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AV goes IT. Kilchenmann with Rolf Aegerter, Head of Concepts and ZeeVee with Jan Rosenstein, Sales Representative DACH in an interview in Professional Systems Magazine.
Sven Schuhen, PROFESSIONAL SYSTEM Magazine 18.03.2020
Digitalization and the corresponding tools and technologies are now fundamental to achieving corporate goals. High-performance AV infrastructure is also an important component that can be used to make processes and workflows more efficient. In order to meet the increased requirements of companies, the AV signal distribution expert ZeeVee and the Swiss AV integrator and specialist planner Kilchenmann AG have entered into a strategic "AV over IP" partnership.
As an AV integrator and specialist planner, how do you at Kilchenmann AG see the future development of the AV industry?
Rolf Aegerter: For some years now, professional AV technology has been moving more and more from facility management towards IT. It's not just AV over IP that has massively accelerated this trend, but also customer requirements, which today expect end-2-end solutions, and not just in terms of AV technology. The AV system does not just begin when the connection cable is plugged in. Today, there is a much greater demand for systems that not only serve the purpose of visualization, but also challenge, promote and facilitate collaboration.
This realization goes hand in hand with increased demands on the part of companies. Media technology must ensure that customers can work faster, more effectively, more agilely and more collaboratively. Or it must enable customers to generate new business. It already represents a productivity factor today. This clearly gives media technology a business perspective - AV goes IT.
Why did Kilchenmann AG and ZeeVee decide to enter into a strategic partnership for AV over IP?
Rolf Aegerter: Kilchenmann AG is regarded as a competent, product-neutral and sustainable partner. In our "AV over IP" evaluation process, our team benchmarked various providers according to different criteria. In the end, the team and our management unanimously chose ZeeVee.
We are supplementing our existing "AV over IP" portfolio with a product from the SDVoE Alliance. According to our tests, ZeeVee is not just any product - we were convinced by the breadth of the product segment, which can be managed with just one management platform.
With ZeeVee, we are able to offer our customers customized solutions that are perfectly tailored to their needs. Our aim is to continue to offer our customers the added value that is crucial for their business and to help them become even more successful
Jan-Arne Rosenstein adds: "We are delighted to have Kilchenmann AG as another strategic partner. This cooperation is further confirmation for us that our technology and our overall package are precisely tailored to future requirements.
What are your experiences from past projects?
Jan-Arne Rosenstein: ZeeVee has written a success story internationally with countless projects. It is important to understand that "AV over IP" projects require a holistic view of the customer and their company-wide requirements, workflows and processes with regard to AV & UC.
Rolf Aegerter continues: "Users are increasingly convinced that any technology that is integrated into the company network belongs in the hands of the IT managers.
This means that the requirements, structures and processes of professional AV are based on the proven processes and standards of IT services. The supporting interaction between work platforms (PCs, software, etc.) and AV technology is much more important today.
What expectations do you encounter in your projects?
Rolf Aegerter: The focus is on flexibility and interoperability, manageability and reducing operating costs - classic infrastructure issues that we are also familiar with from IT.
Just like IT products, media technology products must be centrally manageable and controllable. They must be usable and scalable in an IT environment. Internationally active companies in particular need products that can be rolled out worldwide. This means that they must comply with IT rules. Customers want simple, scalable and maintainable environments that enable their sometimes very complex technology to be monitored around the clock and provide analyzable information. Today, AV technology should be an integral part of an IT network and no longer an island.
Jan-Arne Rosenstein adds: "Standardization with the aim of a common AV & IT infrastructure - convergence - is the big keyword here.
What key factors should companies look out for when selecting "AV over IP" solutions?
Rolf Aegerter: The infrastructure plays a key role in determining whether the company achieves its goals and whether there is still room for improvement for future requirements. The decisive factor here is that it can be used to map a wide range of company requirements. That's why choosing the right platform is the top priority.
Jan Rosenstein continues: "ZeeVee offers an open management platform that makes various AV codecs available in parallel on a network, depending on the requirements of the applications. We currently support H264, JPEG2000 and of course the open standard SDVoE for full interoperability as well as Dante for audio.
This is necessary for companies today and in the future from a technological point of view, as not one codec alone is suitable for all requirements and ultimately economic considerations also play a role. In addition, an open platform offers the best investment protection.
Rolf Aegerter adds: "The simultaneous support of different codecs and operation in mixed networks is one of the key factors. During subsequent operation, companies benefit from the greatest possible flexibility, exact mapping of requirements and the best cost-benefit ratio.
Another key factor is the effective manageability and smooth and secure operation of the infrastructure. Simple and unlimited scalability, redundancy, company-wide administration, encryption, ITIL process management, status messages via SNMP, integration into the helpdesk, rights management, inventory, Auto Discover Plug & Play functionality at the sources and sinks, no proprietary programming, excellent usability and much more.
Source: PROFESSIONAL SYSTEMS
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