Crestron, a leading provider of room control products has announced a “Cash for Trash” trade-in program designed to help customers enter the digital age. Crestron is offering substantial credits when you trade in your old analog product for new Crestron digital products.

But wait, there’s more!
Crestron will accept any third party product! Crestron or third-party equipment will be accepted for trade-in as long as it is upgraded to a comparable Crestron product and that you are upgrading a video system to DigitalMedia or an audio system to Sonnex.

We recently had a client qualify for a trade-in of more than $30,000 with this program!

This program will continue for a limited time so please contact you AVR Account Executive for more details.

This month we celebrate:

 -  Graig Stephens, Technician, earned his CTS certification (Certified Technician Specialist)

 -  Allen Dean joined AVR as a Technician

With a few simple calculations you can pick the right screen size to install or rent for your next event to ensure that everyone in the audience can see and read the projected image clearly. The two key factors you’ll need are:

1. The dimensions of the Audience Area – how many seats across and deep
2. The format of material being projected

Once you know this, you can calculate the ideal screen height, based upon a fraction of the distance between the screen and the furthest seat.

• Moving video projection – 1/6
• Charts and data – 1/4
• Complex graphics – 1/2
• HDTV and widescreen projection – 1/3

For example, in a conference room where the furthest seat from the screen is 16’ and the primary use of the screen is to show presentations, charts and graphs, a 48” high screen is ideal. (16’ x 1/4″ = 4’)

Screens also come in different dimensions (aspect ratios), with the width determined by the height of the screen and the projection format. Standard formats include:

• Square – 1:1 ratio, generally used for data presentations and overhead projectors
• Video Format – 4:3 width to height ratio, ideal if you’ll be viewing in full screen and widescreen formats (examples are NTSC video or 1024 x 768 PC displays)
• HDTV – 16:9 width to height ratio, the standard format for widescreen ad HDTV (examples are 1080P and 720i)

When you’re ready to buy or rent your next projection screen, or need one designed and installed as part of a larger AV solution, AVR’s highly-accredited team is ready to assist you.

• Visit a Farmers Market near you – 2 points
• Try using vinegar and baking soda for your cleaning products this month - 2 points
• Bring your own grocery bags to the grocery store this month – 2 points
• Volunteer to water theAVRGarden- 2 points

Some great website resources for clean living:
Listing of Arizona Farmer’s Markets

Natural Awakenings Magazine Arizona

Green Home Checklist

In January 2012 AVR kicked off a new “Your Wellness at AVR” Program with monthly challenges to encourage our team members to lead healthier lives. Each  month builds on the last and includes monthly health and wellness meetings.

Spring not only brings great weather to AVR, it also brings great food! Last Friday the back patio of AVR was buzzing with conversation, laughter, and a health conscious meal as we bid farewell to winter and look onward to warmer weather. Myself (Field Technician Tyler Larkey), Sara Obi from Purchasing and Cori Colebeck from Service were sporting our best spring outfits and aprons as we served breakfast to all of our AVR family. This year in keeping with the AVR Wellness Program we served a meal that was as light and healthy as it was delicious: eggs, turkey bacon, protein pancakes, yogurt and fresh fruit.

While everyone was busy eating and enjoying the beautiful weather on the patio our stand in Easter Bunny and Office Manager Susan Smith set up an Easter Egg Hunt. No hard boiled eggs in this hunt! We were searching for eggs filled with candy, gift cards and other outstanding surprises. Breakfast on the patio is one of my favorite annual events, as we all have the opportunity to relax, eat and enjoy beautiful Arizona weather and the great friends we work along side every day. It’s a terrific break from the daily operations that make us the Best AV Integration company in the Southwest.

For most, this reaction spurns from the perceived simplicity of the system(s) and/or because it’s assumed that the organization already has someone or a department in place (i.e. facilities, IT dept, office managers, etc.) to maintain and manage the products and systems continuity. In my 13 years of AV experience I have found this model (minus a few exceptions) flawed, and the following scenario all too common.

Does this sound familiar?

• Installation of a new AV system is completed.
  Training is provided to those responsible for supporting the equipment.
• End users are trained by internal staff
• And all is deemed complete.

Now, fast forward six months, or for that matter one month.

Someone in your organization is setting up for a meeting in your conference room and makes an initial effort to make a simple laptop connection at the table to view their image on the screen. And, you guessed it, no image appears. The problem? Potentially a laundry list of items.

In this simple scenario it’s likely something small such as toggling to the extended monitor on their laptop or a damaged connecting cable in the room. Whatever the cause, as simple as it may be, if not resolved quickly with in-house resources, it begins a chain reaction all too familiar in our industry. In these situations, people are likely to deem the system as useless and maybe even a waste of money, or even worse – poorly installed!

Eventually a call is made to fix the problem. And to whom? You guessed it! A qualified (hopefully) AV service provider to come in and repair it, quickly.

Stop right there! This is the reason I use the term “partner and sustainability contracts.” Once this downward spiral begins, perception of the AV equipment and vendor quickly turns negative. In most cases this is compounded by the fact that there a contract is not in place to handle such small items swiftly. The person responsible calls the AV contractor to fix the issue, is charged a service call, and finds out that the projector power source had been unplugged in the ceiling.

The hope of course is that the sales/support person from the audio visual company will take the proper steps to reverse the perception by 1) fixing the immediate problem and 2) getting their system running at its full potential again as quickly as possible.

The simple scenario above demonstrates an easily diagnosed and resolved situation. However, most service calls are related to complex systems that include items such as video conferencing, audio conferencing, multipurpose/divisible rooms with control systems that have many unseen conditions. In these cases, maintenance agreements can reassure the client if problems occur their AV provider will be on site to ensure minimum downtime at no extra charge.

Increasing the value of your AV System – a 2-step approach.

1. Honestly evaluate and identify your organizational needs and capabilities with supporting such AV systems.
2. Work with your AV provider to discuss a maintenance agreement to provide you assurance that your systems will be maintained.

A standard maintenance agreement should include:

• timeliness of response commitments (24 hours, 48 hours, etc.)
• repairs and shipping
• pre-scheduled maintenance visits
• training up-keep requirements
• loaner equipment, if available
• rental equipment discounts
• control system updates
• hardware/firmware updates

Putting a Service Agreement in place will maximize the value and integrity of your AV systems and establish a long-term, trusted relationship with your AV partner.

Contact your AVR Account Executive today to discuss how an AVR Full Service Protection Plan can cover your maintenance and service needs.

• Tyler Larkey, Installation Technician
• Cori Colbeck, Service Coordinator
• Peter Vergnetti, Project Engineer
• Clayton Geenen, Account Manager

Congratulations also goes out to Ryan Teal for completing the Polycom Video Solutions Technical Training.