It was only April this year when UCaaS leader RingCentral first rolled out its RingCentral Video (RCV) remote video meeting technology as part of its larger RingCentral Office platform. Before that, one tended to think of Ring Central as a PBX-replacement, a telecom-as-a-solution provider. Now they’re launching RingCentral Rooms for Poly, to be built into […]

The problem is not your technology. The problem is that you can’t pivot fast enough to keep up with the changes (set in motion by a global pandemic). The reason you can’t keep up is that your management system is based on a static, backward-looking, historical view of the AV market because it’s always worked, […]

Earlier this summer, Almo Pro A/V EVP/COO Sam Taylor participated in the InfoComm 2020 Connected LIVE Q&A with AVIXA President Dave Labuskes, following the keynote address, “A Better Normal: Reducing Friction and Finding Our Way in a Hybrid World.” During the 15-minute live Q&A, there were more questions asked than time allotted — so, Sam […]

According to Kenny Chesney, “We all have a song that somehow stamped our lives, takes us to another place and time,” I know that I certainly do. But can technology do that too? Here are the facts: We know that numerous studies have shown the effect of technology on teenagers, along with the results of […]

In my biweekly blog series, I am highlighting some of the incredible people who work for the Audio Video Industry. In this post, we are profiling Paul Richards. Here is a brief introduction.  He is the Chief Streaming Officer for StreamGeeks and Business Development for PTZOptics and HuddleCamHD. 1.Describe your journey in the AV industry? […]

No one is immune to COVID-19. This is a defining moment in world history that our kids, their kids, their kids’ kids (and so on) will learn about in grade school for generations to come. Likely, everyone will eventually know someone directly or indirectly affected by this pandemic, either personally or professionally. As you probably […]

By Chloe Weaver Allsee Technologies To say that the coronavirus pandemic has caused problems for the digital signage industry would be an understatement. As a digital signage manufacturer, these past few months have been some of the hardest in the company’s history. But this extreme situation has also taught us a lot about how we […]

I think I can confidently say that we’re tired of hearing about “Unprecedented Times” and “The New Normal.” The truth is that things are always in flux, and there are always businesses that are making money hand over fist while others are struggling to get by. Sure, a global pandemic and economic meltdown has caused […]

Back in the late fall of 2019, I first heard of Teleportivity. It was in a demo video that Gary Kayye posted right here on rAVe [PUBS]. My initial thought was that the idea was great, but I wondered about the product’s efficacy at smaller institutions like mine, or even mid-size colleges and universities. My […]

Talking to my friends, peers and contacts in various channels, I’ve realized that we’re all facing similar challenges. I mean, obviously. Who isn’t? The challenge I want to address here is planning for the future. We’re all making our way through a period in which the precedent was before our lifetimes, so we have very […]

I received an email last week telling me about Poly’s (formerly Plantronics and Polycom) latest virtual event, introducing its study on the market. The report, dubbed “Hybrid Working: Creating the ‘Next Normal’ in Work Practices, Spaces and Culture,” was made to “highlight the shift in focus from place of work to purpose of work as […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Phenomenal Industries has released the new TalkBox VTC UCC collaboration device for Teams and Zoom Meetings. We are living in a new normal where virtual meetings have exploded due to the inability of people to gather safely in a single, physical space. The prevalence of these virtual meetings has created a plethora […]

In my biweekly blog series, I am highlighting some of the incredible people who work for the Audio Video Industry. In this post, we are profiling Guy Etgar. Here is a brief introduction.  Guy Etgar is the CEO of Insoundz — an audio technology company reinventing the way audio is captured and produced. 1. Describe […]

I just realized it’s been a while since I’ve written anything ephemeral or lighthearted. Although, in my defense, it’s been a really weird year. And like everyone else, I’ve had a lot to deal with. Way back at the end of 2019 (in the before times, if you remember those) I had chronicled how we […]

Here’s a message from our LAVNCH EMEA partner, Futuresource, regarding the future of the ProAV market — as we start to move out of COVID-19 in 2021. In case you weren’t aware, Futuresource and rAVe have partnered for an all-EMEA virtual event taking place September 2-3 2020, called LAVNCH EMEA. It’s open for free registration […]

