One of the most important, but most overlooked, aspects of designing a commercial space is improving the way that the space sounds. It’s funny because at the core, we are a technology company, but one of the most effective things we can do to improve sound doesn’t involve wires, microchips or speakers. Well at least not directly. What it does involve is controlling the way that sound behaves in a fixed space with the use of acoustic sound panels.
The boardroom is usually the last room that is considered when the office is being updated, yet is most often the 'war room' or 'creative birthplace' and influences the office culture. Does your staff have a central location that is used for meetings other than the boardroom- or is it missing altogether? Companies have come to realize that boardrooms are vitally important to the productivity and profits of the organization, so much so that even airlines now offer use of boardrooms in the airport terminal!
Years ago, a quality control system for your AV setup would cost as much as the system you wanted to control. With the advent of new smart devices, customers will now have far more options than ever before.
But why do you need a control system? There is nothing more frustrating than hosting a gathering with your friends, and not being able to put on a movie or show that you had planned because your equipment doesn’t work. Settling on a lower quality control system can leave you open to this type of situation, which is entirely avoidable!
Keep reading below to learn more about bringing a high-end home AV control system to your living spaces today.
AV Specialists has been offering AV solutions to commercial, corporate, and residential clients in the Tampa Bay area since 1995. When we moved into our current facility in 2008, we never dreamed that we would outgrow our space. But we have, and we are excited to announce that on Saturday April 26th, 2014 we started our move to a new, larger facility at 1163 N. Hercules Ave, Clearwater, Florida 33765.
This blog was originally published March 2017 and has been updated in August 2024 with new information.
More and more stores are starting to go digital with their window displays and in-store décor. With commercial audio video installations, stores have a way to differentiate themselves from competitors and enhance branding.
If you’re wondering whether this tech upgrade is a smart choice for your Clearwater, FL, store, then ask yourself the four questions below.
Protecting personal information and data is a common theme in both personal and workplace life. Beyond protecting data, many industries are now required or need to protect conversations being had throughout the office. The modern office is an open cubicle setting with everyone sharing common space. Not only does this affect the ability to have a private conversation, it can greatly reduce productivity and create distractions.
Understanding the Privacy Index
To put it simply, privacy index (PI) is a measurement of the level of privacy in a given area. The range for PI scores is 0% (No Privacy) to 100% (Confidential Privacy). A score of 70% offers a minimal level of speech privacy to improve worker performance. The more difficult it is for speech to be understood across a distance or through a medium, the higher the privacy index. The higher the privacy index, the more comfortable a person can feel about a conversation without being overheard or distracting others.
What is Sound Masking?
Sound masking is low level background noise that gently and precisely masks human speech, giving you speech privacy. The sound emitted by most sound masking technology is comparable to that of an A/C unit or airflow and is used to increase speech privacy as well as lower distractions. A growing number of companies use music for a similar purpose, but this can cause more distractions and decrease productivity. Music doesn’t actually mask sound. It just adds to the din. To truly mask sound, the additional sound needs to be known, yet unnoticeable.
If there's one thing sports enthusiasts crave, it's the thrill of the game served up with the best views, immersive sound, and an electrifying atmosphere. As a sports bar owner, ensuring your patrons enjoy an unforgettable experience can set you apart from the competition. And what’s one of the best ways to do this? With smart AV solutions, of course!
Dive into today’s blog to explore the essential AV technology for sports bars in Florida and discover how to transform the game day experience for your customers!
Note: This blog was originally published in 2017 and has been updated in 2024.
If you’re planning on upgrading your conference room speaker systems, speaker placement and configuration is essential. One way to tell if you need a new sound system upgrade is if you experience inconsistent sound and volume levels throughout your space. In larger meeting rooms, you need to make sure everyone is engaged—even in the very back of the room.
When making the decision on new speaker installations, consider the following speaker placement tips.
Upgrading your conference room audio can significantly improve the overall meeting experience. High-quality audio ensures that all participants can hear and be heard clearly, which is crucial in our hybrid age of video conferencing.
Modern conference room sound systems also integrate seamlessly with video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, so you can hear remote participants’ input clearly. You don’t want to rely on a built-in computer or display speakers to project all the way to the back. Instead, a professional audio-video installation will distribute your meetings’ audio to every necessary corner.
One of the great joys of the holiday season every year is all the sights and sounds associated with it. To the casual observer, this situation is just part of the festive atmosphere but to the business owner, the state of his digital signs, speakers and other AV equipment is of utmost importance as it helps to bring customers into the store and, once inside, to drive sales. In fact, it is a prudent idea for business owners to consider upgrading their location's signs and speakers every year or two to fully capitalize on the holiday rush.
