Piecing Together the Perfect A/V System

The first question our team asks when developing your custom A/V solution is, “What is the primary goal of your new A/V system?” Whether you aim to improve client presentations, streamline internal communication, or enhance customer engagement, Activo designs your system around these objectives. This customized approach ensures that your technology works seamlessly, eliminating the frustrations caused by mismatched or incompatible components.

According to a study by AVIXA, the global demand for flexible and scalable A/V solutions is on the rise, with more businesses opting for custom systems that can grow with their needs. Activo’s approach ensures you’re equipped with technology that adapts as your business evolves.

Ongoing Support that Stands the Test of Time

Our team collaborates with your business to provide comprehensive post-installation support, including troubleshooting, maintenance, and system upgrades. At Activo, we’re dedicated to ensuring the long-term success of your A/V systems, keeping them running smoothly and efficiently.

This level of dedicated support sets Activo apart from other providers who may leave you with a system but no ongoing assistance. Activo’s team ensures your technology continues to serve your business, keeping downtime to a minimum and system performance at its peak.

Making the Right Decision for Your Business

Why Choose Activo for Your A/V Needs?

• We work closely with you to customize a system that fits your unique business goals.
• We partner with trusted brands to deliver the highest quality A/V solutions.
• From consultation to installation, our team provides exceptional service, ensuring smooth business operations.

Reach out to Activo today to design the perfect custom A/V solution for your business and experience seamless support from start to finish. Contact us now to get started!

The post Creating a Seamless A/V Experience with Activo’s Custom Solutions appeared first on Activo.

Choosing a full-service team like Activo will save you money and time in the long term while also providing you with a better system. Whether you’re looking for digital signage or a new conferencing system, we make sure that you work with an expert team that ensures that you are happy with the results.

A full-service AV team can provide accurate estimates that save you money, create effective solutions based on your facility, communicate effortlessly through the project, and create a better result for your end-users.

Effective Solutions

Building a successful AV system starts with a consultation. A professional company like Activo will dispatch a team of specialists to understand the needs of your business, communications obstacles, future growth of your facility, and the technical, logistical, and capital needs of your business.

These teams will consider both the current and future needs of your business and will try to include your existing technologies and equipment to achieve your desired results.

Accurate Estimates

A full-service team will work with professional estimators to give you a realistic idea of how long things will take and how much your project will cost. They do this by using certified professionals who help determine what staff, design, engineering, equipment, and services will be needed.

Other companies that don’t use professional estimators may suggest it will cost less or take less time, but can sometimes ask you to buy more than you need or extend their timelines without warning.

Smooth Communication

When you work with a full-service solution, you don’t have to relay communications between companies your business works with, nor do you have to worry about understanding half-completed projects because teams communicate with each other internally.

A full-service team will design, engineer, and implement a project quickly because they know what’s always happening. Working with a full-service solution saves time and money in the long run by creating an easy process for your audio and visual solutions.

Better End Products

The best system is one that is well-designed and well-built. Our work at Activo is to ensure the user experience is at its best and stays that way. Systems should be made to grow with your company, with room for technological advancement in both hardware and software.

Activo’s full-service teams will provide you with documentation, equipment and project manuals, training, and service and support to help you move forward.

While many of these benefits seem obvious, they can be easily overlooked. Trusting your AV team to design and implement a solution will save you money and headaches down the road.

For more information about Activo’s full-service offerings in audio and visual, visit our AV solutions page. If you’re interested in working together on your next AV project, contact us today!

The post Why Work with an AV Team to Complete Your Projects? appeared first on Activo.

What is Video Analytics?

Video analytics – also commonly referred to as video content analytics (VCA) – is the term used to describe the capability of automatically analyzing video to detect and examine temporal and spatial events for important information and relevant insights. It’s used in a wide variety of industries, niches, and applications and is quickly becoming a major force in modern society. Video analytics can send real-time alerts for loss prevention, increase situational awareness, accelerate investigations in cities, and improve traffic and parking direction and flow.

