AV Technology - February/March 2009 - (Page 15) FIRST PERSON: INTERVIEW AV TECHNOLOGY: What special skill sets and expertise do AV systems integrators offer their end customers? RANDAL A. LEMKE, Ph.D.: AV systems integrators offer skilled design and installation expertise, ensuring compatibility with existing IT systems and providing staff training to work with the system. Traditionally, integrators have mainly provided the installation of physical systems. Increasingly the role of integrator has broadened to include a wider range of services due to the complexity of systems and the need for ongoing system maintenance and upgrades. Many technology managers are highly technically skilled, and probably capable of installing their own AV systems. Why should they seek the services of a professional AV systems integrator? Speaking from my own experience as a technology manager prior to coming to InfoComm, I found that my technicians and support staff certainly had an interest and capability to perform a significant part of the work. The difficulty in trying to have them do most of the work was three-fold. The first was that they did not have the specialized knowledge and depth of experience necessary for the more complex products. The second challenge is that systems are interconnected and the integration across buildings and technologies is very difficult and has to be done at the design level, which requires a very broad area of knowledge that runs from video, display, audio, conferencing, acoustics, IT, and the many human factors that need to be considered. Finally, and especially in the education market, all the work came at the same time and there simply were not enough in-house resources to get the job done in the time allowed. In the end, for me, and I see it today, technology managers successfully combine the high-end resources provided by AV consultants and integrators along with their own staff to get the job done. Do AV systems integrators need to be knowledgeable about IT systems and networks? According to our own research, more than 90 percent of AV equipment operates over an IP network, so AV systems integrators do not have the luxury of being indifferent about IT networks. RANDAL A. LEMKE, PH.D, Executive Director, InfoComm International Do you think that AV integrators should add IT products to their offerings and become IT re-sellers? I am a big believer in specializing your business as much as possible, in accordance with your expertise. So selling computers is not really necessary, nor advisable, for most AV dealers. However, selling routers and IT infrastructure directly relates to the networked features of modern AV equipment and should be considered. What role does InfoComm play in training its members? InfoComm is committed to providing its members with the highest quality training, taught by the best instructors in the world. Whether a professional is interested in learning more about design, installation, project management, AV/IT, or videoconferencing, InfoComm offers its hands-on curriculum in person at our Academy in Fairfax, VA, on the road at regional training events, and at our tradeshows. We also license some of our training so that employers can offer InfoComm training on-site. InfoComm also has online classes available on demand at www.infocomm.org. As far as certification goes, InfoComm has more than 9,000 Certified Technology Specialists. The CTS is the only AV certification recognized by ANSI. ANSI has verified the validity of our certification program — it tests what it is supposed to test. What are some of the most important things that IT technology managers should know about AV technologies? How are they different from IT systems? To me, the most important difference between IT and AV systems is the degree that AV must focus on human factors. If consideration is not given to how humans perceive and use information, just getting it to the place where it can be viewed or heard is not enough. Do you think that one day all of these communications technologies will be “converged” to the point where there will be one type of “professional communications systems integrator”? For that to happen it would run counter to the need for specialized knowledge and the skills as is seen in most every profession. Systems are not getting simpler, and complexity requires two kinds of knowledge. The specialist must be able to push the envelope of performance in their area while the generalist will knit together the work of AV, IT, telecommunications, etc. GUIDE TO WORKING WITH AV INTEGRATORS 15 http://www.infocomm.org
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