When selecting an AV integrator, there are many considerations that will determine the right fit for your organization and project requirements. Most importantly, you’ll want to ensure your integrator checks a few boxes:
- Expert knowledge of AV solutions and integration best practices
- AV designs include interoperability with existing technology
- Clear sales processes and consistent follow through
- Project management teams that deliver on-time
- Available support services post-installation
Quality AV integrators take a consultative approach to any project. When selecting your integration partner, you should also take this approach. To help with this process, we’ve compiled a list of 5 questions to ask when considering an AV integrator for your upcoming project.
5 Questions to Ask When Hiring an AV Integrator
1) Have they tackled a project this complex in the past?
One of the easiest paths to understanding an AV Systems Integrator’s capabilities is to discuss and review the kinds of projects they’ve completed in the past. Often a company’s past performance is indicative of what they specialize in and whether they can handle a project. While some integrators have extensive experience with smaller AV integration jobs, that may not translate well if you need a team of integrators working across the country an entire company’s distributed workspace.
2) Do they have long-standing partnerships with top technology partners?
AV Integration companies have a slight advantage over localized consultants or in-house AV staff. By developing strong partnerships with top tier technology brands, this gives them access to additional engineering resources, pricing discounts, and product availability.
AV Integrators with relationships with multiple vendors allow them to provide you the best equipment and build out for your space, budget, and organizational requirements. It takes away the incentives of forcing specifically branded products if it is not a good fit.
3) Do they have clear communication with their sales consultation process?
The ways in which your AV Integrator communicates with you are crucial to a successful project. Every stage from design to long-term maintenance requires clear in-person communication as well as clear documentation of the process, with periodic email or phone updates.
In your first discussions, you should have a clear understanding of the process including how site visits, quoting, and procurement/payment work. If this workflow is not clear in the beginning, it can hint at troubles moving forward with that company.
4) Do they understand your organization’s vision for future functionality?
Organizations are not static entities. Integrated workspaces and technology investments should be scalable and designed with your future needs in mind. The right AV Integrator will be, above all else, an excellent listener. You’ll want them to know your current situation – what do you like and dislike about your technology today? They should also be interested in future growth plans of your organization – if you are building new offices, increasing the size of your workforce, or adopting remote working policies – these are all conditions that your integrator can incorporate into the design of the project. If initial meetings and communications give you the impression that they don’t understand your current and future AV goals, it may be time to find another integrator.
5) What level of technical support is available after installation?
A superior AV Integrator stands by their work and offers quality support services. This helps provide upkeep and maintenance will be completed by the same team that integrated the system in the first place. Technical support should also be easy to reach and helpful when troubleshooting a problem. Because meetings and technology usage happens around the clock, we find that providing 24/7/365 technical support helps our customers have the confidence to keep systems up and running when they need them.
Discovering the answers to these questions requires a lot of effort in your selection of an audiovisual integrator, and by no means is this a comprehensive list! Hopefully, we’ve given you a good starting point and you can take it from here.
VSGi brings experience, vendor understanding, communication, and clarity to the process of incorporating a new AV system into the framework of your business or other building space. To learn more about what an AV Systems Integrator can offer you, contact us directly or fill out the form below to request a quote or free consultation.