According to the research firm MarketsandMarkets, the video analytics market is projected to grow from $1.7 billion in 2016 to a staggering $4.2 billion by 2021. This steep growth curve is largely due to the utilitarian value it provides across the board. The algorithms used in this form of analytics can be implemented as software on general-purpose machines, or as hardware in specialized video processing units.

Understanding the Impact of Video Analytics

The beauty of video analytics is that it isn’t restricted to any specific industry or application. It’s currently being used to transform and secure homes, businesses, and cities. Here’s a glimpse at some specific areas that are currently being influenced:

• Home: Most homes have some type of video doorbell or security system that notifies homeowners when there’s activity on their property. However, one of the biggest pain points with these cameras is their inability to properly differentiate between vehicles, people, animals, postal workers, children, etc. With video analytics, advanced recognition technology can classify notifications based on who or what is detected (including specific people).
• Retail: Video analytics not only improves security in retail stores by reducing shrinkage and theft, but it can also provide managers with feedback based on various layouts and setups. This can lead to stronger customer engagement and better profit margins.

• Public places: Video analytics is perhaps best utilized in public spaces where community officials and law enforcement agencies need to monitor large crowds and sets of people. Facial recognition tools allow these agencies to identify high-risk individuals and potentially thwart terrorism and other malicious behavior. Though the advantages of using video analytics in public places are apparent, there are privacy concerns that need to be addressed from time to time.
• Sports stadiums: Sports stadiums have been targeted over the years for criminal behavior and terrorism. Video analytics not only helps stadium officials identify high-risk scenarios, but it can even track attendance and occupancy by counting people as they enter and exit the stadium. Furthermore, it has the ability to identify disruptive fans and inebriated/violent individuals who are compromising the in-stadium experience for other paying fans.
• Industrial areas: In terms of manufacturing, industrial warehouses can leverage video analytics to track items, reduce shrinkage, and maximize productivity and efficiency. It can even be used to anticipate breakdowns and provide recommendations for preventative maintenance.
• Transportation: Whether it involves airports, seaports, or subway stations, video analytics can provide valuable information on various incidents and accidents. Furthermore, it has the ability to reduce crime and increase response times to suspicious activities and emergency scenes.

These are just a few examples of areas where video analytics is having an impact. In the coming months and years, more industries and locations will continue to be impacted and influenced for the better.

Incorporate Video Analytics Into Your Security Plan

Activo is Canada’s leading national network system integration. We specialize in providing businesses with superior network systems planning, integration, installation, and support services. For more information about how Activo can incorporate video analytics into your security plan, contact us today!

Read more from Activo:

• Cloud-Based Communications Solutions Offer Flexibility for a Distributed Workforce
• Why Structured Cabling Is the Backbone of the Digital Building
• Why You Need to Be Ready to Deploy a Digital Building Architecture

The post How Video Analytics is Helping Secure Your Home, Business, and City appeared first on Activo.

Will your network be able to support the demands digital buildings place on it?

With the right structured cabling infrastructure, one engineered to meet your organization’s needs today and evolve as you grow, the answer is yes.

What Do Future-Ready Structured Cabling Solutions Need to Deliver?

1.      More Power

The cabling in digital buildings will need to support Power over Ethernet (PoE), a technology that allows power and data to be safely transmitted over the same network cables so that devices like cameras and lights can be deployed virtually anywhere. As the number of devices that connect to networks not only increase but also become more complex and power hungry, they will demand a greater amount of power that your cabling needs to be able to reliably provide.

The reality is that outdated cabling simply won’t be able to keep up.

2.      The Ability to Handle Higher Temperatures

With the creation of more power comes the creation of more heat. Even in small degrees, heat rise within cables can have major implications including:

• Insertion loss, which can lead to things like bit errors.
• Unplanned downtime.
• Premature wear-and-tear.

Although category 5e and category 6 cables can be used to support PoE devices, the reality is that category 6a cable is almost always the superior choice. Category 6a cabling is affordable and capable of running data at rates up to 10 gigabits per second, suppressing alien crosstalk so they can be bundled with limited issue, mitigating heat, and more.

