Tech Talks Part 2

What's up, everyone? Welcome or welcome back to tech unraveled, brought to you by Vistacom, where we unravel the AV industry We go beyond the buzz words and get real and dirty with experts and thought leaders from a wide variety of sectors within Pro AV. I'm Josh Herring, marketing communication specialist with vista Com. And I'm Liana Russell, vista Com sales and marketing manager, and we are your hosts. Today, we have number two of a special edition three part Tech unraveled series that comes directly from Vistacom's Annual Tech Expo event. At this year's show, for the first time, we sat down with our platinum and gold sponsors to have conversations with our manufacturer's subject matter experts in the Tech Talks corner right on the show floor. If you're just tuning in now or new to the Vistacom community, first of all, welcome. But also, our annual tech expo that we host hosted this year was really a big hit. We brought more than fifty manufacturers together who exhibited their latest and greatest technologies. If you've never been, I highly suggest to keep your eye out for next year's tech expo. You can actually stay up to date at our newest tech expo landing page, which is located right underneath our about us section on our website. Our theme this year was transforming your vision into reality, and that was really borne out of the conversations we've had with a lot of people about post pandemic planning. And really getting down to the point that it is time. The time is now to prioritize the future of your organization's technology. One of our most favorite parts of this year's show was sitting down with our sponsors, and diving really deep into the most relevant topics in the AV industry today. And these ProAV tech experts that you'll hear from are really the ones on the ground every day helping Vistacom integrate these forward thinking solutions for our clients. Yeah. Okay. So yours truly is up first. This interview is with Chris Odette of Sound Control Technologies, who really helps us wrap our brains around what in the world is going on with the USB two versus USB three, at least in pro video conferencing spaces. What's important to consider in terms of camera extension and cable extension. And we get insights right from Chris on the trends he's seeing with device based or hardware driven conferencing in comparison to soft codecs or software based conferencing. Alright. So let's check it out. Hey, everyone. Josh here. Your host of Tech Unraveled here at our talks at the Vista Contact Expo twenty twenty two. Join with me is Chris Aude with Sound Control Technologies. How's it going, Chris? How's the show so far? Hey, Josh. Morning. Alright. Fantastic. Yeah. What a great show. Lots of exhibitors. Lots of people already walking Yeah. We got some energy throughout the show already, so it's been good. So sound control technologies does camera and signal extension. Talk to me a little bit about what that means for somebody who may not be exactly familiar with how that impacts their system when it comes to an integration. Yeah. So fundamentally, what's unique about our solutions is we are primarily our core businesses camera extension. Right? So we are taking all the signals from a camera, which is power, control, and video. And we're putting in that on a single category cable up to a hundred meters. So from an integrators perspective, specifically Vistacom -- Yeah. -- they love our products because you guys are running a CAT cable. You buy our metal to mount the camera. Our camera extension module integrates with that metal for the camera. And the only thing you've deployed at that camera location is a CAT cable. You don't need a hundred and twenty volts. You don't have to extend USB or HDMI. You don't have to worry about how that power and control is getting transmitted. So we unify that to a single category. Yeah. So it really simplifies things from from a client's perspective or or somebody who's thinking about it kind of as the the secret sauce to what kind of makes things the signals extend in a more simplified way. Yeah. And one of the big advantages for you guys is when you are doing a large site that has multiple conference rooms or presentation rooms, it's repeatable. Right? So you don't have rooms that are configured in different ways. And when you're day two and you need support, when the tech walks in the room, he's got a known entity, he's got a known solution. Absolutely. It's a big deal. Yeah. There's a lot of advantages to that. So talk to me a little about USB extension solutions. Why USB two? Kind of what's going on with that? Yeah. So we offer a USB two extension solution. Okay. It obviously, it's USB two on a hundred meters of cat. It's RS two thirty two VISca control for the camera. Okay. We've got an audio IO for those cameras that support it. Great. And, of course, we power the camera over cat cable as well. Yeah. So the reason why we're doing USB two and not USB three is quite frankly, there's no technology that will take USB three and put it on a hundred meters of cat cable yet. Oh, really? So we don't have a development kit or an SDK -- Okay. -- to build upon. Yeah. That said, with USB two, because the data path actually supports ten eighty p thirty seven twenty p sixty resolutions. Right. So that is above and beyond what Zoom teams or Webex can actually provide. Interesting. Okay. So we're providing more than enough resolution to support the call. Okay. What people don't are probably