the moment where the customer might state that he has never thought about audio or he might say he is already sourcing that elsewhere and it gives you a chance to try and win the business.  It will allow you to gather the customer’s needs, how they want the system to function, the dimensions of the room, etc., and then provide that detail to the support team in place at the appropriate vendor to begin designing the proper solution.

Harman happens to not only have one of the widest audio product lineups in the country, but I have found that they also have a wide array of training resources available regardless of your skill level.  Did you know that simply by going to https://pro.harman.com/applications you can select the application you are working on and see an example of the necessary hardware required?  It is through this method that I was able to learn about JBL Surface Mount Speakers, Crown Amplifiers, as well as DBX Zone Processors and how they function in a restaurant environment. Another tool I have learned to value is through the Harman Professional University Training Program. Through these resources that Harman has invested in, it becomes far easier to dive into the world of Professional Audio whether you are initially comfortable with the idea or not.

Hopefully I have started the thought process for you on how to begin offering Audio to your customers.  Aside from added value to your clients, you will be pleasantly surprised by the increased comfort you have recommending new services/products not to mention the HIGHER MARGINS!  I challenge each of you to explore new opportunities involving audio and start the process TODAY.  Contact me and I will get you and your team registered on Harman Professional University and begin reviewing possible leads where we can easily integrate audio into the mix.  So, the next time you speak with a potential client, feel confident in saying “Lets Talk About Your Audio Needs” because you now KNOW AUDIO!

Rob Voorhees | CTS, CTP, DSCE, CTNS, Dante

Director of Business Development

Supported Product Category: Pro Audio & Business Comm Services

FEED ME TACOS AND TELL ME ABOUT CLICKSHARE

by | Mar 20, 2019 | Uncategorized

Last week a friend and I went to check out Taco Tuesday at a new hotspot down by my favorite watering hole in Lauderdale by the Sea.  I expected to enjoy dinner and a drink surrounded by sunshine and music at the open-air bar.  I did NOT expect the chance to geek out after hours with an AV/how to create stress-free collaboration chat, but that’s just what happened.

He’s a sales rep for commercial grade office furniture, and had a big meeting coming up that week.  “You work in PowerPoint, don’t you?” he asked. Ah-ha!  An ulterior motive!  I fully expected him to ask for help with his transitions or animation.  He followed up with, “how do you show your PowerPoint on a TV in a conference room?”  I ignored my initial instinct to correct him on the term “TV” and instead reveled at the chance to talk shop.  He rattled off the familiar complaints about meetings we are all familiar with. People unengaged and even checked out. Meetings can never start on time because it takes too long to set up presentations and project to the displays or screen.  And on and on.

Well!  Isn’t this right up my alley?  As the resident Barco ClickShare expert for the Florida office I am a big fan of the simple technology that makes sharing content and collaborating easy for anyone in any meeting.  I was more than happy to launch into the features and benefits of ClickShare, and how Barco has been changing how meetings are conducted for the past few years with full BYOD support and zero obstacles for downloading software.  IT departments pretty much anywhere can jump on board thanks to the 3 levels of security built into the technology.  And now that they have the CSE-200+ and CSE-800 that does touch back, annotation, and blackboarding for touch panels, the sky’s the limit when it comes to presenting and collaboration.

My friend was intrigued. One device that can easily alleviate all the meeting issues he described?  Not a mythical unicorn!

Unfortunately the company my friend was calling on did not have a ClickShare-enabled conference room, so he was left tethered to the display via an unattractive HDMI cord draped from the conference room table.  Great for impromptu limbo parties, but cumbersome and awkward for presentations and sales pitches.  Fortunately, he still landed the sale.

If he keeps inviting me for dinner on Taco Tuesday I’ll invite him into our office for a personal demo.  In the meantime, he’s going to have to keep wowing his customers with his winning personality

Meet Maureen Mead, CTS, CTS-I, Member of the AVIXA Women’s Council

by | Mar 8, 2019 | Uncategorized

By Melody Craigmyle, AVIXA Leadership Search Committee

Recently, I sat down with Maureen Mead, Business Development Manager for Almo Professional A/V, founder of the AVIXA Women’s Council local chapter in the Baltimore area, oh, and AVIXA Certified Technical Specialist (CTS) and NEWLY accredited CTS-I. Her CTS accomplishments allow her to join the small club of women who hold these distinguished accreditations.