To learn more, download “Defining the Digital Building”, a free e-book from Panduit.

3.      Increased Bandwidth

Between the array of devices connecting to the network (including tablets, phones, laptops, and building systems like HVAC and wireless) and applications like communications and conferencing applications that are running in real time, our bandwidth needs are only going to go up.

Ultimately, taking action now to create future-ready structured cabling systems will make it easier to evolve and meet future needs.

What Will Be Integrated as Part of the Digital Building?

1.      Building Automation Systems

Although building automation systems (BAS) have come a long way in recent years, there is still much we have to look forward to.

Today, BAS can integrate things like:

• HVAC
• Lighting
• Security
• Elevators
• Audio/visual

Even specialty systems like nurse call or scheduling applications can be included, and many systems also have mobile compatibility so that operators can manage and control components using mobile devices.

2.      Lighting

Intelligent lighting is on track to take industries by storm. One of the main reasons—it’s about more than just light. Innovative lighting systems also incorporate sensors that can:

• Turn lights on and off as people move between rooms and communicate with building automation systems to adjust ventilation levels according to the number of people currently present.
• Enable occupants to set their own personal lighting preferences using smartphones.
• Adjust light levels throughout the day to complement or mirror outside and ambient light.
• Provide visual alerts if noise levels go above pre-set levels.
• Direct employees to available conference rooms.

One of the attributes that makes lighting so attractive is the sheer volume. Because they are so dense, they become an ideal platform for distributing sensors throughout a space.

3.      Audio/Visual

AV has already become an echo of what it was in many ways. Where we had projectors, we now have innovative conferencing tools. In place of posters, we now see dynamic digital signage. Despite these advancements, however, AV signals are still generally transmitted over closed networks.

AV over IP (AVoIP) promises to change that. In essence, AVoIP builds on HDBaseT (the current standard for transmitting HD audio and video) by encoding signals into Ethernet, routing them via a LAN, and decoding them at the other end for the display device.

The impacts of this transition will be significant. AV devices will be managed by the same person or department responsible for the larger network, and it will simplify and streamline cabling infrastructure since organizations will no longer need separate cables and connections.

4.      Industrial Environments

For a long time, there has been a clear line between the carpeted office and the cement-floored warehouse. IT teams managed networks and hired structured cabling engineers to run cabling for data networks on the office side, while in the warehouse electricians were brought in to run control and signal cables alongside power in wire baskets.

Today, the lines are becoming blurred.

IT staff venture onto plant floors to diagnose network connectivity issues, while cabling contractors run fibre and copper to meet the warehouse’s changing needs.

Lay the Right Foundation for Next-Generation Digital Buildings

The success of the digital building depends on its systems performing well independently and together. You need an infrastructure in place that enables this interconnectedness, and that all starts with cabling.

To make your journey a triumph, you need to choose the right partner. Look for someone who has a wealth of experience in planning, integrating, installing, and supporting each component of your organization’s infrastructure—ensuring you get a future-ready system that empowers you to make the most of the changes digital buildings will bring.

Are you ready to take the plunge? Contact us today to learn how Activo can help you maximize your success in the IoT!

Read more from Activo:

• 3 IoT Trends for 2018 (and Beyond)
• Why You Need to Be Ready to Deploy a Digital Building Architecture
• Evolving Today’s Data Centres to Meet Tomorrow’s Demands

The post Why Structured Cabling Is the Backbone of the Digital Building appeared first on Activo.

• Savings of up to 30% in energy use, maintenance, and spatial management.
• An over 15% increase in productivity.
• The elimination of as much as 50% of our energy waste.

However you look at it, the reality is this—traditional buildings take more time, money, and effort to manage compared to future-forward digital buildings.

To find out more about preparing for the digital building, check out this infographic from Cisco.

In this blog, we wanted to take a closer look at some of the promises the digital building is sure to bring:

3 Benefits That the Digital Building Will Bring

1.      Improved Efficiency

• By taking small actions like using sensors to adjust room temperatures and turn lights on and off, you can reduce energy use by over 25%—significant savings especially for larger sites like shopping malls or warehouses.
• Pre-empt maintenance with systems that alert you automatically when there’s a problem (minor or major) and enable you to act preventatively when possible.