not aware of is especially learning in a Zoom environment. The vast majority of calls are actually at roughly four eighty or five forty p or lower. Mhmm. So we more than meet the resolution requirements. Okay. That's of course not to say that we're not gonna do USB three. Of course, we will. Yeah. Because I'm sick of having this conversation. Absolutely. I bet you are. But, you know, with gonna take some time for the technology to Got it. Okay. So somebody who's worried about maybe compatibility requirements and that type of thing, there's really no need to worry about that with detection solutions. And and literally everybody's camera, we've tested to date. We've tested hundreds -- Yeah. -- are USB two compatible. That's fantastic. So they're all backwards compatible. Of course, everybody's PC is, so that's also not an issue. Alright. Well, there you have it. Done deal. No more talking about that one. We have that covered. Alright. So let's talk a little bit about soft client codecs versus appliance codecs. Yeah. So there's you know, that's an interesting dynamic that's happening in the industry right now, where, obviously, I have lots of conversations with end users, with consultants, with integrators. And there's the talk of the industry moving forward with USB -- Mhmm. -- and abandoning what we call the appliance code expert, Poly and Cisco. But in fact, we are because we support literally everybody, and we do a lot of business in Poly and Cisco, supporting them. What we see as a bellwether manufacturer is the fact that appliance codecs in fact are not going away. That business is growing. Now, I'm not suggesting it's growing as fast as USB. USB is on a hockey stick. Right? What we're seeing with traditional codecs from Poly and Cisco is much more of a steady rise -- Okay. -- maybe even flatlining to a certain extent. It. But the business is still growing. Yeah. The the large first of all, we deal with a lot of banks, so we do a lot of department of defense work. Okay. That requires an appliance code. Act there's very little USB going on because you can't bring your PC until a room in those environments. You have to worry about those issues. Yeah. Security issues. So so that it becomes a little bit stickier. So we we are actually finding that Appliance's codecs are still a significant part of the industry. Yeah. I don't I don't see it going anywhere like you said. And, you know, there's there's value for at different end users with different specific applications for those. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, the the the advantage with USB, of course, is it has made it more approachable, more attainable -- Mhmm. -- to, you know, the the a much wider span of end users. Right? Those those entry level end users or even those mid users, we look at the pyramid. Right? Yeah. Yeah. So And that's it for Yeah. It's made it much more accessible, which is great. Right? We we wanted to democratize this the the technology. Yeah. Because it's been very expensive for So there's a place for both and there's room for both. That's based we're talking about. I wanna sell to all of them. Yes. Alright. Alright. So last here, how is Sound Control Technologies really addressing integration requirement? Yeah. So interestingly, we support everybody that makes a camera. Right. Cisco and Poly are unique because they also still make Kodex. Mhmm. Right? So they're making out of supply and it's Kodex. And when they're making those devices, they don't necessarily have you in mind as an integrator. So they tend to shall we say dig holes -- Okay. -- behind their development. Right? So we'll come out with a new product and you guys will look at the new product and say, oh, I wish it had this. Yeah. And why can't they just think about that. Yeah. That's so hard. When I call you first? Yeah. So so we have those conversations with you guys -- Yeah. -- and we look at what's missing and we come out with a box to fill that hole. Yeah. And, you know, that's obviously, that's a constant conversation with guys like you -- Mhmm. -- our end users. Yes. And and and even the manufacturers, you know, we're talking to Cisco and Poly constantly -- Yeah. -- and we'll say, so you're gonna do this, you're gonna do and they'll say, oh, no. No. No. No. We're, you know, we're gonna stay away from that. Mhmm. And our light bulb goes off and says, okay, we've got a hold of him. Yeah. I Absolutely. It's funny because I've just recently been privy to some conversations with our engineers about how they're using sound control technologies in different applications. And you really would never imagine the type of problems that your stuff is solving out there. So, yeah, I can I can attest to it? It's definitely an important piece of the puzzle. So Yeah. Yeah. Alright, Chris. Well, thanks for joining us today at our tech talks. This is great. Thanks, John. I look forward to talking to you more throughout the day, and hopefully, it's a great show for for you. So far so good. Thank you so much. Thanks for joining me. Pleasure. Thanks to Chris on letting us in on what Sound Control Technologies is finding as they're leading the charge and camera extensions in the market. Next up, with Josh, is BeZB gear, featuring another Chris, Chris Graham, who describes how BeZB is a little bit unique as a full video conferencing ecosystem manufacturer. And he really paints the picture of their new PTC camera offering with all its in impressive features for new and challenging environments. Over