But why did this busy mother of four pursue CTS certification and involvement in the AVIXA Women’s Council? How has this helped her both personally and professionally? What is her advice to other women currently in the industry or those interested in potentially pursuing a career in Pro AV? Read on to learn more…

Melody: Tell us about your background, Maureen. How did you get here?

Maureen: Well, I have a background in athletic game day production and programming. As Director of Operations, I was very involved in the technical aspects of set up/break down for sporting events. This intrigued me to learn even more about the audio visual industry. I took a position in inside sales at Almo Professional A/V, then eventually moved into my current role as Business Development Manager.

Maureen Mead, CTS-I, CTS
Business Development Manager
Almo Professional A/V

Melody: How did you become interested in AVIXA?

Maureen: When I started at Almo, I began noticing initials behind names and wanted to learn more about what they meant. I did some research on AVIXA and immediately became a member. Through AVIXA, I was able to take online courses, participate in webinars and get connected with other women in the industry. Every door I went through, I realized there was so much more and I wanted to keep learning!

 

Learn more about AVIXA membership here.

 

Melody: What motivated you to get your CTS certification?

Maureen: I wanted to be a solutions center for partners, not just take orders. I received a lot of encouragement from fellow AVIXA women and after looking further into it, I realized it was absolutely something I could do. I started a self-taught course and was able to learn the material at my own pace. There is a huge library of helpful videos and other information available to members on the AVIXA website and this made it easier for me to find what I needed to keep moving forward.

 

Melody: When did you become certified?

Maureen: I started the journey toward CTS certification in June 2016 and put June 1, 2017 on my calendar as my goal date to become certified. This is something I encourage everyone to do…set a test date! We all have busy lives and it’s easy to get off track but if you keep the goal somewhere you can see it every day, you’re more likely to keep pushing toward it. I went in and took my test and left as a CTS certification holder! I saw how this credential validated me in the field and this inspired me to go further so I immediately applied to take the CTS-I test and started the preparation process all over again. Not many women in the industry have both designations so I’m pretty proud of this!

 

Melody: Why is it important for a professional in the industry to be CTS-certified?

Maureen: It definitely adds validation to your professional role. Everyone in the Pro AV industry knows what CTS certification is. If you see CTS behind someone’s name, you know they are serious about their job and our industry. This was important to me, especially being a woman in a male-oriented industry (although this is evolving!). When my role at Almo changed from inside sales to business development, I was out in the field more spec’ing jobs, meeting vendors and getting involved in the technical aspects of a project. I was able to immediately use the knowledge I gained through my CTS certification training and provide more value to our reseller and integrator partners.

 

Melody: Can you give an example of how having your CTS certification has helped you on the job?

Maureen: Not too long ago, I was at an industry trade show and an attendee started a conversation with me about a project. This person seemed to be mocking me as if I didn’t understand what they were saying until someone came up behind me and whispered over my shoulder “she’s CTS certified.” The attendee said “Oohhhh” and the tone of the conversation immediately changed. Their opinion of how they were going to communicate the details of their project completely shifted and I got the real story about the mechanics behind everything, instead of just a birds-eye view. And I was able to provide valuable input based on my training.

 

Melody: What do you think are the greatest benefits to AVIXA membership?

Maureen: There are so many! As far as education goes, there are countless valuable courses available free of cost, which is helpful because the further you go into education of any kind, the more expensive it can become! With an AVIXA membership, you are also part of a close-knit community of professionals with a common interest – they become a support group and a sounding board when you need answers. It’s refreshing to know there is a credible group of AV professionals already assembled. It makes sense to want to join forces with them and become a part of this team.

 

 

Melody: What is your involvement in the Women’s Council?

