Commercial Integrator March 2021 - 12

AV BRAINS & BRAWN
Top 5 Things for Success in Commercial AV
With four decades of experience in commercial AV, I can provide 5 things that will help organize your
thinking, and you can use them as a guide to your success. by Alan C. Brawn
FOR THOSE NEW to the commercial AV
industry, it can initially be quite intimidating.
Even for those already involved there
is a need to review the key elements of
this genre in a systematic way. This begs
the question as to what are the key factors
of understanding that will lead to success
in this complex industry, and how do you
approach and embrace them?
1. It All Starts as a Business
What drives most people toward commercial
AV is a passion for one or more of
the core technologies. A person might be
an audiophile, a videophile, or even an IT
techie (or perhaps all three), and that drives
the deep desire for involvement. While
passion is a great motivator, what is most
important to realize is that commercial AV is
first and foremost a business.
A formalized business assessment and
plan is critical. For the business overall
(and for each project) the investment and
the return on investment (ROI) must be
considered. Once the math has been done,
a clear and continuing profit needs to be
attained. The old adage about making it up
in volume is a fool's tale. From the client's
perspective, you must make a profit to stay
in business... and ultimately to continue to
be there to serve them.
The markets and verticals you wish to
address must be understood and taken
into consideration. It is critical to explore
the breadth of where opportunities might
exist and in what vertical markets. The
tendency is to take too big a bite out of the
apple. Best practice tells us to look at the
markets, verticals, and applications and
pick a few where you are most likely to find
early success. Let your internal resources
and teams be your guide. Once success is
found (remember ROI!), further expansion
can take place with other opportunities.
2. Understand the Technologies
We use technologies to solve problems,
thus it is imperative to understand what
12
Commercial Integrator MARCH 2021
By understanding these five things we will add value beyond the confines of the
products we sell and gratify the expectations of our clients.
technologies can and can't do. The key
question is how deep that understanding
must be in each area and by whom. There
will be areas of expertise inside a company
but most of those involved in commercial
AV must have a fundamental understanding
of audio, video, IT, and unified communication
and collaboration.
In the case of audio, an introduction to
audio course should be a requirement.
This begins with the basics of how sound
is created and what range of sounds or frequencies
that humans hear. This is followed
by understanding how sound is converted
to an electrical signal (for example with a
microphone), and then how that electrical
signal is converted back to sound (as with
a speaker). Then comes how that signal is
measured in decibels and sound pressure
level and how humans respond to sound.
The key point for the generalist is to
understand the concepts of audio and not
necessarily the nuances of brands and one
product over another. From here, the most
common audio challenges and applications
can be explored.
As we know, video is the visual part of AV
and obviously goes hand in hand with audio.
As with audio, an introduction to video
should be a requirement. This should begin
with basics of human vision, followed by an
explanation of video. There should then be
a discussion of recording and playback as
well as formats and video signal standards.
IP streaming video requires an explanation
closely followed by an understanding
of bandwidth and how compression of
video signals and the various codecs
(coders and decoders) fit into the picture
(pun intended). Finally, applications should
be discussed along with the various video
products that are in the design.
With the convergence of AV and IT, the
understanding of networks, connectivity,
and addressability take center stage. We
can no longer just tell a client to have the IT
department handle their part of a project.
AV and IT are now inexorably linked.
An introduction to networks is in order. It
begins with an understanding of IT network
architecture. Then you need to understand
the most common mediums of transmission
for that network architecture, such as wired
Ethernet cabling or wireless using Wi-Fi. For
the generalist it is necessary to understand
how a network is constructed and the basic
hardware building blocks i.e. switches,
routers, etc.
commercialintegrator.com

http://www.commercialintegrator.com

Commercial Integrator March 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Integrator March 2021