Commercial Integrator 2023 - 21

USB as Connective Tissue
Eagle acknowledges the transformation
in recent years not only of
classrooms but also of collaborative
environments of all kinds. In
today's digital age, device numbers
have increased exponentially.
Microphones, Bluetooth
devices, tablets, smartphones and
more suffuse nearly every collaboration
space. " Not just items
that are installed in the room but
also things people bring into the
room, " he observes. " Now, we
have to be able to ingest those
and communicate and talk with
them. " And although Bluetooth
and Wi-Fi aren't going anywhere,
Eagle strongly believes in USB
as a standard platform to allow
communication among those
devices. " USB is used pretty heavily
because we can use USB cables
ubiquitously among all brands, "
he states. " And we can connect
things pretty reliably and allow
them to talk with each other. "
From Eagle's perspective,
thinking along these lines has become table stakes to be a player in
the end-to-end solutions market. And that's why Hall Technologies'
product line is leaning so heavily in this direction. " You've got that
AI and software to make things easy to run, " he explains. " And then
you've got USB connectivity built into every product, which allows for
switching between all of the participants, wired or wireless. So, they all
have access to not only the audio/video but also the USB technology
that rounds out that room. " And everything, Eagle adds, ties together
with Hall Technologies' HIVE Control platform, which the company
designed and built in house.
Compatible and Modular
Arguably, Hall Technologies' most powerful diff erentiator is its product
line's compatibility and modularity, which Eagle analogizes to
Legos or building blocks. Rather than having an enormous list of
narrowly tailored products, Hall Technologies boasts a small, easyto-learn,
fl exible product line. " Th ose products can be added or subtracted
from each other to make diff erent solutions to cover all those
applications that are out there, " he remarks. " Th ey're built such that
we'll confi gure several diff erent blocks of solutions to cover a number
of education applications, and we'll use those same [components] as
building blocks for our corporate solution. "
Th is correlation makes integrators' lives easier, sparing them from
having to learn separate product lines. And the products' scalability
makes integrators' client relationships more profi table. As Eagle
puts it, " We've built it in a way that our solutions can grow with the
customers as their needs change. And that makes it easy for the integrator
to upsell to those customers and stay relevant and important
to what they're doing. "
Arguably, Hall Technologies'
most powerful diff erentiator
is its product line's
compatibility and
modularity, which Eagle
analogizes to Legos or
building blocks. The Hall
Technologies product line
is small, easy to learn and
extremely flexible.
Exciting InfoComm Plans
Hall Technologies has huge plans for InfoComm, including launching
a range of solutions that, Eagle says, will " fi ll holes " not only in the
company's line but also in the overall market. Th ose include two new
70-meter and 100-meter 4K HDBaseT extenders (AIM 70 and AIM
100), an expansion of the Astro USB-extension product line, a new
line of USB-C fi beroptic cables (fi ve-meter and 10-meter extension)
and a new eight-button keypad for the HIVE Control line.
Initially targeting education and public-safety environments, Hall
Technologies will release a series of wireless mics with an inbuilt panic
button. (Sadly, these days, people worry about their safety on campuses.)
Th e handheld/wearable mics will be usable for voice lift and
will have USB connectivity for easy use with conference platforms.
Th e panic button, meanwhile, Eagle says, " ...can be customized by the
institution to trigger whatever kind of response or event they want. "
For example, the principal's offi ce can receive notifi cation of an SOS
call from Room 302. A follow-on command string might notify
authorities and activate fl ashing lights outside that room.
Eagle also hints at yet another huge announcement the company
is planning for InfoComm - namely, a way for schools to put
aff ordable video into their rooms, thus augmenting the Hall Technologies
solutions that education institutions already have. " We'll be
announcing something really cool around that at InfoComm, and
we'll be showing the product there, as well, " he promises.
Clearly, Hall Technologies is optimizing itself to seize emerging opportunities.
To learn more, check out HallTechAV.com, which, Eagle notes,
will soon undergo a complete revamp. With a refreshed look, a new
search engine and a solutions-focused layout, the website will be a prime
starting point for integrators to leverage Hall Technologies' solutions.
http://www.HallTechAV.com
Commercial Integrator 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Integrator 2023
