AMITPRO Presentation – Why IT Partners need to know about Audio-visual (AV) Technology
AMITPRO is the Association of Midlands IT Professionals, a peer group of which RTS have been members of for just under a year now. The group is a fantastic opportunity for likeminded technology professionals to come together once a month to share best practices, marketplace developments, vendor presentations and even a beer or two afterwards.
Last night saw RTS’ first presentation to the group about why we feel now is the time for IT partners, as trusted business advisors, to have an understanding of Audio-visual (AV) technology. Over the course of the presentation we took the group through an overview of the AV industry, common client scenarios that we frequently see (Training rooms and Classrooms, Boardrooms, Video conferencing, Digital Signage and Audio systems) and offered our insight in to what we perceive the future of this emerging market to be.
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The Convergence of IT and AV (Audio-Visual) Technologies
Audio Visual (AV) technology is more than just projectors and HD televisions. The rapid growth of online media and entertainment has led to an explosion of interest and development within the industry as new technology such as digitisation and the IT market begin to increase pace. The AV industry should be proud of its growing presence; with the growth of digital signage, videoconferencing, and command-and-control facilities, InfoComm has recorded a 30-percent growth in demand for AV services over the past three years.
AV is now considered an integral part of many projects and planning undertaken by industries that are choosing to revolutionise the way they make their mark. Sixty percent of AV goods and services are purchased as part of a new construction or major renovation project.
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Samsung TV Software Update results in “No Signal”
There has been a reported issue with Samsung LCDs (known issue with: LE32R87BDX and LE37R87BD panels) prompting users to apply a “Software update”. If the update is applied panels show “No signal” and all TV channel information is lost.
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Samsung MagicInfo Digital Signage Version Comparison
As part of a campus-wide digital signage roll-out at a new build school, 32 large format Samsung ‘network’ displays needed to be configured ready for the start of the new term. Samsung use standard PC hardware running Microsoft Windows XP Embedded built in to the back of each network display to run their MagicInfo digital signage software. This means that installation of each panel simply requires a power and a data connection to make it fully operational.
The panels used were manufactured in May 2010 and shipped complete with a configuration wizard that allowed the easy setup of either MagicInfo-i (the completely web-based version) or the older MagicInfo Pro. Both MagicInfo Pro and MagicInfo-i Standard server software are included in every box. MagicInfo-i Advanced is the latest version of the MagicInfo software range but requires licensing after a trial of 60 days. A video-wall-specific edition of the MagicInfo software (MagicInfo VW) is also available as a licensed product.
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Building Schools for the Future
The recent announcement in July 2010 to scrap the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme forced over 700 schools and 123 academy schemes to halt plans for their redevelopment. Many had high hopes for this £45 billion project when it was announced back in 2003. But, what was it that caused the demise of such a promising programme?
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BECTA closed by new UK Government
Staff at BECTA, the government body that “promotes technology in learning” were told at 10.00 this morning that the quango would close in November. There has been a deluge of Tweets on the subject and #becta is currently one of the highest trending topics in the UK at the moment. But does it matter?!
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Installing a new IT suite this summer? Make sure you’re not a victim of nuisance trips!
We’ve seen a couple of instances of “nuisance trips” on projects recently. It can be a real pain for staff that need to be educated to switch an IT suite on one PC at a time and to do it slowly enough so as not to trip the circuit. Workstations also generally don’t like being switched on and off by just cutting and reactivating their mains supply.
In most computer rooms it is strongly advised that the rooms are wired with a ‘high integrity’ earth circuit; and that circuits are designed in accordance with BS7671 taking into account voltage drop, design current and other external influences.
Now the science bit. Show this to your electricians or ask us about it… Read more
ShareFed up of juggling bookings and support tickets? Get Kahu.
Are you still struggling with Excel to manage your school resources? Do you run into issues with double booking? Do you have a separate system for tracking issues with resources?