2.      Predict Need

Intelligent buildings will be able to analyze behaviours to understand how spaces are actually used and anticipate demands before users even ask:

• In offices, the digital building will offer opportunities to create tailor-made working spaces with unique lighting and temperature preferences so employees feel better and can work more productively.
• With retail, you will be able to understand how visitors shop so you can more easily tell a “buyer” apart from a “browser”.
• Industrial buildings will benefit from automated pick-up processes as well as more accurate and rapid shipments.
• Multi-family dwellings will enjoy better experiences fully centred around their own habits.

Deloitte University Press created an interactive graphic exploring how the IoT will affect office, retail, industrial, and multi-family buildings. Click here to learn more and see the tool in action!

3.      Enhance Productivity

Digital buildings mean more than just making technology smarter. They are also about creating solutions that make users’ lives better and simpler. This will be especially important in the workplace, where many people spend upwards of 1500 hours per years.

Businesses can take advantage of digital buildings to:

• Adjust temperature, air quality, and lighting to suit the wishes of individual employees.
• Monitor ventilation levels throughout the day to achieve an optimal balance.
• Boost productivity by scheduling days (tasks and breaks) in a way that encourages collaboration.

Regardless of your industry or size, the future of the digital building will lead to tangible benefits for building owners ready to make the most of it.

Activo partners with industry leaders to make the digital building of tomorrow a reality today. Contact us today to discuss your needs!

Read more from Activo:

• Thank You for Helping Us Make Our Digital Building Technology Seminar Such a Success!
• 4 Insights on What a Digital Transformation Will Mean for Your Business
• Building for the Internet of Things (IoT)

The post Why You Need to Be Ready to Deploy a Digital Building Architecture appeared first on Activo.

Keep reading to find out our thoughts on what the Digital Transformation has in store for your business:

1. The Right Tools Will Play a Pivotal Role

To respond to the changes brought on by the IoT and the Information Society, businesses need to be agile. That means choosing hardware and software that will be dynamic, flexible, and able to meet the demands of your organization as it evolves.

Explore alternatives like the cloud. In a Harvard Business Review survey, cloud computing generated a wealth of excitement among respondents. The main benefits cited were flexible capacity (53%), business agility (50%), and lower costs (43%).

2. Superior Support is Critical in Facilitating Your Success

Ongoing support for your applications—regular maintenance, upgrades, and bug fixes—will help maximize performance, reliability, and security while minimizing risks. ZK Research put the financial hit associated with downtime and failures as high as $5.2 million per hour for brokerage firms.

To be sure you have the appropriate level of support in your corner, consider:

• Aligning internal skills with future needs, preparing yourself to fill the gaps you identify.
• Understanding what level of risk you can tolerate and making sure service agreements are suitable.
• Selecting the right vendor based on the level of support they can offer now and into the future.

Getting the right support structures in place early will help enable growth down the road.

3. Big Data Will Deliver Better Experiences

Big data tools allow businesses to analyze large quantities of information to better understand what customers and employees really want from the products and services they buy and use.

But big data can be challenging to acquire and manage. Gathering and studying it takes time, effort, and can require businesses to alter internal processes, resource allocation, and more. Regardless, 70% of those surveyed by the Harvard Business Review said they expect big data to influence the choices their organizations make in the coming years. The payoffs for those who learn how to interpret and integrate it into their day-to-day activities and large-scale plans can be significant, helping to transform the businesses of today into the success stories of tomorrow.

4. Involving Your Entire Company Is the Key to Success

To prosper in the era of the IoT, you need to have the right tools and people on your side:

• Nurture the Right Teams: The key is to isolate the types of skills your workforce will need and find ways to develop them, whether someone is a new hire or a veteran member of your staff.
• Reimagine Executives: More and more, executives are being tasked with driving change for their organizations. The two roles most significantly affected so far according to the Harvard Business Review’s study have been the Chief Technology Officer (55% of respondents said that role has changed) and Chief Operating Officer (34% said that role has changed).