to you and Chris on that. With me here is Chris Gram. Chris is with Beazie b here. He is one of our gold sponsors at the show. So I'm really excited to talk to him. So Chris, what type of product does Bzb gear manufacture? Bzb gear essentially is bridging the gap. We are working on broadcasting products as well as audio video products. We know the two industries many times intertwined, so we like to provide a full solution. Right. Okay. So about how long have you guys been manufacturing in off of that, kinda what makes you guys stand out? So we've been manufacturing for almost four years now, starting with audio video and going into broadcast accident products. Really, what makes us stand out is the fact that we provide full solutions. So whereas many companies have solution for one or the other. We like to incorporate both audio video and broadcasting products into one. So if we have a dealer or an integrator that's seeking a full system. They don't have to shop around so much. They can come right to us. Yeah. They gotta have that full ecosystem them available for them. Yeah. So talk to me a little bit about some of the broadcasting applications that you guys often work in -- Yes. -- some of your projects in that. So education, of course -- Yeah. -- healthcare, business conferencing, live events, of course, houses of worship is a really big one. We've been doing a lot of houses of worship. It looks like health care has picked up quite a bit recently. Definitely. And, of course, universities seem to be really picking up for the hybrid and remote type learning. Great. So it sounds like you guys are in a lot of verticals. That's pretty exciting. Yeah. So what are Bzb gear's plans? Maybe for the future or you have any new products coming down the pipeline? Well, we just released our BG Adamo or four k. PTZ camera is four sixty hertz. A lot of great features like twelve g SDI. Three versions, standard, an NDI h x three version. As well as a Dante A VH version now. So if you have a Dante ecosystem out there and you need a camera that's gonna fit that, we have it at four k at sixty hertz. Definitely gonna fit a lot of applications for some people. So that's awesome. I yeah. We really like the camera. It's won awards at ABC recently, NAV. Very cool. And actually video maker awards. We got three awards. We're hoping to pick up a fourth at ISE. That's impressive. Yeah. I mean, that's that's awesome for you guys. It's great for us, especially as a new broadcasting company. We are really shocked and amazed and super exciting. So it keeps us going, like, full charged Well, I'm excited to see what you guys have at the show here today. How does it feel being back? I mean, what's it like to be what's it like to be back talking with folks at trade shows, you know, talking about product, actually seeing it live in person. I think it's amazing. It's really reenergized. You know? Years ago, we'd go to Infocom or Cedia. And it was great, walk around and so forth. But to have some time between seeing everybody, all our friends out there, and just being able to get back out and explore, different areas like Las Vegas we were in. Again, Amsterdam recently. I mean, it's awesome. I think it's reinvigorated the industry a little bit and I hope to see a lot more. Yeah. It's kind of a new era and new energy. So thanks for being here. Thanks for talking to me about what's going on, and looking forward to see what else you guys have coming in the future. So Sounds good. Alright. Thanks, Chris. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Man, the guys at BzB gear really are just all around amazing individuals. And I second what Chris said about being back out traveling and doing trade shows, there's really nothing like it, especially in our industry. Also, BzB gear did just come out with a fantastic case study on our joint effort with some patient, video communication using their PTC camera. So be sure to go over there and check that out. Okay. So next up, Lianna, you are up featuring your interview with mathias Dill at Crestron. This was a super exciting interview I thought because Matthias tells us all about Crestron's acquisition of One Beyond, really enhancing their video conferencing camera capabilities, within the Crestron Tech ecosystem. And he touches on their software based systems and their wireless intelligent video conferencing solutions that are solving a lot of immediate challenges in the market today. So let's see what you guys talked about. Hello, everyone. I'm Leana Russell coming to you from the Vistacom tech expo at the Tech Talks interview corner. Today, I'm with mathias Dale, regional sales manager at Crestron. Thanks so much for being here, mathias. Happy to be here. Thanks for inviting us. Appreciate it. Absolutely. So one of the first things I wanna talk about is something really exciting with Crestron, and that's your acquisition of one Beyond platform. Tell us more about that. Yeah. It's great. We're we're very excited about it. It's the first acquisition done by Crestron. Believe it or not, we're we're hitting our fifty year anniversary, and this is our first acquisition, maybe six or seven months ago. So it's a great team out of Boston. And what they specialize in is high end immersive experience for conferencing, video conferencing, it basically combine software and hardware and incredible AI to put together these immersive video conferencing, you know, solutions for meeting rooms, for conference rooms, and whatnot. So, yeah, we're