Blogs

One of the banes of our business is that every job is a new project, a new home, a new client, a new...

At some point, even the best-designed system will run into some kind of glitch. Maybe it will be from a power outage, maybe...

I bet that I am an anomaly in this industry. I am not only female, but I didn’t start this gig as an...

The beauty of being an integrator and moving into a new home is that I get to do whatever I want for AV...

I remember reading John Grisham’s novel, The Firm, several years ago, and recall Mitch’s marching orders from the nefarious firm of Bendini,...

Grab a handful of AV magazines and you’re sure to see some pictures of AV rack installs. Every week I’m sure to see...

Have you ever gone to hotel or to a restaurant that your friends have been raving about and thought it just wasn’t all...

The Holy Grail of our industry seems to be developing some form of a recurring revenue stream. Far better than the one-and-done-and-on-to-the-next-one...

When a client calls, we always ask how they heard about us (well, maybe not always, but we mostly remember to ask). The...

We’ve been hearing about recurring monthly revenue a lot in the past several years, and while I always understood the upside, the benefits...

When the robot overlords take over and finish thoroughly examining each bit of the yottabytes of accumulated data that make up the entire...

From a consumer aspect, I wholeheartedly believe in shopping local, so I go out of my way to do just that. According to...

The other evening, as I was tip-toeing on top of a chair from our dining room, using a paper clip and the smallest...

There are lights and there are speakers and now there is a light that is a speaker. This actually isn’t the first time we’ve...

My wife and I went to Disney World this past weekend, and I couldn’t believe the level of quality in everything we experienced,...

I’m not going to call myself “rich” by any means, but I will freely tell you that I hate watching movies at other...

I live mere minutes from work, as in 1.65 miles. This doesn’t give me a chance to listen to much radio, and yet...

Wall Street banks will spend millions of dollars to improve transaction speeds by milliseconds. Industrial manufacturers (think auto, electronics, heavy equipment) spend...

One of the big announcements at CEDIA EXPO this year was that Nest finally opening up its API for third-party integration, starting with...

It takes about a full week to decompress from the CEDIA show. After spending three solid days wandering aisles under the uncompromising ...

I recently learned about another amazingly ambitious concept from industry friend Greg Margolis, president of HomeTronics, in Dallas, who told me that he’d inked...

It seems that just days ago, all we could talk about was the upcoming CEDIA EXPO in Denver, Colorado. Planning for EXPO, getting to...

There are over 100 first-time exhibitors at CEDIA EXPO this year and one of the most intriguing is a Z-Wave-based automation systems with...

As I’m sure is true of many of our readers, most of us at Resi Systems enjoy a good great beer.

From its inception about five years ago, it has been the mission of ihiji founders Stuart Rench and Michael Maniscalco to provide a...

Last week I was walking through an estimate with a new client and I got a comment that I hear frequently, and I...

Fact: I’m really not very handy around the house. I’m utter rubbish when it comes to finding things, I do the bare minimum...

Ask your employees what motivates them, and they will probably say “money.” Most managers will agree with this. Our entire business culture ...

Clare Controls, the custom integrator-led control company that exhibited at its first CEDIA EXPO only a few short years ago, is arriving at...

I have been lucky enough to have a great lead installer with me for seven years now. Jason is a one-man show. He...

Our custom installation company is fortunate enough to have a showroom for meeting with clients and demonstrating systems. We feel it’s a huge...

You can’t miss Harman’s booth on the CEDIA EXPO exhibit floor in Denver later this month. Literally, because it will be located right...

“Planet Crestron,” as the New Jersey-based manufacturer’s massive CEDIA booth has come to be known, is returning to center stage of the EXPO...

When a long-term client came to my showroom and told me he was building a new swimming pool in his backyard and wanted...

Building a new home may take a few months. It may take a year (and sometimes even longer). In the fast-paced world of...

One of the first things that I am often asked on walk-throughs with potential new clients is whether or not I will install...

Sometimes the irony of life is too delicious for words, but since words are our business here we will put them to use...

Residential Systems had an exclusive sneak peak at SIM2's SUPER LUMIS projector during the company's tour stop at the Actors Center of the Screen...