 

Maureen: I began by meeting with the Women’s Council chapter based in DC. But it’s a bit of a drive and the truth is there are already so many talented AV professionals right here in Baltimore. I applied for a chapter here and am currently in the process of selecting officers. There are so many options and paths a professional can take in this industry – it doesn’t have to be technical. We have AV women in sales, marketing, editorial and other thought leadership positions. The AVIXA Women’s council is really a family within a family. I feel that being part of an AVIXA Women’s Council will definitely enrich your career.

 

More details about the AVIXA Women’s Council events can be found here.

 

Learn ways to connect locally with other women in Pro AV here.

Small Room. Big Benefits. Gain huge insight on small huddle space audio challenges and how to solve them.

by | Oct 4, 2018 | Pro Audio, Uncategorized

Offices have been trending towards the “open office” model for quite some time, usually with one or two dedicated conference spaces. These spaces were usually large and most likely had use restrictions on them, sending the employees back to their open office to work on a project. This is a less-than-ideal situation because the open office environment introduces distractions and isn’t conducive to collaboration. Team members don’t want their meeting to disrupt their colleagues, so what’s a team to do?

Huddle rooms to the rescue!

Yes, we’ve heard and read about huddle rooms for a few years now. They certainly make sense for the scenario listed above. An easily accessible space for team members to meet, away from their colleagues, that fosters collaboration. Typically seating just 3-5 people, it’s an efficient use of available space. Remote workers cite a “more inclusive” feel when working with team members who are in a huddle room, as opposed to a large conference room, which has a more formal vibe.

 

How to make the huddle room a true collaboration workspace.

In addition to the huddle room as space in and of itself, it can provide additional functionality to the enterprise. By incorporating the right technology, the huddle room can transform into a true collaboration workspace for both local and offsite team members. Use of soft codecs within the enterprise affords the user greater flexibility for scheduling and meeting location. Technology in the huddle room should provide the same ease of use.

In a collaborative conferencing situation, team members may be moving around the room or at a whiteboard, with their backs to the camera and mic. The microphone on a typical laptop doesn’t provide adequate coverage of the room. It barely sounds acceptable when the user is on-axis to the mic. Horrible audio is fatiguing to the listener on the far end, and ultimately decreases productivity. The solutions should improve the audio fidelity coming from the room. Fortunately, Almo has a number of solutions to fit any budget and technical requirement.

 

We have the right products designed for huddle rooms.

AMX, part of the Harman group, offers the Acendo Vibe. Connected via USB or Bluetooth, the vibe has JBL onboard speakers and microphones, CEC control and the option of a 120-degree wide-angle camera.

The Biamp Devio was purpose-built for the huddle room. After running the system’s mic auto-setup, three 120-degree mic elements actively track the speaker in the room with incredible clarity. One USB cable connection from your computer is all that’s needed to push video to the local monitor, send audio to the monitor via HDMI, send to low-impedance speakers from its onboard 20-watt amp, or send the audio to a room system via line-level outputs. Connect the room’s telephone headset to the Devio and that extension can also bridge into the call. The Devio has USB connections for a camera and other peripherals as well. The company IT department can pull room usage information across the network via SMTP traps available within the Devio. An onboard web server as well as downloadable software allows configuration of the device.

And … don’t forget about local audio! Choose from a variety of speaker manufacturers and options from Atlas, JBL and TOA.

Questions? Give me a call! I’m available to help you with your project and answer questions you may have.

Steve Alexander, CTS, PCVE, CCNA
Business Development Manager 

888-420-2566 x6648  |  [email protected]

ELECT A NEW WAY TO BE PROFITABLE WITH GOVERNMENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS

by | Sep 11, 2018 | Pro Audio, Uncategorized

You’re certainly familiar with working in the small to large business space, but what about working with your local government? Government entities are constantly engaged in tech refreshes of their facilities. The cycle takes a bit longer because public monies are being spent; therefore, most projects are sent out to bid. If you’re willing to work through the bid process you’ll be rewarded with a client that will definitely pay their bill at the end of the project!

Government opportunities in audio can come from anywhere: state legislatures, city councils, court houses, boards of education, water authorities, local transportation authorities, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations.

A secure system is a must.

These bodies have some unique requirements. To insure the integrity of the process, the system must be secure, either as a stand-alone system or if on the network, segmented with appropriate network controls such as a separate VLAN, firewall rules, and occasionally a dedicated physical network to move data from point to point.