we're very excited about it. They do, you know, they do everything from speaker tracking. So we've got our hawk cameras which can be set up and do have two cameras that run at the same time. And we'll focus on the active speaker. So the cross cutting is really smooth. We have a presentation tracker, so for auditoriums, for training rooms, lecture halls, you know, about fifty feet away. They do incredible speaker tracking for that. Again, super smooth and people can kinda cross in front of the speaker, and it'll stay on the, you know, original original person that was meant to. And then you can really get complicated with these, like, high value conference spaces, have five or cameras together and do almost like broadcast style cutting, but all done through AI and technology. So nobody has to, you know, sit in the back and run their cameras and do all that stuff. So, yeah, we're we're really really excited about it. That's fantastic. I saw a demo at Infocom and it was just extremely impressive. Oh, awesome. Yeah. What else coming down the for Crestron. Anything new coming up or anything to go over to? We're excited about the one beyond, you know, one thing we've been doing or that just released this this month was our VC four, which is our, you know, control. It's a software based control. Right. So we're now launching that with an appliance or with a Dell Optoplex. So you actually can have anything that or control and, you know, in parody with Pro four or a v fours or, you know, whatever is, let's say, constrained slightly in the market. You can put together this software solution with the Dell Optoplex and it's shipping out today. So -- Right. -- we're happy about that. That was the other new stuff. We got a wire wireless conferencing, our air media. We just got a great firmware upgrade for that. So, usually, Air Media does presentation and does digital signage, but now you can actually actually do wireless conferencing. So you can connect to whatever third party peripherals through wireless conferencing, because what's happening is people are jumping from room to room, and This way, they can do any video conferencing service and get up get up and running quickly in pretty much any space. Right. Yeah. Seems like Crestron has made quite an invest been in the intelligent video area. Why is that so important to you and why is that a focus right now? It is important. Yeah. And we're investing a lot of money and time. Like, one beyond, And I think, you know, what we're seeing and where we're seeing, you know, really, you know, video conferencing demand skyrocket is I think it goes down to like, during COVID, people are having conversations over computer, and you're able to see people, you know, shoulder up, see their facial expressions, see what they're saying. Even though you're not in person, you can get a real read on on somebody. So, the idea now with a lot of manufacturers like Zoom and and, you know, Microsoft with Front Row, and our stuff, we're trying to make sort of that experience of having people in big board rooms. You can see their face to the people that are working hybrid. So if they're in office or remote, you're all getting that conversation where you're speaking kind of equitably, you know, all as one you know, in one thing as opposed to looking down like a long conference table with, you know, somebody at the far end. You're actually having a close-up of a person. So we've got our Flex Systems which do all that and now one beyond and our partnerships with Jabra. So -- Yeah. -- it's exciting. That is very exciting. Absolutely. And you speak to some of the conference room trends. I feel a lot of new trends popping up. Yeah. Has anything recently caught your eye? Good question. You know, we are seeing more with e sports, which is a pretty big market now and is growing and growing. So I think I read something like thirty million viewers per month now for esports events. So, you know, they need product that that gives, you know, real time, high quality, high definition audio, you know, refresh refresh rates, all that stuff just as, you know, real time and mission critical as possible. And so a lot of our solutions, especially the NVX stuff definitely plays into that market. You can do anything from like a small lab up to, you know, a huge stadium running, running So -- Right. Okay. -- we're seeing, you know, a lot of that. Great. Yeah. Great. Are there any specific market that are are new to you this year or anything that you've recently expanded into, and you're seeing a lot of growth in. Growth. And nothing I would say new, but, you know, there's we've got Crestron's always been in a a lot of different markets out there. We are seeing big pushes in the education market, again for video conferencing stuff with them. And for solutions, they're just multi source to single display or or dual displays. E sports I mentioned, that's a category I'd not seen last year being discussed at all. Well, a little bit, but now it's really seeing a lot of opportunities out there. More courthouses we are seeing in government systems and stuff like that. So Yeah. Yeah. There's a too. I would say those three three markets are seeing more. