I want to preface this column by saying, first, that this is intended as a call to action. It is to suggest new strategic initiatives that can transform how we do things. This article has nothing to do with products; it has nothing to do with how we design systems. It’s about processes and a […]

By Adam Cox Futuresource Consulting Populations are adjusting to COVID-19, with social distancing orders having compelled people to find alternatives to face-to-face meetings. As a result, cloud video conferencing solutions have never been more popular. With hundreds of millions of people now working from home, vendors such as Cisco, Lifesize and Microsoft have responded to […]

I had the pleasure of providing live coverage for the first-ever LAVNCH WEEK, an all-digital event put on by THE rAVe Agency in partnership with Zoom last week. After five full days of education sessions, product launches and thought-leadership, I wanted to write a wrap-up story of my favorite moments, broken down by vertical: ProAV, […]

Extron is shipping the new TLP Pro 300M 3.5” portrait wall mount TouchLink Pro Touchpanel. The TLP Pro 300M is designed to control video, audio, lighting, shades, HVAC, security and other systems within virtually any environment. This touch panel is equipped with a 320×480 resolution capacitive touch screen built with scratch and smudge-resistant Corning Gorilla […]

Panasonic announced the AW-UE100 integrated pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) camera, which supports a wide variety of IP transmission protocols, including high-bandwidth NDI, high-efficiency NDI|HX and Secure Reliable Transport (SRT). This new PTZ camera includes a direct drive motor for smooth pan and tilt movement that offers installation flexibility, low noise and high-resolution image capture. It’s designed for […]

AVer has launched the $1,000 AW200 4K Wireless Presentation System for sharing content in conference rooms or as a stand-alone wireless presentation system in an existing network. The AW200 includes a main receiver and two transmitter pods that enable wireless or wired streaming of media at up to 4K resolution with WPA2-PSK Wi-Fi security. The […]

Almo Professional A/V has expanded its Contract Labor and Project Support offering to now include Engineering and Drafting Services. The expansion comes as Almo partners are looking for ways to keep projects moving forward while providing a smooth and coordinated installation from start-to-finish. “We are all acclimating to an inevitably changed world,” explained Cory Allen, […]

Less than a week after Facebook Launched Messenger Rooms — a videoconferencing platform designed to take on Zoom and Microsoft Teams — Kaltura, known for its lecture capture and storage platform, is entering the videoconferencing market, too. Kaltura Meetings, according to the company, is a “video communication and collaboration suite of products to take enterprise […]

Last week’s LAVNCH WEEK was huge for both THE rAVe Agency and the industry. In fact, it was the largest virtual AV event, ever, with five days, 36 presenters and 20 hours of streaming — all in one platform. Let’s jump into the numbers. Here are some interesting stats: We streamed 15 terabytes of data […]

USAV, a division of PSA, announced Tuesday the addition of five new integrators and one service provider to the USAV consortium. USAV aims to support its members in becoming and sustaining their positions as technology solutions providers. The new partnerships include: Integrators: Bluewater Technologies (Farmington Hills, MI) was founded in 1985 and is the only […]

MSE Audio just released applications for the SoundTube IPD Hub 2 DSP Amplifier that shows integrators how to create a Dante-enabled system without a traditional DSP. The IPD Hub 2 is now shipping globally. SoundTube’s IPD Hub 2 amplifier is a two-channel Dante amp with DSP built-in. The amp is AES67-compatible and powered by PoE, […]

The E4v allows resellers and integrators to evolve and thrive while earning up to eight AVIXA CTS Renewal Units while interacting online with industry experts and local-area representatives from “virtually” anywhere. Hosted by Rob Ziv, AVIXA CTS Holder of the Year and vice president of business development and strategy for Almo Professional A/V, the E4v is debuting regionally […]

CTOUCH has debuted a new interactive whiteboard, dubbed the Riva, aimed at education and small-to-medium-sized businesses. The CTOUCH Riva includes CTOUCH’s own TrueBeam Touch technology, specified at a 1.5-ms response time, ~1-mm touch accuracy and 32 touchpoints. Using Triple S glass, it claims to make the writing experience more like writing on paper than on […]

John Selldorff, president and CEO of Legrand North and Central America is pleased to announce the appointment of Steve Durkee as Legrand | AV’s next president. Durkee brings to the position an array of experiences in the AV industry. We’d like to send our congratulations to Steve, often referred to as “the nicest guy in AV.” Legrand […]

QSC has announced the availability of software-based Dante for the Q-SYS Ecosystem. As part of its partnership with Audinate, these feature licenses allow integrators to enable Dante networked audio integration on Q-SYS Core 110f processors running Q-SYS Designer Software v8.3.1 or higher. This software implementation eliminates the need for additional hardware I/O to integrate Dante […]

After 23 years at Maverick AV Solutions (a TechData company headquartered in the UK), Jon Sidwick, managing director, has announced he will leave the company in May. Maverick transformed from a local projection supplier to a pan-European solution provider in the professional AV, smart signage and smart collaboration markets. Sidwick is passing the baton to […]