Key Digital just introduced the KD-BYOD4K, a wireless presentation gateway for the KDPlay system. The company is marketing it as a “Game Changer for Presentation and Collaborations.” Do you agree? Here’s how it works: You can wirelessly connect via MacOS, Android or Windows (not Chromecast) to the KD-BYOD4K presentation system and project in full-screen (4K […]

We covered the balancing act between the estimated time to complete tasks and the actual time in the previous installment. That leads to a related topic: the management of personnel, resources, and material. Tipping the balance between estimated and actual back into your favor requires proper management of the people and resources on your project. […]

By Rob Voorhees, Business Development Manager Almo Professional A/V 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 […]

Team-building. It’s one of the main purposes of bringing people together in one space, and even though there may be a shift in where work gets done, one thing is pretty clear, people still want to gather together physically in a common space to work together. If you haven’t seen Gensler’s new U.S. Work From […]

COVID-19 has been a gut-punch for much of the AV industry. Not since 9/11 has the business world faced such an abrupt pause, followed by an uncertain future. In the case of this pandemic, how the future plays out will be dictated largely by viral spread, and our collective response to that threat. And while […]

By Eric Olson Almo Professional A/V 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 infrequent occasions, I write blogs that do not relate directly to technology or AV. I do this because I feel as though I should stick to the things that I know and have experience with. Yet, there are times when something is so important, I feel like I need to say something. Due to […]

In the last article, we discussed how adopting ITIL methodology can fundamentally change how we align our products and services to meet customer needs. As the AV industry continues to grow and evolve, we need to ensure that we find better ways to execute and continuously improve outcomes. The fundamental ideas behind ITIL are about […]

Time marches on, but not fast enough. Our industry has been adept in helping clients transition from live events to virtual events, thereby keeping us all in business to some degree. However, some types of events — training, demos, straightforward business meetings — may never return to the live stage. Videoconferencing offers all the efficiency […]

In my biweekly blog series, I am highlighting some of the incredible people who work for the Audio Video Industry. In this post, we are profiling Jeff Day. Here is a brief introduction.  Jeff Day is Founder of North of 10 Advisors and also Chairman of the Board of Directors of AVIXA. 1. Describe your […]

I’ve worked for Gary for a long time — 16 years or so now, by far the longest of anyone else at rAVe. But the person who’s been there the second longest is our accountant, Kelly Johnson, who has been with Gary and me at rAVe for 12 years. She died Monday from complications of […]

Right now, around the globe, most companies, educational institutions and government agencies have shifted their money to help solve internal COVID-19 issues and are trying to reopen. Therefore, financial expenditures on tech hardware not directly related to healthcare issues seem to be on hold (for now). So, now — more than any other time in […]

Recently, Almo Pro A/V EVP/COO Sam Taylor participated in the InfoComm 2020 Connected LIVE Q&A with AVIXA President Dave Labuskes, following the keynote address, “A Better Normal: Reducing Friction and Finding Our Way in a Hybrid World.” During the 15-minute live Q&A, there were more questions than time allotted — so, Sam answered some of […]

It’s said that the hard lessons are the only ones we really learn. I had a coach a long time ago, a gruff old man from a former Soviet bloc country. One of his bits of old country wisdom was, “Pain is best teacher; perhaps only teacher.” Someone else once said to me, “The universe […]

Over the past several weeks, the higher ed world has become more widely acquainted with the term “HyFlex.” For some, it’s a vague word that leads to more confusion than clarity. Let’s take an opportunity to think about it and what type of AV installs and equipment would support a HyFlex classroom. Interestingly enough, this […]

Like many of you, we’ve decided to keep THE rAVe Agency’s physical offices closed at least through the end of the summer, but I think it’s unlikely that we will actually gather our team together, physically, fall. In fact, nearly every business will face the significant hurdle of dealing with people who are creeped out […]

In my biweekly blog series, I am highlighting some of the incredible people who work for the Audio Video Industry. In this post, we are profiling Mark Delguidice. Here is a brief introduction.  Mark Delguidice, CTS is Business Development Director at MediaCentric Integration. 1.Describe your journey in the AV industry? How did it start? I […]