As the size and complexity of our schools’ resource provisions continues to increase we need to create appropriate tools to manage them.
RTS developed Kahu (www.getkahu.com), an integrated online resource booking and helpdesk system that allows users to quickly and simply create, remove and edit resource bookings as well as track issues against them. Kahu helps free up valuable resources and allows staff more time to spend on things that really count.
It’s the first application available that presents users with information about potential issues with equipment or rooms before booking them; an important tool when trying to find the correct resources with which to teach expectant students.
Kahu is online, which means teachers are no longer held back by having to use one particular computer; it is accessible at any time, from anywhere with an internet connection. The tool is always up-to-date as there is no software to install, removing the need for IT staff to install and configure lots of computers, saving time and money.
Last month’s BETT show provided a great opportunity to gather some great pre-release feedback from teachers and administration staff. Their suggestions were taken back to the office, polished up and incorporated into the latest version (you can see all of the recent updates on the blog – blog.getkahu.com). A huge ‘thank you’ to everyone who participated in the trial.
Check out www.getkahu.com to see how Kahu can make your school more efficient. Use the simple online ‘Kahuculator’ to discover how cheaply you can cover the whole school.
Wondering what Kahu actually means? Head over to getkahu.com to find out!
ShareSpecial Agent Correspondence
We’re currently in talks with a special agent, which is very exciting. However, she’s been asking some really tough questions. So having laboured over my responses for some time I thought I’d share them with you because actually, they’re fairly fundamental to who we are.
“What do your clients look like?”
What a question! Let’s start with who we’re working with at the moment…
Everyone we work with, like us, is trying to change the world. From the firm of solicitors who stand up for the man in the street against the government and public bodies to a waste management company who are the first people in the UK to efficiently process waste using Autoclave technology through to two creative agencies, both award-winning and both jaw-droppingly awesome.
In terms of where they’re at as businesses, they tend to have gone through the baby steps of formation and normally have some idea or need advice on how technology can help them move their business forward; either through facilitating growth or by tweaking their processes / workflow to maximise productivity.
In terms of schools (when we can get through the evil tender process – more on that another time) they’re normally looking for people with deep experience in education who can offer guidance on how technology can increase the effectiveness of teaching and learning. That could be in the shape of physical spaces such as theatres, IT suites, conference rooms or indirectly behind the scenes by using virtualisation technologies to increase server availability and reduce student and staff logon times.
“What do you leave your clients with?”
We don’t leave them, we start supporting them. We work hard to nurture strong relationships with our clients and earn their trust. We’re incredibly passionate about technology, love challenges and want our clients to be delighted with what we’ve installed or set up for them and for it to make a real difference to their business or school.
What we will leave our clients with is a clear understanding of our values and who we are. We’ll have taken time to understand their requirements and design a solution that’s right for them, without being biased by the latest offer from our favoured vendor (we pride ourselves on being vendor agnostic). We’ll have also demonstrated how committed we are to delivering what we say we will, when we say we’ll do it.
By way of an example, we were recently thanked by a client for working right through the night on an IT system migration after the backup jobs took longer than expected to run. Poor planning on our part? Possibly, but we wanted to make absolutely sure we could recover from every eventuality. We also understood that communications had been sent out to all of their staff notifying them of the change and that there were subsequent pieces of work that had been planned for after we’d finished. So we powered through, got it sorted and they loved it. In fact, they loved it so much they awarded us two further projects as we walked out of the building bleary-eyed at midday the following day!
If that sounds like you and you like the sound of us, let’s have a chat…
0121 285 7222 or 020 7183 7222
Did you miss BETT 2010?
Just in case you missed BETT 2010 and the chance to see our first venture in to the world of exhibiting, here’s a glimpse of the stand and us demonstrating Digital Telephony, Silent Racks, Secure Computer Suites, Virtualisation, Classroom AV control and Digital Signage. Oh, and Kahu… more to come on that soon!
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