Commercial Integrator + Security Sales Sept/Oct 2023 - 27

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Streamlining and Simplifying Education Technology
Hall Technologies' Nexus Connect product ecosystem empowers education decisionmakers
to build around an end-to-end, fully accountable vendor partner.
n Hall Technologies, we fi nd the nexus of two trends: the continued
ascendance of the education vertical and the drive for AV businesses
to reposition themselves as solution providers. Hall Technologies,
ever since rebranding in 2021, has heavily leaned into being a
solutions-focused organization. " We want to be the embodiment of
providing solutions, " Hal Truax, VP of sales and marketing, declares.
And, in the education vertical, that means being responsive to independent
school districts and consultants' requests to partner with a
single brand. " Th eir hope [and] wish is to get as much technology in
a room as possible provided by one manufacturer, " Truax explains.
I
Accountability is Key
It boils down to accountability. According to Truax, in multi-vendor
education environments, it's entirely too common for manufacturers
to point at each other when something goes wrong. " By the time they
fi gure it out, the school may have gone two, three, four [or] fi ve days
with the room not being up to snuff , and nobody's taking ownership, "
he laments. In a Hall Technologies-centered classroom, accountability
is unquestioned. " We own the issue, " Truax states plainly.
Happily, Hall Technologies-centered rooms rarely have issues, as
the company prides itself on pre-engineering its solutions. An endto-end
Hall Technologies classroom system is, of course, guaranteed
to fl awlessly interoperate, thus minimizing failure points, integrator
service calls and unhappy educators. Demonstrating the risks of the
alternative, Truax recalls an incident last year when a display manufacturer
- a longtime partner - updated its USB transport technology.
Naturally, Hall Technologies had no visibility into that update,
but it caused an interoperability problem. Th at's why the company
encourages consultants, clients and integrators alike to consider the
end-to-end approach. " We're going to come to the market prepared, "
Truax promises. " Nothing's going to blindside us. "
Hall Technologies' method of delivering that single-source solution
is the Nexus Connect product ecosystem, which brings together
a range of fully interoperable products to deliver customer-focused,
holistic solutions. Th e ecosystem enables seamless integration of system
control, signal management and distribution, cables, peripherals
and IFPs. " We wanted everything to be pre-engineered and pretested,
down to the cables, " Truax explains. Naturally, the education
vertical was the perfect choice for Nexus Connect's rollout. Indeed,
Truax and his team are now creating simplifi ed, bundled solutions
that will enable education clients to order a system based simply on
number of students and room size.
Although Hall Technologies is an end-to-end solutions provider,
Truax and the team recognize that, when it comes to particular components,
some clients have brand loyalty or existing partnerships.
Th at's why, on August 1, the company launched a program inviting
manufacturers to submit products for Nexus Connect ecosystem certifi
cation. Th e company plans to list certifi ed manufacturers/models
on the Hall Technologies website for integrators, consultants and clients'
benefi t. " We want a better work environment, " Truax declares.
Hall Technologies-centered education spaces rarely have issues, as the company prides
itself on pre-engineering its solutions.
" Th e more interoperability there is - the more plug-and-play that
really happens - everybody's going to be happier. " With Nexus
Connect ecosystem certifi cation, Hall Technologies retains complete
accountability as outcome guarantor. " [Stakeholders will] have our
assurance that they'll work together, " he says of certifi ed products.
A particular product getting a lot of attention since InfoComm
2023 has been Hall Vision, a family of 75-inch and 86-inch IFPs
perfect for education settings. Th ey boast 40 points of touch, front
and back I/Os, and, as of this month, Android 13. What's more, Hall
Vision ships with an attached, UL-approved mount; thus, hanging
the IFP merely requires integrators to put up the wallplate. In light
of these impressive specs and this effi ciency-boosting simplicity, it's
unsurprising that integrators and clients have greeted Hall Technologies'
entrance into the category warmly. According to Truax, the company
hopes to " open up " the market, allowing more integrators and
school districts to seize on the increasing demand for IFPs.
Helping Integrators, Achieving Simplicity
Hall Technologies' remarkable success is creditable both to its tight
alignment with integrator needs - after all, both Truax and VP of
technology Ken Eagle worked for integration businesses - and to
its commitment to simplicity. " We've walked a mile in those shoes, "
Truax says with a smile, adding that Hall Technologies recognizes
the value of increasing integrator productivity and obviating service
calls. " If they can get into a room, plug everything in, light it up and
it turns on, they can go to the next room and the next room and the
next room, " he adds. Meanwhile, facility managers, IT administrators
and educators also get what they want: automated, intuitive,
stress-free technology deployments.
" We want to maximize end-user satisfaction, " Truax concludes.
" Th at's what really needs to happen. " With Hall Technologies building
out its end-to-end Nexus Connect ecosystem, while also certifying
products from other vendors, it's doing its part to foster accountability,
sell solutions and ensure excellent education outcomes.
Commercial Integrator + Security Sales Sept/Oct 2023

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