Features
Color Coding
During last month’s Azione Unlimited buying group Spring Soiree in Nashville, TN, Peter Sieffert, from Swiss Avenue Partners in San Diego discussed how he...
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Big Control in Little Rock
Implementing failsafe security capabilities within residential settings means integrating solutions and components that will ensure error-free operation throughout the home–at all times.
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Beyond the Apple Watch
There has been a lot written about the Apple Watch, but not as much on other announcements made last month by Apple.
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Watching Apple
On March 9, Apple announced that it would start shipping its new watch at the end of April with prices starting at $349.
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Time for Xchange
I’m usually not a demanding person, but you really need to register for CEDIA’s Business Xchange Conference today.
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Discovering the Mostly Untold Success Stories of the CI Business
Some of the fresh faces of the custom business began their careers in familiar places and others in refreshingly unique ways.
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Establishing a Proper Succession Plan for Your Family-Owned Business
When I sat down with Jack, David, and Erik to talk about managing their family-owned-and-operated business, several questions were on my mind.
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How to Find and Fix Common Audio Setup Errors
Despite our geek-driven desire to impress clients, we often miss the mark.
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Dish Network Continues CI Channel Partnership Roll-out
During International CES last month, Dish Network made headlines with news of its first 4K Ultra HD programming plans and an “over-thetop” (OTT) streaming...
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Technologies and Business Techniques that are Making CIs Successful
As we all continue our quests to charge into 2015 with renewed energy and a conviction toward better business practices and product buying decisions,...
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CES Memories
CES has evolved greatly over the years to include more and more to include products that, while interesting, aren’t anything like products one would...
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Garth Lobban Looks to Offer Better Sales Tools for Atlona’s Integrator and Distributor Partners
Late last year, Atlona hired industry veteran Garth Lobban to serve as its new senior marketing manager.
Back to Business
Selling Against the Mass Luxury Trend
Client expectations have intensified in the past decade, putting increased pressure on your margins, workmanship, and timeliness.
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Avoiding Oversights in Private Theater Lighting Designs
We often hear comments like, “What’s the big deal, it is supposed to be a dark room anyway” or “The lighting design has already...
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URC to Combine Total Control and ccGEN2; Sonos Update Coming Soon
The Harrison, NY, manufacturer is combining its two control systems lines, Total Control and ccGEN2, converging the software in the next two weeks. The...
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Starbucks Gets Theatrical, You Should Too
Starbucks, love ’em or hate ’em, has changed the way we think about coffee.
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Westchester Home Blends Technology and Art
There’s a life-giving energy in sunlight. It’s something we all can feel, and something the designers of a beautiful contemporary home in Westchester, NY,...
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Platinum Tools’ Success Leads to Bigger Home
Platinum Tools, a company that has earned respect in the custom installation business for its innovative solutions and tools for the preparation, installation, hand...
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Legrand Taps User Research to Design More Intuitive Products
Legrand has been working to enhance the user experience for its dealers’ clients with new product advancements across its portfolio of products.
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How to Seal the Deal Every Time Opportunity Calls
After spending most of the year working in New Hampshire, my wife greeted me back home in Florida with a loving smile and a...
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Rachio’s IRO is the ‘Nest’ of Irrigation Control
At cyberManor we consider ourselves to be the digital consultants and curators for our clients’ homes.
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The Influence of the Internet of Things
For this month’s cover story on top selling products of 2014, I asked a question about a technology/product trend that was most surprising to...
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More on the Rachio IRO
While the Rachio IRO product is a great leap forward compared to the smart irrigation residential controllers that are currently on the market there...
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Best Sellers: Industry Manufacturers Reveal 2014’s Top-Selling Products
RS felt that this month was a great time to check in with our friends supplying products and technologies to the trade, and let...
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Relidy Adds Custom Websites, Branding, and Strategic Services for Integrators
It is a rare custom integration company that doesn’t need a least a little help with its website design, branding, and strategic marketing efforts.
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Taking His Work Home
Residential Systems writer Todd Anthony Puma isn’t the first custom integrator to turn his home into a showroom and product testing facility.
Back to Business
Become a Luxury Merchandiser
In 2008 Tiffany & Co’s stock traded around $26 a share, down from a 20- year high of $57 a year earlier.
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Creative New Business Solutions Shared at the HTSA Fall Meeting
There’s nothing better than learning about a creative new business solution or anecdote while chatting with integrators at an industry event.
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CyberManor Open House Demos Latest Multi-App Home Technology
About 150 guests mingled outside in the back yard, sipping cocktails while—like magic—an unmanned piano accompanied a Michael Buble concert displayed on a rear-projection...
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Pros and Cons of Cloud, App URL, Google, Apple, and IFTTT Home Control
One of the most common objections to the use of multiple applications for controlling your home is the perceived inability of individual apps to...
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G2i Brings Solar Energy Services to the Custom Install Channel
Last month at CEDIA EXPO, premium smart home service provider G2i announced its strategic partnership with SunEdison, a leading global solar technology manufacturer and...
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Three Formulas to Master Sales
I know that many residential systems integration professionals feel like artists from time to time, but if you want to grow your business effectively,...
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CEDIA 2014 Was a Relief
CEDIA celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, not by dwelling on the good-ol’ days with a lot of weepy sentimentality or overly rhapsodized reminiscing...
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Teaching Clients that a High-End Private Theater Requires the Expertise of Many Trades
Our industry is wrought with buzzwords and acronyms, and “turnkey” is a term that has been thrown about for a long time.
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Reinvigorating High-End Rooms with 4K, 3D Audio, and First-Run Content
Folks around CEDIA EXPO have been talking about the end of dedicated home theaters.
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Origin Acoustics is the New Story for Jeremy Burkhardt
Call me crazy, but I honestly thought the days of writing columns about Jeremy Burkhardt were over.
Behind the Business
Q&A With Thiel Audio’s New CEO John Wittman Addresses Challenges and Opportunities Ahead
In July, Thiel Audio announced that it would be making big changes to its organization, as part of an effort to revitalize the legendary...
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Improving Your Revenue Without Increasing Costs
Have you ever been lined up somewhere and wondered, “Why can’t this go faster?”
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How to Integrate Dolby Atmos in a Home
You’ve probably heard all about Dolby Atmos, the new immersive audio format hitting the consumer market.
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CEDIA Chairman Says ‘Hyper-Change’ is More Than a Slogan for 2014 CEDIA Expo in Denver
For CEDIA EXPO planners, the motto “Hyper-Change” is much more than just a metaphor for the way products and technologies are evolving at a...
Back to Business
Move Beyond a One-to-One Client Model to Improve Your Labor Costs
Certainly the greatest challenge in the CI business is a healthy labor return on investment (ROI). I maintain that manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP)...
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The Erskine Group Answers a Texas Client’s Call for 4K
When the tech-savvy owners of a beautiful Texas Hill Country home decided to remodel, a home theater with a larger-than-life 4K Ultra HD system...