In business, medicine, sports, and life in general, there really isn’t a “one-step and done” solution for anything.  Imagine a surgeon that can make the perfect incision to begin a procedure, but then has no idea what to do once he’s inside.  Or, a quarterback that knows every play in the playbook, but once the ball is snapped wouldn’t be able to throw a tennis ball through a hula hoop.  The results in either of these scenarios would be disastrous.  The same concept is true when it comes to your business’ IT department and your A/V integration. 

The IoT (Internet of Things) has brought us past the days of being able to hang TV’s, set up projectors, install microphones, and perform any other audio/visual task without getting involved with your corporate network, and subsequently your IT department.  As more devices keep finding their way onto the network and technology continues to develop in terms of cloud and mobile, IT departments and AV companies being forced to converge. 

Simply put, it goes beyond the right hand know what the left hand is doing, but each hand knowing how what they are doing will affect the other.  From the IT perspective, knowing the types of signals that will be using their infrastructure and how they will impact what is presently there is vital.  From the AV perspective, knowing what is already established and how it operates will allow them to coordinate both systems for the best result.

Finding a partner that can merge both realms of expertise, while difficult, is becoming more necessary.  The ideal partnership for any audio/video, automation, and integration plan would be to have an a/v commercial integrator that also understands the IT components of the project.  As elements of an integrated room are trending toward fewer, more powerful devices to achieve interconnectivity, trusting an integration team that understands the needs, concerns, and constraints of the IT department can be invaluable. 

Link Integration Group, a commercial integration firm based in Baton Rouge, is at the forefront of IT and A/V convergence.  This organization has years of enterprise systems experience and first hand involvement with business IT requirements.  With this knowledge Link is able to create unique system designs that meet the needs of their clients and work hand in hand with their information technology.