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POV: Get SAVVI

When I started in the AV business back when there was no Sound, Audio Visual, and Video Integrators (SAVVI) Council integration typically meant design

POV: Get SAVVI

Oct 1, 2004 12:00 PM,
By Jim Smith

When I started in the AV business — back when there was no Sound, Audio Visual, and Video Integrators (SAVVI) Council — integration typically meant design and installation of sound systems for background, performance, and entertainment. A video system was often no more than a master antenna system. During the ’80s and early ’90s, integration was mostly about the equipment. The AV integrator explained to the customer what was possible and then installed video projection and sound equipment. All of those sales required minimal labor and yielded reasonably high profits for all.

With the advent of new technologies like LCD projectors and digital audio, the equipment/labor ratio shifted. Not that long ago, hardware comprised 90 percent of an integration sale; today it is often less than 70 percent. The challenge for AV integrators today is not only understanding but also managing the soft costs that constitute the rest of the sale.

In the past, skills were largely based on tribal knowledge, gleaned from our own experience. Between today’s competitive market and constantly changing technologies, integrators must depend on more formal education from manufacturers, from trade organizations, and from within.

Today’s culture pulses with technology. Our customers can learn about technology from national techno-retail stores, the Web, and magazines. Unfortunately, those sources don’t necessarily tell a true or full story. Many customers believe that because they were able to set up a boxed home theater, AV integration is a simple business. They forget that most conference, training, or boardrooms are by nature built from dissimilar products. That’s where the art of integration comes into play.

As a result, we are often judged against customers’ perceived knowledge of our trade. Training isn’t limited to technical folks: it is imperative that our salespeople become broad-based technologists. An understanding of displays, audio systems, videoconferencing, and Web/IP protocol is critical. If they’re smart, they’ll also spend time at the local stereo shop learning what customers learn.

Education is only part of our soft costs. Project management, coordination with other trades, and software development also create soft costs to watch. Other costs can’t be reliably predicted. With today’s “get it now” culture, unbudgeted overnight freight charges can apply. Delays can cause overtime labor costs. And let’s not forget the time spent debugging manufacturers’ software.

We spend countless hours researching interfaces, protocols, and graphical user interfaces. The intellectual property represented in our designs and software is quickly becoming a key competitive element worth protecting. The focus of a sale is no longer about hardware — it is now about the ability of an integrator to meet a customer’s constantly changing needs and expectations.

Knowledge and experience are concepts not directly represented in P & L sheets. Understanding the associated hidden costs and handling them intelligently, as well as the flexibility to adapt to new technologies and vertical markets, will keep an integrator profitable. The integrators that ignore these hidden costs tend to underbid projects and then end up with unprofitable results when they win on a low-bid basis.

Integrators must now invest significant design effort in preparing a proposal, whether for design-build or RFP response. A minor design flaw can cost a team its projected profit. When a bid is lost — especially to a low bidder that didn’t give due diligence — the cost of that effort is lost to overhead. One way of containing these spoils is through the education and cooperation of those associated with all aspects of an AV integration project.

InfoComm/ICIA is a trade organization dedicated to providing education, trade shows, and information services to AV professionals. With more than 3,000 member companies throughout the world, it also serves as a networking forum for end-users, manufacturers, consultants, and integrators.

In this and upcoming articles, you’ll read about special-interest groups — councils — that represent the membership within InfoComm/ICIA. The SAVVI Council serves as forum and voice for integrators. Through council meetings, peers discuss common interests and concerns and propose common solutions to be made available through the organization. Through various market surveys, InfoComm/ICIA conveys important management information, especially that which is related to the soft costs of the business. By understanding market concerns, salary surveys, and market trends, AV integrators can remain savvy about the variables that affect our soft and hidden costs.

The SAVVI Council also addresses specific issues such as licensing and regional concerns. SAVVI members created a suggested Software License Agreement and are currently developing a contract standard.

Cooperation between councils is encouraged, as is evident by the formation of the Best Practices work group. This group — composed of members of the consultant’s council (ICAT), end-users’ council (EUC), and SAVVI — has tasked itself with the production of a standard by which AV projects should be managed. This recommended standard, to be published by InfoComm/ICIA, will represent the Audio Visual Best Practices (AVBP) of an AV project: conceptualization needs assessment, design, the bid process, installation, and service.

Industry standards and practices are needed to deliver consistent solutions to our customers. InfoComm/ICIA initiatives like AVBP help increase awareness within the industry. The AVBP standard is intended for use by everyone involved in the procurement and deployment of AV systems.

InfoComm/ICIA training programs are essential tools for education of integrators. Through online, on-site, and on-demand programs, InfoComm/ICIA offers integrators cost-effective training and industry-recognized certification to its employees. Better training translates into reduced soft costs and increased profits.

As chairman of SAVVI, I encourage all integrators to become active in the council. The dedication of its volunteers helps make the many member benefits timely and beneficial. Peer-to-peer networking in this environment is healthy for business, because conflicts between competitors are put aside for the greater good. For more information, contact me at [email protected] or the membership program at (800) 659-7469 or [email protected].

Jim Smithis director of strategic initiatives at HB Communications. He serves as chair of the SAVVI Council at InfoComm/ICIA.

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