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Great. So since I have you here, I just wanted to you know, hear right from this source. What kind of proactive measures are the pressure on taking to combat the supply chain issues? The question. Yeah. It's a real issue, as we all know old know too well. And things are getting better. I mean, we we've just entered a partnership with Dell, which is nice. So we all the flex units that have the PC on the back, that were backlogged, we weren't getting enough inventory from our partner at the time and now have partnered up with Dell, so we're getting a lot of inventory. So those that backlog should be moving through quickly. The fact is it's it's still a real issue, and we're all trying to deal with it on a a daily basis. Crestaurant has been shipping out a lot of stuff. There's some sort of a misnomer that we don't ship, but we are skyrocketing demand, but we are our shipping, you know, what we are taking in now. We're getting through the backlog. You know, I think we've invested something like six times the amount in raw materials. We've actually expanded our our our headcounts and our a warehouse space and even like so when when the product does come in, we'll have we have actually new technology and also just added people to help assemble everything and get it together quicker, go through quality control quicker that when that, you know, missing piece or or missing part that we've been waiting on for eight months finally arrives. We can get that out the door quickly. So -- Absolutely. -- doing that. One thing that Crestaurant has been and known for is just their impeccable quality. And so I I'm sure you're taking measures to make sure that that is maintained throughout this process? Absolutely. Yeah. You're you bring up a really good point because there was, you know, offers and and and ways to maybe get something out the door using maybe a third party, you know, piece that we were not familiar with. And a lot of it never passed our quality control, and and as tough as the market is and as difficult if it is to get anything out and we want you guys and all of our end users to get stuff quickly. We didn't wanna send out stuff that wasn't really up to typical press drop quality. So -- Sure. -- so we we yeah. That's that's really number one to do so. Fantastic. Yeah. Well, that's good to hear. Yeah. Yeah. So if someone could take away anything from today's show with Crestron, what was happy. Oh, good question. I would say come by the booth, check out the new stuff with one Beyond, especially, really cool, just camera solutions, conferencing solutions. Again, heavy push into that area, intelligent video. So come on by, and then we're just we're here to support you. No matter what. So Fantastic. Yeah. For sure. Well, this come has always been a big fan of Crestron. Always will see. He's always been great partner. So thank you so much for that. And thank you for being here today. Of course. Thank you so much, and we appreciate the partnership very much. Absolutely. Yeah. Alright, Josh, and I hear again. And I just have to point out that Massias is always such a wealth of information, and he really bends over backwards to help us navigate supply chain issues. So kudos to him. Next step, one of the coolest guys in AAV is mister Eddie Boyet of Lumins. Who talks to Josh about all things camera technologies in all different types of environments. He also talks about their new media player and streaming solutions, And specifically, they touch on the important differences in applications of auto tracking versus auto framing camera features. So let's check it out. Join with me is Eddie Boyet with Lumen's, one of our gold sponsors. So thanks for being here, Eddie. Thanks, Josh. Alright. So what are you excited about showcasing this year at the tech about? Well, besides all of our camera technology, we have our LC one hundred media processor in the booth right now. It's a great piece. It gives end users the ability to stream and record two video signals simultaneously. Okay. It also includes two XLR audio inputs. Okay. Like I said, it's just been a great piece for us. Yeah. And I'm just excited to show that with our cameras connected to it, camera technology. I think some people here who or anybody interested in checking out something new along the lines of streaming and recording. Definitely check it out. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. Something innovative. Alright. So I think auto tracking cameras are something that a lot of people are interested in learning more about understanding, you know, what the different applications are for them and, you know, what the correct applications are for them, I should say. So can you talk a little bit about that? Absolutely. So our we have a couple different auto tracking cameras. The one that we have in the booth today is our VCTA fifty. It's an auto tracking and an auto framing camera. And I think that's what you were touching on -- Yeah. -- making sure the customer knows what a presenter tracking camera is -- Right. -- versus just an auto framing camera. We talk about in the booth when we talk about the camera, And so, yes, that that that particular type of technology is is enormously popular across many different vertical markets. Yeah. And we think that camera is gonna be a huge hit for us. Yeah. So imagine like a like a person doing elect they're gonna need that presenter tracking versus the auto framing. Exactly. So that camera can be used in a lecture hall, so to speak. Yeah. Cap a person walking back and forth across the stage or a platform. Yeah. But it can also be used in conference rooms or town council meetings when you know, that specific auto framing is needed as well. Yeah. So can you be used both ways? Yeah. So