InfoComm 2015 claimed a new attendance record with 39,105 professionals attending from more than 108 countries. This represents a 5.6 percent increase in attendance over InfoComm 2014. Great numbers, but what they found when they got to the show would have given them some cause for thought.
Acknowledging the new attendance record, David Labuskes, Executive Director and CEO of InfoComm International said: “InfoComm is the ideal place to make AV purchasing decisions, connect with contacts and learn principles that will boost your effectiveness “The industry strongly supports the InfoComm show, and we are grateful for the attendee support and for the innovative exhibitors who are committed to making InfoComm a can’t-miss event on the industry calendar.” But which industry is he referring to?
Exhibition
InfoComm 2015 attracted 950 exhibitors, occupying a record 515,000 net square feet of exhibit and special events space – mostly filled with the kind of display technology that we expect to see an InfoComm. But the principal theme emerging from the show floor was the integration of AV with other branches of technology – mobile, IT networks and the Cloud. The most obvious example of this included Harmon subsidiary AMX showing its products alongside those of IP specialists SVSi to mark the announcement of Harmon’s acquisition of the ‘AV over IP’ pioneers on the 17th June. SVSi’s products include a full range of high performance encoders and decoders, windowing / wall processors, an audio transceiver, video recorder, and management software. SVSi will join HARMAN Professional’s Video and Control Strategic Business Unit (SBU) led by Rashid Skaf and marketed under the ‘AMX by HARMAN’ brand.
The SVSI networked AV products support point-to-multipoint streaming, distributed matrix switching and symmetric / asymmetric configurations. It’s as simple as knowing how many sources you want to distribute over the network and where you want to distribute them. Because the SVSI AV over IP encoder/decoder products use standard network cabling and IP technology to distribute source content to your endpoint components, distributing AV over your network is said to be a breeze.
The SVSI video management products manage all the SVSI devices within the distributed media system and create a complete digital media distribution solution from each source to every display. The flexible user interface includes access from a desktop/laptop, Apple iPad, Apple iPhone or Android device. The SVSI IP-based products include a variety of ways to ensure optimal video and audio is delivered over any network segment or link – whether a managed local-area network, fibre uplink, or low bit-rate internet connection. These networked AV products can be deployed on an existing enterprise network or private network to offload traffic.
SVSi products can be ordered immediately from all existing SVSi dealers or AMX dealers.
Convergence
Elsewhere on the show floor, Crestron took the theme of IT integration even further with the demonstration of the new DigitalMedia version 3.0 as the basis of a Crestron Certified Design, described as the only single-platform, validated, and scalable solution completely managed and maintained on a network. Crestron argues the move of AV to the managed network signifies a fundamental change in the positioning of the industry. “Now that AV is digital, and more often going on the network, IT managers are taking responsibility for those systems. The days of traditional multiple-platform AV systems are over. Now, your customers want to deploy, manage, and maintain every device in every room on a standardised, managed AV network,” said Fred Bargetzi, Crestron CTO.
The company argues that standards are critical to this progression: “To deploy digital AV on the network requires a set of core technologies to ensure standardised implementation, a consistent user experience, maximum uptime, and visibility to every device in every room across the enterprise. Crestron created the DM 3.0 standard to establish these requirements, and then Crestron Certified Design systems, which adhere to them.”
Standardized implementation on a single, scalable and validated IP-based platform ensures a consistent user experience, and full visibility to every device in every room on the managed AV network. Crestron Certified Designs enable monitoring at every level throughout the enterprise so managers can anticipate issues before they become failures.“Effective management is about maximizing productivity. It’s about using technology to solve real business challenges and increasing workflow,” according to Bargetzi. “That’s what clients want, and that’s what DM 3.0 and Certified Design is all about. It’s not a box.”
Accessibility to these enhanced network resources is also important in enterprise deployments. Crestron has created a mobile app to make enterprise technology a personal tool that be carried in the palm of the hand. Knowledge workers can perform all the calendar and scheduling functions they previously could only perform at their desks, anywhere, anytime, from their mobile devices.
The PinPoint Mobile app makes the full enterprise infrastructure available to users, so workflow and productivity are uninterrupted. They can see their calendars at all times. They can find an available meeting room, book it, and invite attendees. When entering a meeting, users can instantly take control of the room using the same app.
InfoComm 2015: was sponsored by presenting show partner, Samsung, strategic show partners Crestron and Microsoft and supporting show partners Aurora, Christie and Panasonic.
“For the first time, you have smart building technology that’s focused on and integrated with the knowledge worker, rather than just facilities or IT management,” said Glen Marianko, Technology Manager, Enterprise Solutions at Crestron. “The technology adapts to the needs of the individual. Because the infrastructure is always available to you, there are no obstacles to getting your work done.”
In addition, the latest release of Crestron Fusion, available as a software download; pre-loaded on a rack server; and as a private cloud service managed by Crestron. The new release introduces the all new 3-dimensional Fusion InSite function. Fusion InSite provides facilities managers with interactive, real-time 360-degree 3D visualization of entire buildings across the enterprise and the status of the individual spaces within them, making it easy to visualize the physical plant.
Crestron’s InfoComm announcements look forward to a broader market in IT.
“3D visualization isn’t just amazingly cool, it’s also an amazingly powerful tool for enterprise management. Managers will be able to see the entire building and manage it, as they never have before. No one else in our industry offers this level of management, visibility, and control,” said Bargetzi.
Managers can view all occupied or vacant rooms, as well as rooms that are booked, but vacant, so they can be released for use, increasing productivity in the process. Lights can be turned off in vacant rooms, reducing energy consumption.
Crestron’s announcement of turnkey control solutions for Microsoft Surface Hub users is considered elsewhere (see P12) in this issue.
Training at InfoComm 2015
An impressive 5,600 seats were filled at InfoComm University sessions, which provided practical training and attracted the industry’s best and brightest instructors and students. More than 200 professionals sought out the new advanced class series. Attendees come to InfoComm for the diversity of courses on topics ranging from acoustics to videoconferencing. Popular courses included: Future Trends; Large Scale Projection Mapping; ‘How to Build an App’; and ‘Designing Classrooms that Deliver Exceptional Experiences’. Technology managers flocked to InfoComm’s Solutions Summits on UCC and Digital Signage, attracting more than 1,300 seats sold.