Don’t forget that these transitions might sometimes be discomforting for employees. IT teams previously responsible for crimping cables and stacking servers, for example, will now need to see themselves as system integrators and might even need to write the scripts that will enable robots to carry out some of the functions previously assigned to them.

Make sure your teams know and feel that they’re part of the change. Encourage workers to think outside of the box by establishing innovation labs, creating collaboration-focused office spaces, and embracing new technologies.

Deploying integrated solutions—a broad suite of tools, ongoing support, big data analytics and insights, and an enthused and prepared workforce—will help make your organization’s digital transformation a winning one.

Are you ready to take the plunge? Contact us today to learn how Activo can help you maximize your success in the IoT!

Read more from Activo:

• 6 Ways Technology is Driving a Digital Evolution in Education [Infographic]
• Building for the Internet of Things (IoT)
• How the IoT is Changing These 3 Industries [Infographic]

The post 4 Insights on What a Digital Transformation Will Mean for Your Business appeared first on Activo.

According to Mitel, here are some of the upcoming trends for the mobile enterprise market:

1. Rely on Devices that Do More

Field workers have long had relatively simple devices able to perform one or two tasks at once including billing, diagnostics, and updating information. That’s just the point, though. These outdated devices only did that one job.

Today’s mobile-ready workers are looking for devices that offer multifunctional capabilities to let them do more when, where, and how they need to. To meet that demand and boost productivity, some companies pre-load devices with upwards of twenty apps. Others enable users to search out the applications they need most and let them load them for themselves.

How will your business respond?

2. Consider BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Policies

For end users, it’s often easier if they have devices that they’re familiar with and know how to use. BYOD policies can save costs by removing the need to invest in hardware; however, they also ask more of IT departments who need to support the diversity of systems and applications.

3. Work with Flexible, Agile Platforms

Traditionally, apps have been hard-coded to be used with specific supporting platforms. When the need arises to integrate with a number of programs, so too do the problems. Developers are increasingly working to remove these barriers to create more accommodating software and technology.

Remember, though, that flexibility doesn’t mean an app has to be generic. Instead, app developers are becoming better at identifying niches and developing tools tailored to the needs of diverse industries, small businesses, and global organizations.

4. Be Prepared for IoT

When it comes to mobile, we’re only on our way up. By 2021, Gartner predicts that one million devices will be sold every hour of every day. Companies are beginning to look ahead to that major shift, planning how they’ll be able to revamp their internal policies and processes to make the most of the opportunities the IoT brings.

How can you prepare your cabling and networks to handle the demands of the IoT? Check out our blog to find out!

5. Take Steps to Maximize Security

As information is more widely shared and dispersed, opportunities for cracks to appear and leaks to occur increase as well. New security practices – including mobile device management (MDM) – are designed to let IT teams control their information and make them less vulnerable to hackers.

Click here to read the full article from Mitel!

These are just some of the trends businesses of all shapes and sizes will need to grapple with as mobile devices like smartphones and tablets become increasingly ubiquitous. The key to a successful transition is effective preparation, knowing what to expect and how you’ll respond to make the most of an increasingly mobile workforce.

At Activo, we work with industry-leading partners like Mitel to deliver solutions for businesses of any size looking to maximize success in the IoT. Contact us today to discuss your needs!

Read more:

• The Future Looks Bright with Cisco’s Digital Ceiling
• 3 Ways Future-Ready Cabling Prepares Networks for the Internet of Things
• 5 Steps to Create an Effective Incident Response Program

The post 5 Trends for an Increasingly Mobile Workforce appeared first on Activo.

CommScope Delivers Fully Optimized Data Centers

A key player in cable TV infrastructure, the first wireless networks, and the first data centers, among other achievements, CommScope® is a global leader in designing, building, and managing wired and wireless networks. The company delivers solutions that help organizations worldwide boost bandwidth, improve network performance, and simplify technology migrations.

CommScope brings a true understanding of data centers solutions and how to build and optimize a data center to be efficient, agile, cost-effective, and ready for whatever the future has in store.