it really it really requires you to think about how you're using your space, how your speakers are using the space -- Absolutely. -- versus more maybe more of a meeting style, more collaborate style meeting. Absolutely the right camera for that. Right now, it has HDMI out. It also has IP out. Okay. And SDI out. Yeah. So it contains multiple, you know, connections -- Yeah. -- to fit our end user's needs as well. That's great. That's really great. Cool. So we partner a lot on health care applications. Mhmm. Right? And you some of your cameras are very good in both clinical health health care applications and other applications in the health care space. Can you talk a little bit about some of the capabilities that are important to consider for that. Yeah. The health care space for Lumens right now is one of our largest growing markets. Yeah. We have a number of different products, camera products that fit into that space, whether on the telehealth side -- Yeah. -- maybe on top of carts. Or in kiosks -- Okay. -- in clinical centers, surgical centers, things of that nature. But we also manufacture four k PTZ cameras that are used for, you know, training when an operation is being done Yeah. And that camera can record that operation or stream that operation to a class for example or or be able to store that information in the cloud. Yeah. You know, that is what some of our, you know, expertise is being used for, you know, today and today is help care will. So when we when we work with a lot of our health care clients, something that's really important to them is that zoom Right? That high optical zoom -- Yep. -- being able to really focus in and capture those fine details. Yeah. Super important for intensive and other people. So that would definitely solve that. Yeah. We we operate we have we manufacture cameras that have a a twelve x optical, a twenty x optical, and a thirty x optical. So the flexibility of that, depending upon the space -- Yeah. -- we pretty much know we'll have a camera that will fit that particular customer's needs. Yeah. Alright. That's great. So can you talk a little bit about some trends or I know compliance is definitely a trend, if you will. I know Loomins has a lot to say about that. Yeah. So one important factor for us right now is the majority of our products are TAA and also NDAA compliant. Super compliant. And so from a from government buying perspective -- Yeah. -- our camera products can be sold into that vertical market. Yeah. And know that they're getting a cure piece of technology, what when they're using it. Absolutely. It's important. And I would argue that even goes beyond government. Right? Because if you're NDA compliant, that's attractive to other verticals as well. Yeah. The security support end. Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. So any other news or announcement with Loomans or other new products coming on the pipeline? We have lots of new products coming. Yeah. I'm very excited about our full NDI PTC camera that's coming. We will hit the market very soon. And just really looking forward to showing that -- Yeah. -- at more shows and and and to to customers. Yeah. It's a fantastic beast. Looking forward to seeing a little bit more about that. So thanks for being here, Eddie. Thank you. Appreciate your time, and looking forward to with you more at the show and and in the future as well. Alright. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Thanks for being here. You too. Alright. So Eddie has definitely helped me understand some of the important camera considerations. As you heard, we talked about their high optical zoom to doctors and nurses, which is something we work with them a lot on. But it can't be overstated how Louens is a big player in both presenter tracking cameras. And auto framing cameras for more collaborative style meeting areas. And the difference between those two is is really important to understand. Okay. So lastly here is my conversation with Mike Swanson of Wolfision. Mike walks us through their web conferencing based solutions but also they're pretty game changing collaboration platforms that they create extremely easy to use and intuitive control over the entire video conferencing ecosystem and their collaboration systems. And also, we touch on their SINAT product which can actually serve as the centerpiece of the modern classroom, which you'll find out more about. So let's hear it. Hey, everyone. Josh here again at tech talks at the Vista ConTech Expo twenty twenty two. We're nearing the end of the day here, but I'm really happy to be joined by Mike Swanson. Mike is with Wolfision. He's had a great show so far. We've had some good conversations with him. So Mike, thanks for being here with me. What is Wolfision showcasing at this year's tech expo? Well, thanks again for opportunity to be here. It it has been a tremendous show and congratulations to you and your team for everything. Oh, thanks. Yeah. We've been showcasing some of our latest solutions. Wolfvision for several We've been known for our high end document cameras, our visualizers. So we've got that set up. We're also demonstrating simple web conferencing access as well. We whether it's Teams or Zoom, we're WebRTC based, so any platform we can use. So we've been showing a couple of different ways. You can use web conferencing and also the collaborations that that we can do as well, both for meetings and higher education classrooms and those types of scenarios. Yeah. So Wolf Vision really