Network Is The Key To Signage

For the past two years, Gross has been studying the emerging digital signage and POS markets, exploring new technologies to improve the performance and efficiencies of delivering content over optimized platforms. He has carefully added the right talent and development systems to his company. Now he's fielding calls from other solution providers, as well as potential clients, looking for a company to handle all of their digital signage needs. "We weren't going to market ourselves to the industry as a solution that others could sell," Gross said. "But over the last three months, a lot of companies [have been] calling us saying we're the one-stop shop they've been looking for. We're not going to hold back; we're happy to talk to them."

Gross and other solution providers are doing a lot more than talking as they develop new companies or revamp old business models to tackle the convergence of IT networking and AV technologies. Many of the changes have been made to address clients' needs as they seek the advantages of wired and wireless IP-based networked solutions, as opposed to closed legacy and analog-based technologies.

ACE Communications, a solution provider in Garden City, N.Y., that focuses on digital signage and other AV solutions for the education, retail, legal and corporate markets, is another good example of this trend. The company has retrained its sales force to deal more with its clients' IT divisions, which are taking over a larger portion of the AV responsibilities as core solutions shift to the network, said ACE President David Goldenberg. ACE and others also have certified more of its engineers in Cisco- and Microsoft-based technologies to meet those needs, he said.

"The most interesting thing about our industry is it used to be very commoditized, based mainly on the sale of projectors and plasmas. But now it's becoming more about IT-based products," Goldenberg said. "It has pushed us to improve our overall infrastructure and driven us into markets we haven't been in before. Our business has increased because of it."

About five years ago, ACE never had to deal with the client's IT concerns, but today, it does so about 65 percent of the time. "Now, my staff has completely changed how they approach technology," he said. "Even though all the products we sell aren't Microsoft or Cisco, our clients expect that expertise."

Converged AV/IT solutions extend far beyond the simple POS displays of old. Today, they include full digital signage solutions stretched across multiple retail chains and are constantly optimized, monitored and updated with original content from a central location; multimedia and informational kiosks at museums and entertainment and sports complexes; full-production lighting, sound and video production setups for large-audience houses of worship; and high-definition AV conferencing solutions that connect remote employees and clients.

Dynatek, Scottsdale, Ariz., provides a good example of a solution provider that has positioned itself to handle those various solutions. First off, the company has developed a unique cellular network based on Verizon and AirLink Communications networking and connectivity products, which provide secure, robust client platforms that can be monitored and administered around the clock through Dynatek's new network operations center. Dynatek also built a state-of-the-art, 3,000-square-foot production facility staffed by four full-time editors to generate original video and display content. Gross and his crew also will spend countless hours videotaping a client's environment to help it develop the most effective solution to drive sales and increase total ROI. "You need to be on the job personally in order to generate the most effective forms of communications that cause consumers to take action," Gross said. "We're not a company that just sells a product to make our money and walk away."

Today, it's not enough for this new breed of solution provider to offer the best technologies. They've had to expand their consultancy roles to better evaluate a client's business needs. While many legacy AV integrators now find themselves dealing more with a client's IT division, most still agree that a successful sale rides heavily on a strong relationship with the marketing division.

"Depending on the company and the system, we have to evaluate what their goals are and develop a business plan," Gross said. "Some companies might want to partner with us and share the ad revenue we create for them, while others would rather we just build their system. Each company's business model is different, and we have to be prepared to deal with that."

Frank Yarborough, owner of Avcon, an AV systems solution provider in Cary, N.C., with a core focus on corporate and house-of-worship environments, also finds himself dealing with more of his clients' IT divisions today, especially as more of them require the integration of data with AV communication solutions. Yarborough, however, stresses that it's still important to deal equally with both sides of the house. "The IT side of a client is more incorporated today into the AV side, but you have to remember that the IT specialist is not an AV specialist, just as the AV person isn't an IT person," he said, adding that Avcon also works closely with the marketing and training divisions. "The difference in general is the AV specialist is more sensitive to function and the aesthetic impact, as opposed to all the bells and whistles."

The main challenge Yarborough sees in this new environment is the IT side tries to commoditize or downplay the value of the AV equation, which includes the quality of the display and sound systems, as well as the design of the viewing area or the furniture in a conference room. "Our emphasis is to create solutions that optimize communications, which is the blend of the proper environment and sound and visual quality," he said. "We strive to create environments, stimulate learning and get the brain flowing so people want to learn. We don't want them to be rigid and sterile."

Avcon began building IT competencies within its staff a few years ago and is realizing the value of that early training as more clients require converged solutions. Like other integrators, Avcon also has established partnerships with IT solution providers to handle more complicated jobs. "We've been fortunate because we started out early with IT expertise and have been able to integrate the convergence side very well," Yarborough said. "It's also more and more valuable to have that talent on the team as digital signage grows. All of our technicians are beginning to be part of the network."

While interest in digital signage continues to grow, new conferencing solutions that blend AV and data are Avcon's hottest market. "The whole room now becomes the telephone system," Yarborough said. He also has seen increased spending in the house-of-worship market. "That's growing tremendously. They want to address the culture of the people with high-quality sound, speech intelligibility, intimacy," he said. "Where they may have spent $25,000 a few years ago, they're now spending $125,000 to $250,000."

Avcon's main vendor partners include WebEx for its conferencing software, Polycom and Tandberg for their conferencing hardware, and AMX for its system control, automation and distribution technologies.

AMX is just one vendor that's developing new products and acquiring companies to feed the growing need for IP-based networking solutions. The Richardson, Texas, company, which focuses on home and commercial markets, recently bought Endeleo for its media distribution technologies and skilled product developers. AMX's future acquisitions will be based on three pillars: device control, content control and the management of resources and services, said AMX CEO and President Rashid Skaf.

NetStreams is another company diving deeper into the development of content distribution systems. The Austin, Texas, company staked its claim in the residential market a few years back with innovative IP-based audio distribution and control products. Over the past year, it has been adapting its product sets for the commercial market. NetStreams is developing an IP-based video streaming product that can transmit realtime, high-definition video feeds from multiple cameras set up in the cockpit of a racing car to premier suites at motor sports arenas. "Digital signage applications are becoming more sophisticated," said Chairman Herman Cardenas. "The Internet is providing more bandwidth, so the ability to stream video is much better."