Benefits of Data Center Convergence

At the center of the business, data centers are dynamic systems that must continually evolve. Mobility, cloud computing, and other technological advances are helping to drive data centers toward innovative new transformations, such as converged infrastructures (also known as integrated systems or unified computing systems).

Converged infrastructures (CI) increase business efficiency and turn data centers into a true network rather than just a place to process data. Convergence reduces compatibility conflicts between systems ranging from servers to networked devices, and even storage. Cost benefits may also be realized, with less need for floor space, power, cooling, cables, and other expenses.

This video by Ciaran Forde, Vice President Data Center Solutions at CommScope, explains key data center trends in greater detail:

Activo is a proud CommScope partner with the expertise to design, build, and implement effective data center solutions. Contact us to get started!

 More on Data Centers from Activo:

• CommScope’s Data Center on Demand™ Meets Changing Business Needs [PDF]
• How to Optimize Data Center Energy Efficiency [Whitepaper]
• CommScope imVision™ Makes Infrastructure Management Easy [Whitepaper]

The post Data Center Convergence [Video] appeared first on Activo.

Either way, many organizations now incorporate video in their everyday activities.

Video conferencing streamlines business processes and productivity by improving collaboration and connectivity with colleagues, clients, business partners, and so on. Digital signage gives your company a polished appearance, impressing potential customers or clients.

Video systems have become accessible to all types of businesses, from small to enterprise-level. Once you have decided a video system will benefit your business, one of the things you need to decide is which type of video system is best for your needs.

3 Types of Video Systems Ideal for Business Applications

Projection Systems: Projection video systems consist of a projector, projection screen, projector lifts, and mounting hardware. They are great for use in meeting rooms and board rooms.

Display Systems: Video display systems consist of an LCD display and mounting hardware. This type of video system is versatile, and could be used in board rooms or smaller offices. It can also be used to display advertising or information anywhere in your building.

Video Wall Systems: Video wall systems consist of multiple LCD displays or rear projection displays, a graphics engine, and mounting hardware. They take up more space than the above options, and are ideal for control rooms, some board rooms, or large advertising signage.

Key Advantages and Disadvantages of Video Systems for Business

Video System Ideal Uses

Video Conferencing

• Boardrooms
• Small meeting spaces
• Offices
• Training rooms / distance education
• Town Hall spaces

Digital Signage

• Lobbies and foyers
• Call centers
• Any public area

Each category of video system has a wide variety of options of specific hardware, software, and set-up. An experienced video solution provider can work with you to determine precisely which combination will best meet your needs.

>> Activo has the expertise to recommend the right video system solution for your business or building. Contact us to get started!

More from Activo:

• Does Your Business Have Enough Bandwidth?
• The 7 Step Checklist for a Successful 802.11ac Wireless Network Implementation [PDF]
• Cat6A Cabling Significantly Improves Video Quality [Video]

The post What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Video System Options for Business? appeared first on Activo.

In this six-part blog series, Activo will provide detailed checklists for you to consider if you are planning on moving your business. Here are some general questions to get you thinking:

• Are you planning on installing new equipment? Or moving existing equipment?
• What are the complexities of your company’s move? Larger or smaller space? More or less employees?
• Will there be more or less need for physical security? More or less bandwidth required? Re-cabling?
• How long will you be in the new location? Buy or lease?
• What is your budget? Who is funding the expansion?
• What is your timeline?
• How many vendors does your company currently work with? Are you interested in exploring other options?

We will offer suggestions on how to answer these types of questions and what solutions are available to meet your current and future needs. Each part of our series will focus on one major area of your company’s communications needs. Those areas are:

1. Phone Systems
2. Bandwidth
3. Cabling
4. Wireless & Mobility
5. Audio Visual & Video Conferencing
6. IP CCTV & Access Control

Do you have a question about moving your business?

Ask us on our Facebook page, send us a Tweet, or comment below and we will answer it during the series!

The post Technology Considerations When Moving Your Business: Series appeared first on Activo.