AV system designers encounter a number of challenges associated with integrating the controls of the software-based video collaboration software into the room’s AV control system. For starters, the desire is to enable as much control over the video call on the room’s touch screen controller so the user doesn’t need to keep relying on the … Read More
You made it! This video is a great step-by-step lesson of how to set up those HID features and functionally (Call Accept, Call Decline, On-hook, Mute) that Kevin detailed in his blog. Plus learn best practices on how to integrate that onto your touch screen controller. And we even have a Q-SYS Design file for … Read More
At the onset of the pandemic, courtrooms across the globe needed to quickly find solutions that would enable virtual court proceedings, focusing their search on software conferencing platforms that could deliver this result. With many counties beginning to open back up and allow for in-person interactions, many courtrooms will remain committed to using network AV … Read More
Today we would like to highlight the work of Emily Eicher. Emily is a Founding Citizen of “QSC Communities for Developers” and has already posted a lot of inspiring content on Communities. While scripting plugins is a hot topic on QSC Communities, as it offers a gateway to new solutions for the Q-SYS Ecosystem, the … Read More
I will be honest and admit that there have been a few times where I have needed a quick sanity check – a “peer review”, if you will, just to make sure I got everything right. These are the moments when you need it most, during the eleventh hour of programming on site and something … Read More
Have you ever joined a meeting virtually where you couldn’t see the speaker’s face clearly? Where the speaker moved out of camera view and pointed to the screen or a whiteboard referring to something nobody outside of the room can see? It can be hard to follow conversational nuances or feel included if you can’t … Read More
Bluetooth audio technology has long been a standard feature on laptops, mobile devices, loudspeakers, and many other common consumer products. The same user-friendly characteristics of consumer Bluetooth implementations can make its use in public fixed installations problematic. (Not so) user-friendly name: Consumer Bluetooth devices come with a factory-preset, and usually an unchangeable Bluetooth name that … Read More
As the leader of IT Enterprise Services at Avanade, I’m keenly aware of the challenges IT professionals face in trying to manage office based infrastructure, particularly when it comes to AV to support modern collaboration spaces based on Microsoft Teams. The characteristics of modern IT involve robust operations, flexibility in implementation options, and the ability … Read More
From the Department of Redundant Systems …. With the move to more IT-centric designs, we often find Q-SYS being implemented in a “centralized” configuration, which a single Q-SYS Core processor serves multiple rooms. The obvious upside to this design philosophy is a decrease in total cost of ownership (TCO) to your users. Reduced hardware in … Read More
In today’s world, there are a variety of challenges facing the AV industry including integrating legacy products in a modern and increasingly software-based environment. Manufacturers like Global Caché seek to alleviate network infrastructure difficulties by creating a pathway for legacy protocols in modern AV systems and expanding control I/O into remote locations. Our organization’s philosophy … Read More
Currently there is a multitude of Microsoft Teams Room solutions for small, medium and large rooms, but what about high-value spaces like all-hands rooms, divisible rooms, training rooms, and board rooms? It has been a challenge to find scalable solutions to deliver the quality and performance demanded by Teams in these spaces. These spaces are some of the most critical for organizations to provide a quality and reliable user experience for Teams. We discussed … Read More
We’re out to substantiate the theory that you can do just about anything with Q-SYS. This blog series will explore the wild, fun, sometimes strange, and always extreme use cases for Q-SYS. All in the hopes of sparking new and creative ideas for your own installations. This first post comes straight out of the lab … Read More
Collaborating from the inside out Sometimes a collaboration isn’t simply a new product, but an entirely new set of capabilities that change how customers can use the things we make. When QSC asked Audinate to work with them to add Dante to their incredibly popular line of processors, the result was something new for both … Read More
We find ourselves in the midst of a workplace transformation, fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s growing fatigue in an exclusively work from home approach and businesses are trying to find a new balance between the home office and the workplace. So how can we, as manufacturers, help companies find a productive balance between working … Read More
