In just 10 years, Genee World has developed and brought to market an astonishing wide range of AV solutions, built a stronghold in education and made and started to win customers in the commercial and corporate sectors. In this strategy interview, company founder and former headmaster CEO Ranjit Singh gives his take on the AV market and explains how he will evolve the Genee World business to take advantage of emerging demand.
The evolution of education technology has played a significant part in bringing new brands into the market for AV technology. With the likes of Genee World, Sahara, BenQ and C-Touch now counted among the fastest growing brands in the industry, interactive technology has provided a fast, on-ramp for new entrants to the display market – challenging the traditional CE brands.
Genee World’s story started in 2005 when former headmaster Ranjit Singh established the business in the West Midlands. Initially, the company built a reputation on its visualiser and student assessment systems, and while Genee World introduces a range of interactive whiteboards, the real opportunity came with the education sector’s migration to interactive flat panel displays.
Interactive displays
From these early innovations, Genee World has been at the leading edge of both hardware and software development. At ISE earlier this year, the company showed its complete range of G-Touch Deluxe LED touchscreens. The G-Touch range provides teachers and trainers with the benefit of 10-point multi-touch support, a built-in OPS slot to retro fit an i3, i5 or i7 processor a built-in Android operating system.
G-Touch screen sizes run from 55” to 65”, 70” and the 4K 84”, with the 80” G Touch LED screen with the latest to join the range. Presentation and educational software is provided with all screens, giving the user full-functionality from set-up. With its high-end commercial grade Sharp panel, G-Touch LED screen can be used for 24/7 duty cycles, which Genee World says makes the G-Touch LED screen one of the most durable interactive displays on the market.
Singh comments: “We are extremely enthusiastic and excited about the 10-point G-Touch screens, particularly the 80”. We have seen a huge increase in the number of our touchscreens going into the market place. Many of our customers have told us that they would like a large screen but due to budget constraints they are not able to purchase the 84″ model, and they feel that the 70″ is just too small for their specific environment.”
To complement the display range, Genee World’s in-house development team has developed written a number of software tools, Genee Spark interactive software is available with all G-Touch touch screens. Features include: the ability to import files from Smart, Promethean and to export files from other software as an IWB file which Spark reformats appropriately; Spark enables other applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint directly inside the application. Cube Share is an online collaboration tool that enables collaboration between participants in different locations.
Expanded range
Complementing Genee World’s interactive display range is complemented by interactive table and a range of tablet PCs. Ranjit Singh plans to grow both the Genee World product range and the company’s geographical footprint in the UK. He believes that end-user customers prefer to buy complete solutions from a single brand, with all of the elements of the solution fully integrated. The interactive components are sold alongside Genee World’s initial product set – visualisers and response systems.
To grow the company’s markets even further, the interactive touchscreen’s have been presented to appeal to buyers outside of education and training. Genee World already counts Asda, Texaco, McLaren and Lloyd’s Bank among its customers. This group will expand with Genee World’s announcement of the Genee Shard interactive touchscreen kiosk range. Aimed at the retail, hospitality, leisure, finance and travel industry, the Genee Shard range offers high-quality signage and customer interaction.
“We are extremely excited about launching the Shard range,” said Singh “The kiosks complement the Genee range of interactive touchscreens and also opens our marketplace to the corporate and retail sectors, in fact any sector that has a customer service requirement or is looking for a mechanism to promote their products or services in multiple locations.”
The kiosks can be used as a point-of-sale promotional display, a self-service station or an information point. The 50” high-definition touchscreen have: a 50,000 hour life; an Intel Core i3 processor extensive connectivity (USB, HDMI, DVI, VGA); support multiple audio, video formats – all housed in a sturdy metal frame and toughened glass screen
Geographical spread
Genee World is headquartered in Wolverhampton, where work is underway on expanded development and demonstration facilities. Further facilities are housed in a satellite site in the Staffordshire countryside, with new offices soon to open in the North and South (Croydon) of the UK.
The company has manufacturing and production facilities in the UK and China, plus software development in the UK and India. Through partnerships with hundreds of UK and international resellers, Genee World distributes to over 80 countries.
At the conclusion of the latest round of expansion, Genee World will go to market with a comprehensive range of solutions, supported from a national spread of UK offices and a growing range of distribution partners around the world. With the market moving to single brand solutions, Genee World is an increasingly strong position to increase its impact.
Genee World introduces a range of tablet charger units
To complement its range of touchscreen tablets Genee World has launched range of tablet charging trolleys for schools. The Genee Charger Units have been produced to help schools manage the increasing use of tablets in schools and are designed in a lightweight material to enable mobility to and from locations around the school. The units also come in a range of primary colours to fit in with the school environment.
The units charge up to 32 tablets (USB version 33). They are described as lightweight and portable, easy to use and tidy with cable management. The AC option allows use users to utilise the tablets own charger and USB cables, while the USB version has a built in USB charger. This means users can charge multiple brands at once.
The units are low maintenance. All the electronics are housed in an easily removable timer module which, in the unlikely event of a problem, can be simply swapped out, greatly reducing down time and cost. The Genee Tablet Charging Trolley has been fully electrically tested, ensuring the highest levels of electrical and build safety and complying with the latest HSE manufacturing guidelines on electrical safety.
