Features
Features
Would AI Recommend Your Integration Firm?
Your company needs to be understood, trusted, and recommendable by both people and the systems that help them decide who to call.
Behind the Business
Power Week: Make Power Part of Every Proposal
By treating power resilience as a layered system rather than a standalone product, integrators can protect the connected home, simplify the sales conversation, and...
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Power Week: Power for the Picture
Why power should be the first design decision on every video wall project.
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Power Week: The Difference Between PoE and Distributed DC
For motorized window shades, how you bring power to them can affect efficiency and performance.
Behind the Business
Power Week: Lighting the Way
Lightworks has been showing the power a combined electrical, lighting, and integration company can provide for 25 years.
Behind the Business
Dealing With Growing Pains
Growth creates complexity — don’t let complexity kill your growth.
Back to Business
What’s Holding You Back?
Why pushing for change doesn’t work, and what you should do instead.
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Working With Wrensilva
The design-centric record console maker creates a new centerpiece for the listening room.
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Wi-Fi 7 Is Only as Good as the Wire Behind It
Why cabling, switching, power delivery, and network design matter more than ever in the multi-gig era.
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The Brand Question Every Integration Firm Must Answer
The strongest brands are built on a clear promise, consistent proof, and an experience people remember for the right reasons.
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Home Theater Week: Treat the Room as Part of the Picture
Every surface in the home theater interacts with the picture; make sure the room enhances it, not detracts.
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Home Theater Week: How to Solve the Center-Channel Challenge for dvLED Video Walls
DSP, engineered loudspeaker placement, acoustic design, and careful calibration can help integrators keep dialog anchored convincingly to the picture.
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Home Theater Week: Unlocking Professional Audio Precision
How integrators can leverage the Home Acoustics Alliance’s HAA Link to create better-sounding spaces through manual calibration.
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Home Theater Week: Next-Generation Audio Roundup
A look at the latest codes from Dolby and DTS, and how to make sure your clients are hearing what they are supposed to.
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Home Theater Week: Motivated by Makeovers
SoundVision’s decision to focus its marketing attention on retrofits yields great results.
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Businesses That are Built for the Climb
Why you need to match your ambition with your company’s capabilities.
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The AI-Enhanced Services Roadmap for CIs
AI has the potential to transform custom integration from a project-based business to a continuous-service business.
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The Evolution of HDR
A look at the standards behind High Dynamic Range and the role tone mapping plays in modern displays.
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Making the Big Transition
Industry innovators show some of the right ways to transition out of a leadership role.
Behind the Business
The Exit Interview: Kimberly Lancaster
The tech PR powerhouse has sold the company she founded and is moving on to her next challenge.
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More Than Movies
Why immersive music could be the next defining experience for private cinema.
Behind the Business
Stop Settling for Mediocre Meetings
The difference between a sub-par meeting and a great one isn’t how much gets discussed — it’s how much gets solved.
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Solve the Fear Before You Sell the Feature
We may be talking about performance, but builders, architects, and designers are often listening for risk.
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Shades Week Case Study: Radical Renovation Calls for PoE Shading
Somfy motors simplified the installation of 23 roller shades and 11 drapery tracks throughout a renovated residence.
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Shades Week: PoE Isn’t a Magic Wand
How power budgeting, surge protection, and outage testing ensure reliable security system performance.
Behind the Business
Shades Week: Moving Beyond Window Shades
What integrators need to know before branching into motorized exterior shading.
Behind the Business
Shades Week: Choosing Shade Power With the Long Game in Mind
Often overlooked, the proper power option can lead to near-service-free motorized shade relationship.
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Shades Week: A Shade for Any Window
Brading Specialty Shades thinks outside of the box (motor) to create unique motorized shade options.
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Tech on TV
I find myself noticing the home technology used in television shows and saying…'Wait, where is the tech?!"
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Plan Longer and Fear Less
Expanding your planning windows lets you see a bigger picture and work around short-term issues.
Back to Business
The Practitioner vs. the Explorer
If you’re feeling confused about how to apply AI to your business, you might be approaching the problem backward.
CEDIA Show
What to Expect at CEDIA Expo 2026
Emerald’s Jason McGraw offers a preview of what awaits integrators in Denver this September.
Back to Business
The 2029 Org Chart: A Field Guide for CI Owners
The future of this industry belongs to the player-coaches — and AI will help us get there.
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Respect the Home Theater Acoustics
Why integrators — and architects — need to pay attention to how the space sounds.
Behind the Business
The Return of Stereo
Two-channel deserves another listen, with brands like Meridian and TPI Aerospace helping to drive the revival.
Features
Is Your Company Narrative Saying What You Think It Is?
When your story, audience, and business priorities are out of sync, even good marketing can start working against you.
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What Makes an Integration Project Succeed or Fail
A top integration firm offers advice on creating a winning process for every project.