QSC has worked closely with Sennheiser over the past several months to align on a few key strategic initiatives. We wanted to share a few things we’ve learned with a broader audience. So here we go! Aligning on Priorities At QSC, we know that alliances are more than just checking off boxes for a necessary … Read More
In a recent meeting, a partner commented on our Microsoft Teams Device Certification. As we chatted, it was clear that there was quite a bit of excitement around the certification but our conversation quickly shifted to the certification process itself. What exactly does it mean to be “certified”? How does it work? What does it … Read More
Welcome back to the Partnership Blog! I’m Gary Evans and I work as the Technical Manager for the Strategic Alliances team. Today we have a very timely topic, returning to work amid the COVID-19 era. We will take a look at how software-based, touchless AV can help you get back to work. The workplace is … Read More
Some people on the internet just stink (not just the trolls on your Instagram feed hating on your quarantine haircut). October is CyberSecurity Awarness Month, so we thought we might give you 10 easy tips for better securing your Q-SYS system. #1 – Choose Your LANs Wisely Ever wondered why there are so many network … Read More
You have to consider everything from the AC power outlet (and its circuit breaker) that powers the amplifier all the way through to the load. Each “link” in the chain has maximum limits that determine output power limits under various conditions. The AC Wall Outlet Selecting the AC supply for amplifiers is very simple – … Read More
Welcome! I’m Cory Schaeffer, Director of Alliances & Market Development at QSC. This new blog series is written to highlight the power of partnership and amplify the messages and innovations of our valued partners. I’d like to introduce you to the newly formed Alliances & Market Development team at QSC. Every good team introduction starts … Read More
Back again for another exciting edition of “The Consultant Courier”, giving you the low-down on the latest and greatest for the consultant world! This blog will describe the various licensed features available for Q-SYS Core Processors, and how to specify the right license(s) based on your system requirements. Why Do QSC Have Licensed Features? Let’s … Read More
In today’s AV world, we hear the term ‘native solutions’ quite a bit, but why is it important? There are seemingly endless ways to design a robust AV solution for your customers, but when it comes to choosing between a ‘native solution’ or a ‘non-native’ solution, I am an advocate for always going native. Here’s … Read More
Applications: Higher Ed, Corporate, Hospitality In today’s built environments, it’s common to find spaces that serve multiple types of functions. In any given day of the week, the room could be arranged in a “U shape” for a large board meeting, then rearranged in a classroom style for training, and by week’s end, it’s been … Read More
Hello everyone, James Beane, QSC Market Development Manager, and it’s my turn with The Consultant Courier. This week I’m going to take you through the Q-SYS Hover Monitor, and explain how consultants and support staff alike can use this very simple tool to do some extraordinary troubleshooting. Diagnose With Your Own Ears…From Your PC! How … Read More
Back again for another edition of The Consultant Courier, providing you with the latest and greatest for the consultant world! Today we are chatting about one of the most versatile IP wallplate controllers, the Attero Tech by QSC Axon C1. Why was the Axon C1 developed? There simply wasn’t a small, simple, general purpose IP-based … Read More
WELCOME! I’m Jake Corlett the Director of the US Consultant Liaison team here at QSC Systems. This new blog series is written specifically for our consultant community looking to stay up to speed on QSC technology, market trends, and ways to improve your design experience. Hope you enjoy! Intrinsic Correction The beauty in building an … Read More
Lead by QSC experts, these small, interactive classrooms open up the mic to students to ask live questions over VoIP, share your screen, interact with colleagues and deepen your QSC system building knowledge. On Demand Webinars If you can’t find a desired topic in the live webinar schedule, check out our On Demand page, which … Read More
With the acquisition of Attero Tech, QSC also acquired its amazing engineering staff from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Over the past few months, we have really enjoyed getting to know them and integrating them into the QSC lifestyle! For this blog series, we’d like to introduce our newest team members. First up is Josh Arnold, new … Read More