One of the best things you can do for your business is to keep your conference room equipment updated. To your customers and clients, this shows you are on the cutting edge. When people see your technology and engage with you through it, it needs to be a modern, clean and effective system. A system considered modern and functional, that complements the technology others are using, will go a long way in better helping your organization communicate, teach and sell. Your interaction with people through technology speaks volumes about who you are as a company. It tells people that you are offering them the latest conveniences by making the greatest use of the current technology.
Imagine your perfect conference room. A place where all of your staff and consultants work together on a project or participate in a meeting. There is an excellent feel, and a great communal and collaborative atmosphere. Everyone sits face-to-face, ready to exchange ideas that will help drive your company's short-term and long-term success.
With 2014 upon us and a whole host of new conference toom technology continuously being released, we thought it would be a good idea to look at some of things you should be thinking about for your business conference rooms.
Video conferencing is used for everything from providing guided tours of remote manufacturing facilities, to conducting legal depositions, to interviewing job candidates across the globe. Due to its cost effectiveness, video has another purposeful use that businesses leverage on a daily basis.
A video conferencing system is a major investment for any business, but if it's done correctly, it will result in considerable ROI for years to come. If your company relies on live meetings and conference calls to sell your product, engage with customers, or manage remote employees, a video conferencing system can save you thousands of dollars in travel expense while also improving the ways that you communicate.
Even if they relied on acoustics alone, century-old places of worship have some kind of sound system to engage the participants and lead them through the service. But since audio products don’t age quite as gracefully as the stone and marble of ancient cathedrals, what was once considered state-of-the-art no longer meets the needs of today’s congregations. Of all the church sound systems we’ve done, we’ve found two extremes. Either the system is completely outdated and prone to failure, or we uncover a collection of obsolete components cobbled together with electrical tape and a prayer until something better can one day be implemented.
I have been noticing a trend lately when I go to see clients. Everyone seems to think that a flat panel display is the better tool for the job in conference or meeting rooms. I'm not sure if this is unique to the Tampa-St.Pete area or if it's nationwide.
While in some cases a flat panel display may be the better choice, in many cases it is not. In a very small meeting room, say 6-8 people I think you could get away with a flat panel comfortably. Even then, I wouldn't consider anything less than 50 inches but preferably 52"-60". This also depends what the display is going to be used for. For example, a Power Point presentation with large graphics could get away with a smaller display than a meeting where you might be looking at Excel spreadsheets.
The use of digital signage marketing can help you promote your business, educate your clients and keep them entertained. All of this can be done while you have a "captive audience" with the installation of digital signage at your business.
Digital Signs have been around for a while now but have been difficult and expensive to implement, let alone explain to the end user. For much of that time, industry insiders and trade publications have been telling us that the digital signage market is one market that is going to grow like crazy. With the proliferation of inexpensive flat panel displays, it does seem like the time for that prediction to actually come true may have finally arrived.
Now that the cost of flat panel displays is no longer an obstacle, the only other issue we had encountered with digital signage was with ease of use and content. Scene Studio is a product created by our partners at RidgeLogic. Their product addresses both concerns. They now offer various content packages to give you great content and super easy implementation to simplify your signage production even more.
This content is available on a subscription based service. Having the content already produced is a major time saver. Now, most any one with a basic understanding of computers can easily and quickly put together professional looking signage presentations.
Back in the Stone Age – and by that, we mean the 1970s – the idea of speaking to another person with a real-time image was just a dream for the average business person. Sure, there were some huge corporations that could accomplish this by having TV cameras set up, but the reality was, most well-heeled business organizations could not really afford to have real-time video conferencing. Still, as technology progressed, modern video conferencing systems became an affordable, real-time way to communicate with employees and clients. And today, the newest technology surpasses expectations by turning any video conference into an online video collaboration.
For many businesses that rely on the distribution of HD or "High Definition" video content, there is some potential bad news coming. That "bad news" in my opinion will affect Sports Bars and Restaurants more so than any other industry.
At the risk of oversimplifying this, I will attempt to breakdown what this means to our customers over the next few paragraphs.
Obviously being in this business we do a lot of jobs that require the installation of a video projector. There are multiple issues we run into when we visit a job site to tale a look at the project. One major issue is, currently almost any laptop you'll buy is going to be a widescreen laptop. The widescreen has become, it seems the de facto standard. However, most companies that have had an AV setup for any length of time, seem to usually have the old 4:3 ratio screens. This presents a problem because the preferred "new" source is widescreen but the display area is not. Not every customer wants to change a perfectly good screen just because they are replacing the projector.