Wireless technology continues to make inroads in the business world, and this time it’s getting personal, reports Glen J. Dalakian, who founded his audio-visual business, CSAV Systems, in 2001. Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) is the name of the game, whether in your company’s conference room or the college classroom
WiFi-capable devices “move collaboration to the next higher level” in a competitive business climate, says the Colts Neck, NJ, entrepreneur. Dalakian is at the forefront of the next big thing in his field, which provides professional sound, video, and teleconferencing systems for everything from churches and educational facilities to government agencies and corporate offices.
The old way of wireless interfacing in a group setting required PCs or fixed equipment onsite. You have the big screen for the presentation, but everyone, technologically speaking, is stuck on the same page. Now we live in a world where everyone has his or her own personal device, including laptops, smartphones, iPads, and other tablets, and most of us have at least one within reach. Now you’re at a meeting in a conference room, for example, and you’ve got something on your laptop—a website, an HD streaming video or interactive graphic— and you can put it right up there on the big screen for all to see.
You don’t need to suggest a website or refer to a video you created yourself. You take everyone there almost instantaneously. No connecting cables or plugging in means virtually no downtime. On your mark, get set, let the collaboration begin!
“We’re seeing a lot of requests for it and we’re doing demos for clients,” reports Dalakian, whose clients are all professional or commercial. “It is not, by any means, mainstream yet.”
IT departments in the workplace are playing catch-up in the BYOD movement, according to techradar.com, citing security concerns and lamenting the loss of internal control over business meetings and brainstorming sessions. Yet BYOD advocates are growing, praising cost savings and increased productivity among employees. With workplace security in mind, Dalakian’s trained technicians are relying on programs like the Crestron “Air-Media” system and WePresent to bring inquiring minds together.
“Our niche is high-end service and support. That’s our big focus,” says Dalakian, whose business serves multiple metropolitan and rural areas in New York, New Jersey, and other states.