Vaddio Preps VARs For Video Boom

Company:

Headquarters: Minneapolis, Minn.

Technology Sector: Networking

Key Product: ControlVIEW XHD

Year Founded: 2002

Number of Channel Partners: Hundreds; sign between 20 and 30 monthly.

Ideal Channel Partner: Enterprise-focused solution providers with experience in audio visual, especially with remote control cameras.

Why You Should Care: Including robotic cameras in a solution can be complex; Vaddio's solution is bundled into various camera solutions so VARs can perform installations in a fraction of the time it previously took.

The Lowdown: "There are many [solution providers] that want to do a lot in video, but there was frustration that the cameras are a bit of a pain to install," said co-founder Tom Mingo, vice president of sales and part owner of Vaddio. "We came up with an interface with Sony's PTZ cameras, a little camera shoe. The shoe allowed us to convert video cable to Cat 5 cable. So you were no longer worried about where the power was."

It was a surprise hit. "We didn't think it'd be as large as it was," said Mingo. "From an installer standpoint, now they could make money on the install, using PTZ and our 'VADDIOized' method. Three hours of installation time became a 15-minute install. This is how they could make money. Although they pay more for the Vaddioized bundle, they made it up in the time savings, and they could really differentiate themselves."

Vaddio's ControlVIEW XHD is an automatic camera control system designed to control up to six PTZ cameras (or other video sources) and assign up to 72 total camera preset positions. The ControlVIEW XHD 6 x 1 switcher accepts analog SD, HD and RGBHV signals on all inputs and up/downscales these signals to dual program outputs at an SD, HD or RGBHV resolution.

The system works with a variety of PTZ cameras. VARs simply program a trigger device, such as a StepVIEW Mat, to preset the camera pan/tilt/zoom position. When an instructor walks onto the StepVIEW Mat, ControlVIEW XHD moves the camera to the programmed camera position, and then switches to that camera.

Mingo said the success of its products stem from its designers listening to what VARs want, and to understanding what their problems out in the field really are. "We grow by understanding the challenges, by listening to the VARs," he said. "Lots of guys have the same problems."

Vaddio has 42 employees, including 15 in-house engineers who are constantly improving the specs by incorporating solution provider feedback. Now the company is focusing on making more Vaddio-manufactured products rather than just OEMing product for others. "Last year, we made the first robotic camera [ClearView] made in USA. It hasn't affected our relationship with Japanese makers; we saw a hole in the market in terms of price and features, which they weren't able to fill in 24 months. We knew what the market wanted and it's a massive success."

One market that Vaddio wasn't too familiar with was the house of worship vertical. Turns out, it's a pretty lucrative spot. There are many churches interested in taping services and providing in-house projection. Vaddio's expertise in video conferences can be applied similarly to this arena.

Vaddio VARs get technical support that can even line items and drawings to show how to set up a system with confidence.

"We prefigure it," said Mingo. "More and more, we are the center of design, but many times the functionality is what they are trying to conceptualize. Will it all work together? We help them make these solutions a reality."