AV is the Strategic Tool for Business Operations

The Utrecht City Council in the Netherlands lately merged 13 offices around the city into one new $220 million facility housing 3,000 staff. After conducting research, the council have decided that digital signage could provide more effective, more consistent means of connecting people which would also provide greater ease of use and reach the whole organization more efficiently.

The screens around this new building are fundamental to every aspect of the Council's operation. They are used in marketing: Screens in the atrium and public areas provide tourist information and sponsor events. They are used in service delivery: Screens in departmental receptions direct visitors to services and provide direction on waiting times. They are used to notify staff on a variety of subjects, from giving answers to frequently asked questions, to letting them know what's on the menu in the cafeteria.

In this example, it demonstrates perfectly how AV is now a tool that can and should give to every aspect of an organization's work. It is also an illustration of the effectiveness of planning ahead and authorizing an organization's IT department to lead the charge.

Full story and more images at http://www.digitalsignagetoday.com/blogs/av-is-now-a-strategic-tool-for-business-ops/

Video:A $60000 worth of Audio Speaker System by Technics Reference System

During the IFA 2014 in Berlin, Technics staged a comeback literally four years after their parent company Panasonic closed it down. Helmed by and featuring Michiko Ogawa, a well-known Jazz pianist in Japan who worked as an engineer for Technics starting in 1988, Technics held a private concert for a small press group, hitting home the notion that it was all about bringing the very best music listening experience possible. Once the musicians had cleared, two high-end audio systems took center stage, the small-but-potent Professional Series, and the size-and-cost-no-object Reference successions. Rather than release a suite of sound solutions, Technics had decided to put all of its eggs in two baskets … two very big, very expensive baskets.

We recently received a 700 lb shipment that incorporated two SB-R1 speakers, an SE-R1 power amplifier, and an SU-R1 Network Audio Control Player. The total system cost with interconnect cables and premium Kimber Moncale XL 15-ft speaker cables comes to price of about $60,000. That’s a  pricey audio system package, but it buys you a whole lot of unbelievable sound, and bragging rights for years.(See the video at http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/technics-reference-class-r1-series-system-video-review/)

More pictures and story at Technics Reference Class R1 Audio System | Digital Trends

Auction House sets out the New European HQ

SSE completed the audio and video installation project for Phillips at its Berkeley Square, London base. As portion of the new six-floor complex – which fit in client presentation, auction rooms, hospitality areas and offices – The SSE installed a Q-Sys audio transmitting and management system, based around the Core 250i processor, to deal out and control networked audio and video all-over the building. Some channels of Shure’s ULX-D wireless microphone systems have as well been installed; these can be linked into the SSE-installed, building-wide Layer 3 audio network. The Shure and QSC equipment was provided by Shure Distribution UK. 

The Berkeley Square building had been Enron’s London HQ, but it was completely prepared and recreated when Phillips took it over, creating auction spaces , multi-purpose exhibition galleries and VIP rooms which are used for private client presentations, dinners and other events. These rooms required sound reinforcement throughout, and HDMI connection points were also installed all over the building so that screens can be associated quickly to display video content almost anywhere, and just as quickly removed.

Full story at http://www.avinteractive.com/news/audio/auction-house-kits-new-european-hq-02-06-2015/

Increases Opportunities For VARs when Adding Digital Signage

  Image Source:http://www.blackbox.be/en-be/page/20476/Services/digital-signage 

While digital signage may be noticeable in areas like New York’s Times Square, it’s also used in niches and markets that includes hospitality, education, shopping malls and retail stores, hospitals, gyms and spas, etc.

Digital signage has an extensive range of applications upon which VARs can take advantage of. As David Wible, president and CEO of Industry Weapon, explained at BSM’s Retail IT VAR of the Future Conference, “We are in fact in fifteen core verticals and right now, and we’re just seeing the movement to digital signage. It's seen almost everywhere.”

In sales, for example, Wible says Industry Weapon provides kiosks, video walls and endless aisle solutions. Another good usage example of digital signage use is in casinos. “Every slot bank, every convention hall that's digital, all of the events, as they are changing, the incorporation is done.”

Full story at http://www.bsminfo.com/doc/how-adding-digital-signage-increases-opportunities-for-vars-0001

Related Links:
http://thevarguy.com/blog/digital-signage-opportunities-retail-market
http://www.crn.com/news/components-peripherals/300076863/for-digital-signage-all-digital-signs-point-to-double-digit-growth.htm
http://www.ingrammicroadvisor.com/proav/seven-benefits-of-digital-signage-vars-should-include-in-sales-presentations
http://www.compris-cm.com/en/content/digital-signage-%E2%80%93-opportunities-future