does change the game for a lot of people in collaboration settings. It is what it is. So when it comes to hybrid meeting, collaboration, and also learning environments, what are some standout features of woolficians products, sign up for instance, that really should not be understated and really are kind of changing the game for some people. You know, I think a common response I get Josh is, you know, wow. It can do all these things. Yeah. So I would use the phrase maybe all in one. Okay. Because, you know, from our solution, you can launch and participate in a web conference. But our devices will support four different windows of content. What that means is you could have a visualizer document camera attached. You could go to a web browser. You could use a whiteboard. It'll integrate with your Office three sixty five. Oh, wow. You can use in room technology, cameras, microphone, sound bars, those different things. So it really is collaboration in every sense of the word. Yeah. From a technical standpoint in terms of using technology in the room, and can even enable you to use less, you know, bits and pieces and components. But also too, just from a workflow standpoint, If I'm the instructor or if I'm the meeting facilitator, I can use all these different functions in our solution, in our web conference, and I can display those to the far to the recipients on the Zoom call. And because most people are already familiar with Teams in Zoom, there's not much of a learning curve there. Right. You're using those existing technologies. You're just using it within our ecosystem, if you will, and taking advantage of the other technology that's there. Yeah. It's almost like secondhand intuitiveness that like has been formed with people. So Yep. Yeah. That's cool. So I wanna talk a little bit about active learning. I know there are a lot of people in higher education who are kind of rethinking what that means. Can you maybe paint a picture of what from Wolfision standpoint active learning is suit is suited for or what it looks like in the physical classroom itself. Sure. You know, I think in your right active learning is buzzword and a lot of institutions are either already incorporating it or looking to. And from our standpoint, active learning, it really is not to the to not just for the instructor to teach, but also for the students to really engage and participate in that learning environment. Absolutely. With our TriNet product line. It can be set up in a way where, you know, you have your main display in the room. Maybe it's a projector or a large display, and then you've got your student huddle spaces throughout. And what the instructor can do, whether it's from a PC in the room or via their iPad or tablet, is they can control all the different content that is shared both on their main display and also to the student displays. Yeah. We also have best in class, bring your own device technology as well. So if I want to, as a student, display what I'm working on on a screen, I can do that, we can collaborate. And if the instructor wants everybody in the classroom to see what it is that we're doing, they can share from their device back to the main place. So it really is that true active, interactive learning cycle between the facilitator and all the students in the class, not just that are there in person but also students that are remote because a lot of these are hybrid, you know, situations now. Yeah. So they can be a part of those presentations as well. Yeah. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think one thing Wolfvision actually allows institutions to do is kind of cut back on the excessive hardware that they have in their classroom, maybe even go like a PC list classroom So how does that work exactly and and what features allows that to happen? Using our our SignAT Pro that can really serve as the centerpiece for today's modern classroom and could replace the PC -- Yeah. -- in terms of all the different functionality. You can have your different devices, your your sound bars, your microphones, your cameras -- Yeah. -- feed into the sign app. Yeah. It can feed out different displays, multiple displays. It has all the different software that we offer, all the different solutions that we offer as well. But it really can serve as that internal that hub -- Yeah. -- to replace the need for a PC. Now you can operate it a couple of ways. You can connect to a touch screen panel which a lot of folks will do. You can plug in a keyboard and mouse and do it that way. You could control it from your iPad. Yeah. So I think one of the advantages to the system is it's flexibility. Absolutely. Not in terms of just what it offers, but also how you can use it as well. Yeah. At the end of the day, it makes control extremely easy to use too, which is that one of the main things that people are looking for when it comes to their end users. Very if absolutely. Because you could you could get the greatest system there is, nobody's using it or if they're intimidated by it -- Yeah. -- you know, it's not gonna serve its purpose. So we wanna make sure our our solutions are simple to use very easy to use, very efficient, and we definitely provide that with our systems, but also too from a training installation standpoint, working with you, working with the end user to make sure they really understand how to get the most out of the system that they have. Such an important consideration in in that whole process. Absolutely. So let's talk court