A well-oiled audio visual (AV) system is like a well-functioning human body—all the components work together to process inputs, share information, and perform necessary tasks. A quality AV system doesn’t involve random pieces of equipment or haphazard installations. Instead, it’s the product of planning and careful equipment integration—connected equipment, inputs, outputs, and master panels that are all calibrated to give you maximum control over how sound and video are used in your space.
Here at Aspen Custom Electronics (self-styled “AV surgeons”!), we’ve seen time and again how great AV systems have benefited our clients. For these companies, having a communication space where high-quality audio and video components work together seamlessly has paid dividends, and not just for the obvious reasons. If you’re on the fence about whether or not to invest in an audio visual system, here are six compelling reasons (some you probably haven’t thought of!) to make the leap.
6 Benefits Of A Quality Audio Visual System
1. You provide a better user experience.
While each piece of AV equipment comes with an instruction manual for quick-starting and basic troubleshooting, few include the information to help you integrate one product with a dozen others. Fewer still give you the information necessary for easy integration of different brands.
In an AV system, all pieces of equipment “speak each other’s language” because they’re installed with that goal in mind. They work in tandem without any need for fiddling, fixing, or re-purchasing. Buying disparate products from Amazon simply won’t offer you this type of integration.
2. You connect better with your audiences.
The goal of AV solutions is to enhance the connection between your organization and your audience. If you’ve ever attended a seminar and suffered through a presentation with feedback-ridden or garbled audio, you know how detrimental bad AV is for your audience experience. Imagine boring text on screen and bad audio. It’s a terrible mix.
An AV system makes it possible to provide a more memorable experience. Audiences give the most attention to technology they can’t or don’t have themselves, and 63% of event attendees surveyed said they prefer watching pictures and video on the biggest screen in the room. If you project those images on a low-quality consumer TV, attendees will inevitably lose interest.
Another example? Attendees don’t go to church to just check a box. They go to feel a connection with the pastor, engage with other members of the ministry team, and apply takeaways when they leave the sanctuary. If your AV system can facilitate those meaningful audience experiences, people will respond. They’ll react in greater numbers to your service, your ministry, and your message.
3. You can use your equipment with confidence.
Our AV systems are built to provide a quality user experience so your staff members, interns, and volunteers can all run the equipment with ease. At Aspen, we offer post-installation training for this reason. We don’t install equipment and run; instead, we provide you with resources, like training videos, and leave our door open to communication so you feel confident with the system we’ve installed.
4. You increase your organization’s credibility.
One study determined that low audio quality directly affected the audience’s perceptions of a speaker’s credibility. The higher the sound quality, the higher the credibility. AV systems guarantee higher quality audio and reliable performance, which in turn reflects well on your speakers.
5. You adapt to a changing society to stay competitive.
The COVID pandemic prompted a huge shift in the event world, which turned largely toward virtual solutions. Take church services, for example: Among U.S. adults who attend religious services regularly, at least 40% watched services online or on TV last month. As a result, quality AV systems and services have become more necessary than ever. Even outside of COVID, audiences continue to crave streamed and broadcast events of all kinds, meaning there’s still a real need for AV systems outfitted for both in-person and virtual needs.
6. You encourage deeper learning.
AV systems are fertile ground for innovative solutions and better work, whether they’re installed in the boardroom or the classroom. To facilitate better learning, certain AV trends are exploding in 2022, among them being interactive solutions and touch screen displays, which are perfect for educational use cases.
Better still, learners retain what you’ve taught them when you use an AV system to its full potential. Studies found that, three hours after a presentation, audiences retained 15% more knowledge when audio and visuals were used together.
2 Real-world Audio Visual System Projects
Here’s just a sampling of how our own AV clients have reaped some of the benefits mentioned above:
As part of an outreach initiative to students from local Native American tribes, the leaders of Northern Oklahoma College (NOC) made a goal to provide college-level learning to people in very small, rural communities. However, they quickly learned that the school’s distance learning capabilities were lacking when students pointed out that their professors couldn’t tell when they were raising their hands online. NOC turned to us to help them create classrooms with better remote capabilities and a more welcoming atmosphere.
The Aspen team designed the AV systems in these rooms so all students would feel included, helping NOC both adjust to an evolving society and foster deeper learning. We created these engaging environments for people who couldn’t get to in-person spaces. The classroom AV systems included:
Student and professor cameras—one in the front and one in the back so virtual learners can also see their classmates
A large 85” TV on the front wall providing vivid color and brightness, leading to a more captivating experience than a projector could give
Ceiling microphones that hang from a cable and pick up speech patterns, allowing students online to hear natural speaking voices
A TV mounted on a pole above the lectern or the desk so professors can see the presentation behind them without turning around
This Stillwater wedding venue’s existing AV system needed updating to meet new technology standards and a changing world. This space has beautiful hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, wide spaces, and lots of glass—all features that look wonderful but present major AV challenges like reverberating sound and poor clarity. Sparrow’s wedding clients weren’t pleased with how sound traveled in the large rooms, so Sparrow wanted to provide a better user experience without breaking its budget.
Considering the aesthetics of the space, the Aspen team came up with a practical solution that provided better audience engagement, yet didn’t impact the venue’s stunning visuals. The finished AV system allowed for wedding attendees to clearly connect with the people speaking, and it adapted an existing system to meet new standards for AV. Our design for Sparrow included the following:
Acoustic paneling to absorb some of the sound that was reverberating throughout the building
New speakers that helped project each featured sound with more force, cutting through attendee chatter
A new microphone system that captured announcers’ words with more clarity
Need help building a top-notch audio visual system for your organization?
The ideal AV system isn’t about bells and whistles or even specific brand names. It’s about engagement. It connects people in ways that are meaningful—and helps you achieve your goals. If you want an AV system, you have two main options to make it happen: do it yourself or work with an expert. A do-it-yourself project takes guts and skill; if you find it’s too much of a hassle for a team of one, you can turn to experts instead (just like you would turn to experts for complicated plumbing or construction jobs!)
As experienced AV integrators, we at Aspen Custom Electronics design and install AV systems. When you’re an Aspen client, you gain the expertise and the creativity you need to build out a great AV system. We can evaluate your space’s acoustics, consider your unique specifications, plan your system, and build it to meet your needs. We also invest in post-installation training for you so you can operate your new system well. Instead of sparse communication and a bill at the end, we treat each project like a partnership.