By Julian Philips SVP Global Workplace Solutions at AVI-SPL The seminal but often hastily misunderstood work by Dr. Richard Dawkins, “The Selfish Gene” argues that it is humble genes and not organisms, let alone species that dictate evolutionary progress, and that we as human beings are merely vassals as genes seek their own immortality. Scientists […]

Update: Shure sent rAVe the following response to this story: “Attempting to confuse the market, ClearOne continues to publicize every play by play of this litigation, like this recent decision, no matter how inconsequential. Of importance here is Shure’s track record of innovation and market leadership, and ClearOne’s efforts to unlawfully imitate Shure’s products.  Shure’s request […]

Crestron’s new Flex MX is a UCC appliance that offers both native and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) capability. Crestron Flex MX allows companies to run native Microsoft Teams (UC-MX150-T) or Zoom Rooms (UC-MX150-Z) software or switch to BYOD mode for all other conferencing software. For organizations standardized on Microsoft Teams or Zoom Rooms, Flex MX delivers those […]

T1V just launched T1V Hub (‘Hub’), its first stand-alone wireless screen sharing device, aimed at enterprise and education customers. The Hub leverages T1V’s AirConnect mobile app — a free download available to all Hub users — to enable meeting participants to connect and share content from their desktop and mobile devices. Output is 4K (3840×2160) […]

On Wednesday, I watched Zoom’s 45-minute “Get The Latest Product News From Zoom” webinar. When I received the lead, I figured it would be related to Zoom 5.0, the latest upgrade to Zoom and the result of its 90-day security-enhancement plan. Quick plug: Earlier on, this same day, rAVe held a one-on-one session with Zoom’s […]

1 Beyond has announced Zoom Rooms Room Controls for 1 Beyond cameras and multi-camera solutions, allowing users to change or turn on/off 1 Beyond automation features from the interface on the Zoom Room Controller (an iPad or tablet). 1 Beyond intelligent tracking cameras and smart switching systems create an enhanced Zoom meeting experience, allowing presenters […]

The UCC Panel of our LAVNCH WEEK Wednesday covered some things that everyone has been thinking about but maybe not talking about. “What’s Next for UCC Integrators and Power Users?” It’s one hell of a title because it’s something that keeps us all up at night — we’re living in a weird world right now […]

By: Madelyn Welch and Leah McCann For today’s UCC Day “Tech Talk,” we were joined by industry veteran Dr. S. Ann Earon to compare unified communication collaborations options and discover where the battle lines are today. With more than 38 years in the industry, Dr. Earon has dubbed herself the “fairy godmother of the industry.”  […]

Extron has introduced the XPA U 1004 SB and XPA U 2002 SB ENERGY STAR-qualified audio power amplifiers, which feature flexible channel pairs that can drive 8-ohm, 4-ohm, 70-volt or 100-volt loads. The individually bridgeable channel pairs of the XPA U 1004 SB can deliver two 100 watt channels into low impedance systems or one […]

I was shaking in my boots (with excitement) to hear from Zoom for our LAVNCH WEEK UCC Day keynote. Zoom has been in the news a lot recently, but a lot of us think the platform has done a fantastic job of responding to criticism about its security measures, then directly addressing them with timeliness […]

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today announced that it has released version 2.0 of the DisplayPort Alternate Mode (“Alt Mode”) standard. DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0 provides seamless interoperability with the new USB4 specification published by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), and fully enables all of the features in the latest version of the DisplayPort […]

Extron has introduced the VoiceLift Pro Microphone EB, designed to integrate with eBUS enabled control systems to provide voice amplification for a wide variety of installations. The VoiceLift receiver connects to the eBUS port on an Extron IPCP control processor for power and customizable control of events such as Instant Alert or recording start/stop. Wireless […]

Today Zoom announced security enhancements with the upcoming general availability of Zoom 5.0, a key milestone in its 90-day plan to proactively identify, address and enhance the security and privacy capabilities of the Zoom platform. By adding support for AES 256-bit GCM encryption, Zoom will provide increased protection for meeting data and resistance against tampering. […]

Although aimed at the consumer market, Facebook’s new Messenger Rooms feature allows you to invite anyone to join your video call, even if they don’t have a Facebook account. The company also said it’s end-to-end encrypted. Rooms will soon hold up to 50 people with no time limit. You can start and share rooms on […]

By James Kirby Futuresource Consulting Through its research in recent years, Futuresource has identified the install audio markets as a key opportunity for brands across the professional audio industry, ranging from large system touring vendors, through to business music brands and conferencing microphone suppliers. However, as with many professional audio segments and other areas of […]

**Note: CTS RUs are not available for webinar or educational session recordings. Do you design, sell or use UCC-based collaboration systems like Zoom, Webex, Microsoft Teams or BlueJeans? Do you prefer one ecosystem over the other, or are you tired of interoperability problems? Are you thankful for Zoom’s simplicity and frustrated by Microsoft’s inability to […]