In recent years, the term “native” has entered the lexicon of the AV industry as the ultimate level of platform integration, and is closely correlated with providing the highest level of customer experience. Make sense on the surface, right? Theoretically, if a solution is “native”, all of the pieces fit nicely together like a puzzle, … Read More
“Software has two types of value: the value of its behavior and the value of its structure. The second of these is the greater of the two because it is this value that makes software soft.” – Robert Martin, Clean Architecture We live in a software-defined culture. You call a car with an app on … Read More
As network video distribution systems become more commonplace in connected meeting spaces, integrators and end users are presented with new integration challenges. One of the more common concerns is how to ensure that connected video sources display where they need to with the least amount of human intervention. Here are a few things to keep … Read More
The global nature of business has spawned the need for flexible, scalable, and cost-effective communication like video conferencing. The benefits are clear (better collaboration and improved decision making), yet most companies do not use a standardized platform that can easily scale across their entire enterprise. For obvious reasons, we gravitate toward solutions that are familiar … Read More
We’ve been talking a lot about control these days. Q-SYS Control provides the tools to make the job of the programmer that much easier. Well, we’ve got a new tool for you – Q-SYS Designer Asset Manager, which was added to the latest firmware release of Q-SYS Designer Software (v7.1 or higher). Since I’ve been at … Read More
I often get asked to explain the difference between background music (BGM) and foreground music (FGM). The best way to explain is to introduce my friends – the Geeyem brothers. Growing up Brian Geeyem (B. Gee-yem) is the first-born. (Ok, if you haven’t realized by now, these are not real people. Just go with it!) … Read More
Today we see a consolidation happening within nearly every industry. While it’s clear that mergers and acquisitions offer opportunity, there is also a great deal of change. With change comes the need for companies to increase collaboration to develop, improve or maintain company culture. This is an opportunity for AV to become a strategic advantage. … Read More
Ever wonder why people avoid pressing that “upgrade firmware” button on their devices? I have a theory … Some people suffer from a basic lack of awareness. They don’t know that a better solution is out there. Some people are busy. They flat-out avoid updates because it might require them to learn something new. Some … Read More
The term “throw” is perhaps the biggest misnomer in the pro audio industry. The reality is sound does not throw, but “propagates” through the air. The distance over which sound propagates and still remains intelligible basically depends on the ratio of acoustic signal-to-noise at the listener’s location. While many audio pedants (myself included) will cringe … Read More
Meeting room technology allows companies to be productive, enhance the experience, and involve others in the middle of the decision-making process. For those that need to support the technology, the goal is to deliver a consistent user experience; however, that can be a challenge. In an effort to reduce variables, these teams often create “AV … Read More
I have spent the last decade on the control programming side of an AV integrator house and worked for another manufacturer. As I step into my new position at QSC, I am using this blog series to share some lessons I’ve learned along the way. I’m here because I have total empathy for your daily … Read More
Most companies and universities have surprisingly small AV teams yet support hundreds and often thousands of meeting, collaboration, and classrooms across campuses and even across time zones. On top of that, the team includes many disciplines – operations, event management, infrastructure and engineering. Forward thinking AV teams have worked to create a common language and … Read More
As the industry evolves, integrators and end users will look more to software-based platforms that are simple, flexible and built on the same techniques, standards and protocols with which IT is familiar. Luckily for enterprises everywhere, the QSC Q-SYS Platform is just what they are looking for – a simple and flexible audio, video and control (AV&C) … Read More
QSC is still on a high from such a successfully InfoComm show. Thank you to everyone that stopped by our booth and demo room! Our goal for the show was to re-calibrate the market on the Q-SYS Platform, its capabilities and innovative characteristics that will help push our industry into a more software-based mindset. Not … Read More
