Integrating Technology

Patrick Murray interviews Fred Loucks about...

• How management will replace control in AV integration...
• How hardware manufacturers can modernize their business by moving to a subscription model and why they should...
• How to make the software delivery process as simple as installing hardware.

Fred Loucks, CTO of Level 3 Audiovisual, takes us on his white-whale journey to answer one question: How do you get visibility of audiovisual systems at scale?

We learn some cool new phrases like "Automated remediation" and "Signatures of common issues" while digging deep into...

• Program Management from designing, deploying and updating with a focus on administration.
• How programming let him rollout 3000 Zoom Rooms in two weekends with a one-man team.
• The real costs of downtime and disruptions including productivity loss, embarrassment and loss of confidence.
• How collecting data adds value by answering questions - it starts with monitoring.
• Why there is resistance to AV monitoring tools.
• Wrangling the chaos of API's and protocols to create a data model.
• Why to avoid devices that are not observable.
• A day in the life of a support NOC technician.
• Defining a service status for AV systems in order to present an SLA.
• Why monitoring is incomplete without remote access, documentation and domain knowledge.
• The challenges of creating an AV NOC including deep integration with customer networks and staffing. 
• Thinking about management instead of control. 

Stephen Von Takach

CIO at PlaceOS

placeos.com

PlaceOS ties together drivers into systems by running functions on a scalable cluster of computing resources. Similar to how AWS Lambda works.

• Constraints allow creativity to blossom.
• Drivers can exist in multiple systems. Logic is system specific.
• Built on Crystal-lang, similar to ruby, but type-checked. https://crystal-lang.org
• PlaceOS started in AV integration but, because they can integrate with anything, it has evolved to focus on workplace experiences. Streamlining your day, from when a persons enters a building until they leave.
• User actions generate data that give insight into utilization and enable features like contact tracing and gamification.
• "Once you are integrated into every system, the experiences are only limited by your imagination."
• Digital twin - modelling real world systems in the digital realm.
• Mitigating risk through partnering with IT.
• Most stake-holder resistance concerns network security, GDPR conformance and data ownership.
• Conference room automation is evolving to eliminate the need for a touchpanel control interface.
• Open source removes vendor dependency and helps educate. It also helps create a cooperative driver development ecosystem.
• Clients are looking for a wholistic solution. A single workplace app (as opposed to multiple apps with separate functionality) drives usage and discovery of what the workplace is capable of.
• Gamification can be used to drive a behaviour, like using spaces in off-peak hours, by offering an incentive, like free coffee and gift cards.

Mentioned in this episode: