Everyone’s seen it before – you walk into a restaurant or bar and the displays are various shapes and sizes, some not even visible from any angle in the space. The point of these screens is to attract customers by entertainment they want to see; however, the actual design of the technology is driving business away. This is where well-designed AV systems can make or break your business .
Whether you’re integrating an audiovisual system into a conference room, hotel lobby, bar/restaurant, or university classroom, the design of your system should be well-thought out before any installation happens. No matter what industry your business is in (corporate, hospitality, education, healthcare) you are utilizing an AV system in one way or another. Many would even argue that design matters as much as the technology itself.
An audiovisual system should work seamlessly and have the user’s experience at the forefront of decision making. Design CANNOT be an afterthought when it comes to audiovisual. Technicality and functionality should go hand-in-hand when planning out the design aspects. Your client may not understand the importance up front, but once the AV system is installed and operating, your client will thank you.
It’s important to understand how AV design can impact each industry that your clients work in.
Hospitality
While the customers often only see the large screens pasted around the bar and restaurant, there’s wiring, network backbones, and controls all over the space that are key in the operation of the AV system.
Many restaurants have switched to digital signage to show menu boards, event specials, and some are even touch-screen and operational. Again, the focus is on the user experience and providing quality service to bring back repeat customers and drive new business.
While customer experience and their ease of use is important, its also important that your own staff have the knowledge to run these audiovisual systems without error. With a high quality touch-screen control panel, your staff have the ease of use to control audio, video, lighting, HVAC, and even blinds from a single device. This negates the need for training, especially in companies with a higher turnover rate.
Education
Experiential AV system design in education is a booming market with uncapped growth potential. The focus is shifting to the user-experience and utilizing technology to bring ease of use to students’ education.
Video walls and digital signage are becoming much more popular on college campuses and helps to keep updated information flowing. AV systems are designed so that there is a centralized automation across the campus which helps transport accurate data without disruption. Monitoring and support from audiovisual integrators plays a key part in keeping this operation running. If there’s an issue with these systems, the entire campus can be greatly affected.
Lastly, collaboration in education is one of the highest focuses and AV systems play a key role in creating more opportunity.
Healthcare
AV system design in the healthcare industry is changing the way that doctors, students, and other medical experts interact with one another and their patients. Digital signage can help direct you where you need to go in an efficient manner. Audio output is also critical in communications and alerting/paging systems.
Touch screen room reservation systems allow for easy scheduling and room bookings. This feature can also be integrated with Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and other applications to bring a centralized calendar to your work schedule.
Corporate
Audiovisual design in the corporate setting is another sector that has great potential. Whether it be your office lobby or all-hands conference rooms, AV design is crucial. High level executives go into a meeting expecting technology to work, and when there’s issues, it falls on the back of the IT / Technology department.
Many companies are using Zoom Video or Microsoft Teams meetings to collaborate with their team and/or clients. Being able to integrate these platforms into the AV systems in the office helps for the overall user experience.
Room automation creates a centralized system to control audio, video, lighting, HVAC, etc. from a single control panel. This removes the need for having multiple remotes and devices laying around the room during important meetings.
Having AV systems that are designed and installed correctly help increase productivity and collaboration in the workplace.