InfoComm 2016 was a milestone for our industry. It was a monster show where we saw control solutions driven from ‘the cloud’, control companies introducing audio DSP products, audio companies showing video products, and every panelist, blogger and manufacturer could not stop talking about AV/IT convergence! QSC launched the Q-SYS AV-to-USB Bridging solution at that … Read More
WELCOME! Welcome to the Media Networking Alliance’s newsletter! Here you’ll find all the latest MNA and MNA member news, views, AES67 education, events, and more. We’re dedicated to actively promoting the adoption of the AES67 audio networking interoperability standard, and that’s what this new forum is all about. If you have questions about … Read More
Why does our meeting room tech not work? Maybe standards is the answer. I recently met with a CIO for a large tech company and he expressed great frustration regarding the company’s meeting room technology. He wanted relief from his pain and frustration – nearly every time a meeting starts, someone from his team has … Read More
I’ll admit it… I’m a bit late to the “Game of Thrones” (GoT) party. I hadn’t seen a single episode before my trip to Dubrovnik, Croatia this year. During that trip, I learned that Dubrovnik was a key filming location for GoT and on a whim, decided to download the first few seasons to occupy … Read More
In my current role, I am tasked to spend time working with global end user clients. It’s been great to connect and talk with them in an effort to better understand their AV challenges. Many of these global clients have learned that removing as many technology variables as possible gets them closer to delivering a … Read More
Our Application Engineering Team (AET) works hard to update and create new technical marketing documentation to make selling, designing and working with QSC technology even easier. These past few months they have been busy drafting and updating the following resources. Tech Notes – Q-SYS™ Platform Retrieving Media Files from Q-SYS Core Processors – At times … Read More
Every so often a new technology paradigm comes along that causes you to forget everything you know, and eventually changes the way you specify or design systems. A few years ago, QSC introduced a new platform of four-channel DSP power amplifiers, available in three flavors – PLD Series for live sound, CXD Series for install … Read More
Just in case you missed it, here’s a breakdown of our live demonstration of the new Q-SYS™ AV-to-USB Bridging solution at Infocomm 2016. To set the stage, we had two practical conference rooms positioned on either side of the booth. Both fit six to seven people and connected via Skype for Business™. We started by … Read More
With possible offices around the globe, it is vital for today’s thriving global companies to develop a set of equipment standards for room types. In doing so, CIOs and IT managers may want to consider engaging with the manufacturers of the AV/IT technology you’re considering. Manufacturers understand the “why” behind the need for standardization. Ease … Read More
If you are unfamiliar with the term “ladder rage”, let’s discuss what this phenomenon is and how QSC AcousticDesign (AD) loudspeakers can eliminate that repetitive trudge up and down the ladder. Have you ever been on the top of a ladder struggling with torsion grills or struggling to line up speaker logos with the other installed … Read More
AV Integrators typically respond negatively to USB for a variety of reasons, but should that perception change? We think so. Let’s start by outlining the pros and cons of USB. Cons to USB: Cable length restrictions Cannot make custom length cables and terminate onsite Impossible to share multiple devices to multiple locations at once, as … Read More
Whether you like it or not, sound waves will always radiate spherically from a sound source (such as a loudspeaker). Don’t believe me? Try throwing a rectangular brick into a pond. Do you think the larger ripples will resolve into rectangles or circles? Audiovisual professionals have long used rectangular shaped horns as the go-to option … Read More
Follow a Vision The Wright Brothers are known for inventing the airplane. But before they transformed human transportation, they were known for designing and building bicycles. Fortunately for us frequent fliers, they had visions of a more effective—and exciting—technology not yet created. Similarly, when Rich Zwiebel created a proposal to design an audio system for … Read More
”AV/IT Convergence” is a popular phrase right now. There is no question that it’s happening, but it’s important to know where we are in the process. Sometimes it feels as though IT folks view those of us in the AV industry as the newly born, already annoying baby brother. We were excited to be born … Read More
Hello, is this thing on? It should be easy to have a seamless, intuitive, high-quality AV experience with your own laptop. After all, if we can beam up-close photos from Mars down from the sky, we should certainly be able to connect our device to the meeting’s audio, right? There’s no going back Laptop and … Read More