Snap One has announced the launch of Control4 Connect & Control4 Assist — the new software and support offerings that “improve end-user experiences while empowering U.S.-based Control4 dealers to provide superior customer service, increase profitability through recurring revenue, and encourage positive long-term client relationships.” “The homes and businesses of today rely on a wide range […]

Over the past several years, software has become a significant source of revenue in the AV industry. The approach to providing software can vary widely amongst different vendors. Some “give” their software away since it only works with their equipment. Of course, we all know we are paying for that software when we buy the […]

AV integrators and HOW leaders are among the many of us that have been presented with extreme challenges since the onset of the pandemic. For the next four to five minutes of your time, I plan to share my thoughts with you on how the HOW market needs help, how HOW integrators should prioritize customer […]

Right now, around the globe, most companies, educational institutions and government agencies have shifted their money to help solve internal COVID-19 issues and are trying to reopen. Therefore, financial expenditures on tech hardware not directly related to healthcare issues seem to be on hold (for now). So, now — more than any other time in […]

Almo Pro A/V is kicking off 2020 with its newest service offering, Almo AV-As-A-Service (AVaas) Financial Solutions. Through the backing of Almo Pro A/V in the form of flexible and competitive finance and leasing options, reseller partners now have a more competitive advantage so they may pursue more significant, long-term installation opportunities and provide customers […]

After writing a couple blogs in 2017 about the equally loved and hated potential of “as a Service” (aaS) models to take off in AV, I took a break for a while and watched as the industry discussed the idea. If you missed my original posts on this, you can catch up here: AV as […]

Every time I start to write a piece for rAVe ED, I try to think about what the broader AV industry wants to know about the education market. I always try to put forward ways that companies can partner with schools to provide value for all parties. As many people know, one area that I […]

AVaaS isn’t new; in fact, we’ve been writing and talking about it here at rAVe since 2016 — it’s just new in AV. What? Ok, well, aaS (as a service) is the ecosystem of the entire software world — nearly nothing is purchased anymore, its’ “rented” but, it’s rented with the understanding that that it […]

“It’s all going to be in the cloud” — that’s what researchers seem to be saying to the whole AV/IT world. Let’s dive into the hardware vs. software debate, for things are not always what they seem. Indeed, technologies like digital signage storage/retrieval and security archives are already on or are migrating to some conglomeration […]

Functioning as a Zoom Rooms for Touch Appliance, the DTEN ON 55’’ is a dedicated 4K resolution touch Zoom-based Collaboration Board (think Google Jamboard, but for Zoom) that includes video conferencing, a mic-array, speakers, a camera and interactive whiteboarding as well as annotation. But, instead of buying the board outright, you an lease it or […]

GreatAmerica Financial Services Corporation and Solutions360 said today that they’ve partnered with NSCA in hopes of helping AV system integrators to ease into AVaaS (AV as a Service). Using Solutions360’s Q360 is designed to add monthly payments to AV quotes and proposals theoretically making it easier for their customers to choose a monthly payment option. […]

In late June, Andrew Davis posted a blog entry here on rAVe in which he declared that “in 10 years or less, what was once the AV industry is going to be a be a footnote in the history of business technology.” In the post he made the argument that software will, essentially, take over […]

AV solutions and services provider Frequency Audio-Visual Services has announced its AV as a Service (or AVaaS) model. Designed to offer businesses, educational institutions and local governments flexible payment options for new audio visual systems, the AVaaS subscription model changes the way that technology procurement and ownership is approached. Frequency’s solution aims to provide equipment, […]

“…software is eating the world.” — Marc Andreessen In 10 years or less, what was once the AV industry is going to be a be a footnote in the history of business technology, somewhere among the overhead projector and the fax machine. This hardware-centric industry we call home, this perpetual contest of who sells both […]

See part one of Anthony’s Planned Obsolescence column here. Since planned obsolescence for pro AV gear harms sales, service contracts and product support, the future for the AV industry may be headed toward the “as a service” model borrowed from the software industry. Should there be standards for planned obsolescence? Even the IT industry, with […]