rooms. Wolfficient definitely has a really innovative solution when it comes to court rooms. That I'd love to talk a little bit about. So tell me a little about what you guys offer. You know, we bring that that collaboration model, that active learning model into a courtroom environment. Yeah. And, you know, the way that we do that, you know, technology wise is is pretty similar to a college setup or a class room set up. Yeah. But the use case for it is largely around evidence presentation. Mhmm. You know, courts, when they have different trials, different hearings, they'll have different evidence that's brought in. Yeah. By attorneys and so forth. So we can take that information in electronically whether it's videos, audios, PDFs, pictures, etcetera. We can get that stuff from online. They can bring it in on a USB drive. They can bring it in on their own device. Yeah. We can take that image and set it up in a way that the judge has a preview screen on the bench. So he or she can look at that content, and then they can determine if it's sent to the attorney table, if it's sent to the witness stand, if it's sent to bigger displays throughout the courtroom for everybody to see. The judge has the ability to determine what content is shared. Yeah. It's very simple to set up that way. Mhmm. And we also have our document cameras, our visualizers are a key component of that as well because, you know, we're in the digital age. Everything's a lot of things are digital as you and I know. Right. But when it comes to court room, they're still, you know, the what, the weapon. They're still the, you know, the the physical hard piece of evidence -- Yeah. -- that's that's gonna be you know, a part of that scenario. Material. Yeah. So you can use that with our document camera, which has, you know, really second to none in terms of quality, but also too can help showing that evidence for that trial or that hearing? I think what you guys offer really lessons that hesitancy from the judge's standpoint. When it comes to integrating technology into the courtroom. Right? Because I think a lot of times there there's a a sense of being scared of not having control Yep. But I know the the control at the judges' station or for the clerk or whoever -- Yep. -- really allows you to have full control over all of this technology and then utilize its capabilities for the court. So Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And, you know, in some environments, the judge wants to control it in other environments. They want the clerk or the bailiff too, and that's, you know, that's kind of the their decision on how they wanna do that. Yeah. Something else that they like too is the attorneys being able to bring in their own technology and just be able to connect wirelessly to our system -- Yeah. -- it just makes the whole flow of the proceeding in the courtroom that much more efficient -- Yeah. -- and unless flu g or problematic Yeah. Because of that system. But still manageable. Yeah. Very much so. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. So lastly, if you wanted somebody to have something to take away from what you're showing at the tech expo. What would that be? You know, I would say, I would want folks to take away that you know, we're very innovative in our approach to solutions. You know, with our SINAT product line, it could be as simple as your looking for bring your own device and screen sharing, and we have a terrific device with our sign at many, in fact, we're offering a thirty day free trial of that device where you can test it out your system on your network. And then we have several iterations of our sign up product line that incorporate web conferencing or active learning, different you know, scenarios. So what I would encourage you to take a look to consider with Wolfvision is we're very innovative in our approach and we're very flexible in the things that we can provide So we like to have those conversations as far as what you're looking to achieve, you know, what kind of workflow do you want, you know, how do you want the instructors experience to be? How do you want the courtroom personnel experience to be? Yeah. You know, let's find out what it is that you want and how you want to operate and then we'll show you how sign app in in our product line can help accommodate that in very efficient way. User focus instead of just all the bells and whistles. Absolutely. Great. Well, thanks for being here. Really appreciate really appreciate the conversation. And I'm sure we'll talk more in the future. Sounds good. Alright. Thanks so much. Thanks, Josh. I appreciate it. Thank Alright. Well, there you have it. A journey all about connecting people with innovative camera technologies and collaboration systems tailored to the modern and hybrid spaces that we all are growing to love today. I want to give a sincere thank you to the sponsors that we featured in today's episode, Vistacom wouldn't be as successful without them. The tech expo is really a special event because of you all and all that you do. Absolutely. Alright. Coming up soon on our next episode of Tech unraveled, we'll be releasing the final part of our TikTok series featuring conversations with the remaining gold sponsors of the VistaCom tech expo. Here's a little hint. It's all about the power of visualization and video innovation. Be sure to join us next time to unravel more tech in the pro AV world. And just remember, you can't spell tech unraveled without AV Alright. Bye everyone.