Greetings.

We are pleased to report that our first three quarters (as a "new" company) have been wildly successful. Our merger of our two organizations has proven a very good thing for our clients, our staff and our future as the Northeast's premier provider of Audio Video Integration services.

As always, we encourage you to contact us with any of your AV goals (or dilemmas!) as we have nearly a century of combined experience on tap to assist: no matter how small or large your project may be.
As autumn inevitably approaches, we hope the last of the summer days find you and your team well and poised for the future.

Thank you for your continued patronage.

Sincerely,

David Geer
Michael Trombley
AVE Co-owners

 

UVM chooses AVE as Audio Visual Integration Partner

Audio Visual Environments (AVE) is proud to announce that the University of Vermont has chosen AVE as the University's audio-visual integration partner.

"The new contract's formality allows for many advantages in streamlining," states AVE principal, David Geer.

"It allows us to view the entire University as a whole, a single entity, and to serve the many colleges, faculty members and staff within a globally defined set of parameters. It also allows facilitators at the University to concentrate on system features and not have to worry about pricing structure, which has been negotiated and confirmed with documents signed."

The new contract will affect all UVM projects moving forward, which currently include technology upgrades to many classrooms, lecture spaces, the new UVM Alumni House and Pavilion, and several advanced, media-ready classrooms for the UVM College of Medicine.

(Below, Waterman Building, looking West, UVM Campus)
Waterman Building / Breadloaf Campus of Middlebury College
(Above, Breadloaf Campus of Middlebury College, Ripton VT, looking North)

Middlebury College Expands Its Breadloaf Campus with new Audio Systems

Middlebury College's stunning Breadloaf Campus in Ripton, VT, has made impressive upgrades to its Little Theatre and Barn Theatre facilities. The Little Theatre features a remote controlled digital audio mixer with full, wireless, touch pad remote control, ample digital signal processing, and improved wireless and wired microphones. These new components were carefully engineered to complement the Little Theatre's existing QSC powered loudspeakers.

AVE's four-man field operations team installed and wired the Little Theatre system, and AVE General Manager and Chief Programmer Dave Geer returned a few days later to fine-tune the system using AVE's SMAART's audio calibration system by Rational Acoustics. (audio calibration system by Rational Acoustics).

The Barn Theatre features Shure's QLX-series digital wireless microphones, Shure mixer, Bose Powermatch amplification with full, onboard DSP, and a pair of Bose MA12EX extended range columnar loudspeakers.

Both systems extend the feature set available to Breadloaf Campus events planners and are welcome additions to the Breadloaf Dining Hall audio distribution system that AVE completed in 2015.

 

Green Mountain Power Considers New Videoconferencing Capability

When severe weather events occur, Green Mountain Power needs to be able to quickly and efficiently coordinate personnel in all of their service centers. GMP relies on Polycom videoconferencing products and Crestron control systems supplied by Audio Visual Environments to provide efficient communications among their offices across the state.

"This capability really is used for much more than just winter snow events and major thunderstorms" states AVE's Chris Trombley, CTS.

"The ability to effectively serve their customer base relies on GMP's decision-makers being able to communicate quickly and clearly, across significant distances, without issues. Our AV system designs, coupled with Polycom's legendary reliability for quality and our professional installation services make this possible."

(Below, one of GMP's Operations Centers)
Green Mountain Power / Vermont Public Radio
(above, Vermont Public Radio's Fort Ethan Allen / Colchester Studios)

VPR Expands Headquarters and Adds Visual Component

Since its founding in 1977, Vermont Public Radio has been providing a committed public media presence and enhanced the quality of life in our region. Nearly a year ago, VPR broke ground on an expansion and renovation of their headquarters in Colchester's historic Fort Ethan Allen.

Wiemann Lamphere's David Roy and Tim Duff invited Audio Visual Environments to join the design team to implement several professional-level AV solutions for the newly-expanded facility.

Studio One is a flexible presentation space that will allow VPR to convene the community in ways that weren't possible before. This new space features a high-output, High-Definition video projection system that delivers stunning images. Intended to accommodate concerts, lectures, debates and other public events, Studio One also includes a flexible professional-grade audio system that can instantly be re-configured from either of the dual Crestron control system touchpanels integrated into the AV system.