For all of the massive technology improvements and innovations within the AV industry, there is irony in the faster obsolescence of digital equipment compared to the analog age of AV, leaving customers vulnerable to unexpected end-of-life notifications of planned obsolescence at the discretion of the manufacturer and reducing the life-span of digital AV gear. In […]

For many years, the joke in the rental and staging industry has been that we exist as the unpaid (and uncredited) research and development arm of the manufacturers that we buy from. Often, we are the first buyers of new technologies for a number of reasons. First, because of the technological pressure to stay ahead […]

I love writing this annual predictions article. If you’re a regular reader, you already know this but for those that don’t, my Kayye’s Krystal Ball piece is an annual article where I not only tell you what I think is going to happen in the AV market for the upcoming year, but I also go […]

Back in September, I wrote an article called AVaaS: It Just Does Not Make Sense. I had begun to think about AVaaS in preparation for a panel discussion I was taking part in during my time at CCUMC. My biggest complaint in the article was that each item that I have read or researched on […]

Dear Scott Tiner, Thank you for your article on AVaaS, which makes the entire AV ecosystem, including manufacturers, distributors, system integrators and end-users even more aware of the changing AV industry. As one of the driving forces behind the AV as a Service approach in Europe, I trust you understand I don’t fully agree with […]

I don’t know if “As a Service” has replaced “experience” or “convergence” in the AV buzzword bingo game, but it certainly has been a hot topic as of late, opening some interesting questions as to how the business models of traditionally hardware-centric AV companies fit into a software — and software as service — based […]

Back in the spring, I launched a series of blogs on The Hard Truth about Selling Soft Service(ices) focusing on why AV has had a hard time turning the corner to managed services, software, video over IP and AV as a Service (AVaaS). I wrote about the first two hurdles in separate posts dealing with […]

Despite our industry’s change from box sales to services, I still see some integrators who don’t seem to understand how a service must deliver value to a customer. As I wrote about last month, I see some who still look at what can deliver money to the firm, independent of value to the customer. With […]

Next month, I have the opportunity to be part of an amazing panel at CCUMC on AVaaS. Being part of this panel has made me think more about the service and do some research on it. I don’t want to spoil the entire panel here, after all, I know that we will have a huge […]

AVI-SPL today unveiled Rapid Rooms, a strategic system that optimizes meeting room deployment by intelligently recognizing organizational needs and matching them with the most suitable AV and UC technology, in ready-to-order bundles. With a first of its kind AV-as-a-service model for hardware, software, and managed service contract wrapped into one, fixed, monthly fee, AVI-SPL Rapid […]

I was participating in a social media chat the other day when the subject of AV as a Service (AVaaS) came up.  For those not familiar with the subject, I’ve written a little about it in the past, and if you’d like a little background feel free to click here or here.  During the chat, someone […]

Last month, we talked about AVaaS, (Audio Visual as a Service) and how it relates to the future of the rental and staging segment of our industry. My basic premise was that the current wave of cloud-based digital offerings has distorted our definition of the word “service,” much as social media has distorted our definition […]

Over the last year or two, I have been reading with increasing frequency about AVaaS, or “Audio Visual as a Service.” In particular, I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the writings of my friend Gary Kayye. Gary is one of the best I have ever met at analyzing a product in our industry […]

Barco has become the first manufacturer to launch a AVaaS (AV as a service) model for integrators that involves real hardware that the client never has to purchase. Here at ISE today, Barco announced the launch of what it’s calling, in the press announcement, a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) offering — something I predicted back last fall. Powered by […]

The year 2018 could turn out to be full of giant changes. The market is certainly poised for it as you have a number of technological advancements that have emerged simultaneously — each of them have a lot of potential. First, let’s review all the latest in emerging AV technology and then and I’ll tell […]

There seems to be a continuing debate out there on the demand for a true AV as a Service, (AVaaS) model. I have seen good points on both sides of the argument, each giving some logical reasons as to why a true AVaaS model is either the future of AV or an idealistic pipe-dream. There […]

I’ve written time and again about the rise of software as opposed to dedicated hardware. About AV as a Service (AVaaS). About how all of those black and grey boxes we’ve come to know and love will soon disappear, to be replaced by services running on virtual machines. It isn’t just a rule about audiovisual, […]