These days as an IT professional, you get called on to deal with EVERYTHING to do with technology. Fax machine problem? Smartphone doesn’t sync properly? Lost a file? Can’t get any email? ….Call IT!
Aside from the regular “IT” problems you have come to know and love, now your users have requirements involving audiovisual equipment. And it’s your problem to deal with!
Face it, if AV systems don’t work as expected you are going to get a call.
Until now, there hasn’t really been a good way for IT people to deal with AV. Sure you know how to hook up a projector, or get a laptop working on a screen but if things get anymore complicated than that you are kind of at a loss.
Where do you turn for answers? Who can you ask?
Normally a good way to figure things out is to talk to an expert. Most of us don’t have the luxury of having an AV expert on staff. Even if you do, it would be nice to have a resource to turn to to give more information on AV. Google searching for information usually doesn’t lead to anything relevant. Manufacturers provide some training, but only on specific products (that you have purchased in most cases).
There really isn’t any reliable source providing AV training available for IT professionals.
Without a way to figure things out on your own, you are at the mercy of an AV integrator to rely on. While most of the reputable dealers do an excellent job, you just can’t shake the feeling that the information you are getting is somewhat biased. And it has to be. They are in business to sell and install AV systems.
What if there was a way to get some unbiased advice?
What if you had the tools to figure out for yourself how to fix problems using resources you already have in your department?
What if you could improve your department’s effectiveness by taking care of highly technical rooms with less reliance on an outside vendor for support?
This site was created to give you that opportunity. Having worked on the “other side” as an AV integrator over the last 20 years, I can give you an “inside” view of everything AV.
Over the last few years, I started to notice a trend. The IT people who we would deal with seemed to have more input and involvement on AV requirements before, during, and after the installation. Equipment started becoming IP based and requiring network bandwidth and configuration to function correctly. All this led to much more involvement by a company’s IT department. This trend is continuing as devices are constantly becoming more network centric.
While I can’t say for sure exactly where the industry is going, I can say that the traditional approach of AV integrators is changing dramatically and IT departments need to be able to support all systems in their facility, including AV.
My goal with this website is to create a resource that IT professionals can come to and learn about anything to do with audiovisual systems. I run an educational site ProAVSchool.com focused on providing training and tips that are more specific to technicians within the AV industry. The two things might merge at some point but since they are focused differently, at this point they can coexist separately.
Dustin Baerg, Dynamark Media