A strategically-located, high-brightness video wall in the lobby allows VPR to visually engage visitors both inside and outside the building.

"VPR's new video and audio distribution systems allow the staff to put content from a variety of AV and broadcast sources exactly where they need it", says AVE's Paul Appleget, CTS.

"Our cohesive working relationship with Joe Tymecki and other VPR staffers have resulted in an extremely smooth project, from conception to final programming adjustments."

 

Vermont Technical College expands Distance Learning for Nursing Programs and more.

Audio Visual Environments has worked closely with Vermont Technical College and completed many distance learning, video conferencing equipped classrooms, with locations at VTC's Williston Campus, White River Junction (Wilder), Lyndon, Brattleboro, Newport, Springfield, Randolph Center Campus, Bennington and Saint Albans. These are fully functional, distance learning classrooms that feature automatic switching of multiple cameras, wireless and wired microphones for student participants, and ultra-lightweight presenter's wireless microphones for the instructors.

"VTC's Jim Smith, Steve Bohnyak and their extended team have been great partners in helping to develope the unique design for this type of space," states AVE's Peter Wilder, Technical Sales.

"The rooms represent a high standard for what is possible, as far as inter-classroom connectivity and quality is concerned. The video is HD from all cameras at all sites, and the audio is fully managed by the design's considerable digital signal processing components. We look forward to making this design concept the standard for other Vermont State College system partners, having recently installed a similar room for Dotty Spoerl at Johnson State College."

Leveraging the power and flexibility of 'soft codecs' makes a significant difference in how users can configure and update the network aspects of these systems, eliminating the need for costly proprietary hardware while maintaining the advantage of accessing multiple classrooms at multiple locations. This opens the door to exciting new unified communication possibilities, not the least of which is to provide for the possibility of instructors leading classes from their homes, due to weather, illness or injury.

(below, the north entrance to VTC's picturesque campus in Randolph Center)
VTC / United Congregational Church
(Above, Middlebury United Congregational Church, Middlebury)

Houses of Worship Keep Current

In the past few months AVE has managed the installation and updating the AV systems in many of our region's houses of worship. Solutions for each sanctuary are specific, but the engineering knowledge, technical experience and understanding of how these systems will be used are part and parcel of AVE's experience, having served well over 100 houses of worship in the region.

AVE is enhancing the worship experience of congregation leaders and members with numerous technologies such as remote control systems, advanced wireless microphones and large-format visual display systems to deliver video content, words to hymns, and more.

While some houses of worship find themselves facing attendance challenges, our observations suggest that the growing organizations in our region are those focused on leveraging new and compelling technologies to share their message. AVE helps make certain that the technical capabilities of these organizations exceed their congregation's expectations.

 

AVE HELPFUL HINTS

Preventative maintenance can greatly extend the usable life of your installed AV system system, minimizing downtime and reducing Total Cost of Ownership. Recently, the AVE team had a prolonged discussion about the necessity for periodic AV system maintenance. Our service techs members often arrive at trouble calls to discover filters on power amplifiers or projectors clogged with dust, projector lenses filmed and foggy, and systems suffering from cable deterioration or wear-and-tear. These conditions are far more common than the average person might realize, but a regular schedule of preventative maintenance can help avoid many of these issues (by way of example, many of our clients' well maintained systems have been in daily or weekly use for a decade or more-some for nearly thirty years!).

In many of the systems we design and install, network links to the major AV components (projectors, for example) can be used to monitor lamp life, internal temperature, filter efficiency, and many other important conditions. This means that a technician can query a properly configured AV system via an Internet connection. Advanced configurations can allow projectors to send an email when the lamp is approaching end-of-life or a filter is becoming clogged. Leveraging these network-based capabilities can help extend the life of a system dramatically.

Many clients are surprised to learn that we can help by monitoring their AV systems remotely. As a component of our upcoming PCMP service (Preferred Client Maintenance Program), we offer a Remote Maintenance program that shifts the uncertainty of AV system care to the people who know your system best - US! Ask about this innovative program today!