Most government meetings have a set agenda that must be followed with procedural requirements. A complete system will allow for agenda mapping, voting, documentation and document sharing as well as local and facility-wide/WAN distribution. Legislative chambers have set protocols for participants to discuss and vote on key issues. Data collection ensures accountability on policy making.

Additional requirements for many meetings include controlled microphone activation, electronic voting, audio recording and archiving, and an agenda report. Some require the ability to display agenda and voting information to the audience, video tracking triggered by push-to-talk microphones for live streaming, and paperless document display.

ALMO has partnered with manufacturers uniquely qualified to fulfill these requirements.

Beyer Dynamics’ Quinta wireless conference systems’ product range includes gooseneck mics, revoluto array mics, and a wireless handheld mic unit that has the same functionality as a mic unit. For the government client that requires additional meeting management, Taiden offers a complete solution including voting, document management, video tracking and display. Both systems can provide simultaneous interpretation with additional hardware and appropriate software.

ALMO has the video, distribution and control systems solutions, and the relationships with our manufacturers’ technical support teams to ensure our customers a complete solution for their project.

Interested in finding out more? Call me!

Steve Alexander, CTS, PCVE, CCNA
Business Development Manager 

888-420-2566 x6648  |  [email protected]

Almo Corporation Gives Back to Community and Professional Industry Through Summer Fundraising and Outreach

by | Aug 23, 2018 | Uncategorized

Splash for Cash, P.A.L. and Integrate Baltimore Non-Profit Organizations
Bring Employees Together and Provide Community Service

Philadelphia, PA — August 17, 2018 — This summer, Almo Corporation, the nation’s leading independent distributor of appliances, consumer electronics, Pro A/V equipment and housewares, went above and beyond to participate in local-area fundraisers and volunteer outreach and service projects designed to give back to non-profit organizations in the community and professional industry.

“It is both an honor and a privilege to be able to give back to our local communities, favorite charities and industry-related organizations,” explained Warren Chaiken, president and CEO of Almo Corporation. “Our secret sauce has always been and always will be our people. Our culture is not only comprised of talented, hardworking professionals, but those with big hearts who want to make a difference in the community and for various causes by being actively involved and working together to change people’s lives for the better.”

 P.A.L Bike Build

On June 20, as part of the Almo Dealer Channel National Business Conference, Almo’s team-building time was dedicated to the Philadelphia Chapter of the Police Athletic League (PAL). The PAL organization provides safe havens for thousands of kids, some in the toughest neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia. From homework clubs, computer classes and citywide educational tournaments, to more than a dozen organized sport activities, the PAL helps children stay safe, productive and engaged in worthwhile activities.

Splash for Cash

On July 12, employees from the Almo Corporation headquarters paid to take turns knocking Almo executives and other colleagues into a dunk tank during the second annual Splash for Cash event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The event included lunch provided by event sponsors Sharp, Danby and Honeywell, with many employees from these companies also participating in the event. More than $7,000 was raised over the course of the day and A Go-Fund-Me page was set up for additional contributions, 100 percent of which were provided to the American Cancer Society.

Integrate Baltimore

On August 1, Almo Pro A/V took advantage of the time together with employees and partners at its National Sales Meeting by giving back to Integrate Baltimore, a grassroots organization focused mainly on taking the abundance of used surplus technology and providing access to this technology in underserved areas. This organization also raises awareness about viable career paths in the AV industry. Almo’s vendor partners made product donations worth more than $25,000. In addition, Almo made a monetary donation of more than $4,000 through a corporate contribution and raffle money raised at the event.

Other charitable contributions made by Almo Corporation this summer include:

The Almo National Sales and Service Division visited the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge-American Cancer Society to prepare “breakfast for dinner” for the patients and care givers at Fox Chase Cancer Center.

Almo Corporation interns volunteered in the community at Habitat for Humanity.

Almo Corporation interns also volunteered at Holy Reedemer Food Pantry right around the corner from the Philadelphia office. They learned all about Holy Reedemer’s mission and helped out by bagging, sorting, and cleaning around the food bank.

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