Blog posts

With the right tech, cost savings won’t mean the guest experience will suffer

A simple, scalable device perfect for hot desking, hoteling, and more

Crestron’s newest immersive space shows off a tremendous range of commercial and residential solutions

Crestron and Axxess Industries, an ASSA ABLOY company, collaborate to seamlessly integrate guest room technology for an unparalleled guest experience and streamlined management

Our true collaboration bar built for medium and large rooms works brilliantly with Microsoft Teams® Rooms and Zoom Rooms® software

Making sense of artificial intelligence in audio-visual applications

Image Engineering designed a Crestron-driven marvel for the New York Giants

Four marine projects that are truly best-in-class

Integrate the Crestron Home® OS and KNX with this small, powerful DIN rail unit

A collaboration that makes for the perfect control solution for your hybrid meeting spaces

Ten projects using Crestron solutions that are truly “best in class”

The next-generation touch screen from Crestron is packed with more features than ever

From a new version of the Crestron Home® OS to lighting, shading, and audio solutions, Crestron proved that the last 12 months have been a year of profound creativity

Crestron rolls out two kits with the technology to make BYOD connectivity a snap, with no apps to download or software to deploy.

By focusing on an overall audio experience — and always keeping that final vision in the forefront during your conversations — you can break down the discovery process into its necessary component parts and keep potential clients engaged.

As your business adopts a hybrid work model, special care needs to be paid to the in-office experience. One way to understand your needs in that regard: a technology audit. Here’s where to start.

The most recent update to the Crestron Home® OS is a terrific example of the “whole being greater than the sum of its parts,” as several small user experience improvements add up to a much more intuitive platform. This version also has features built specifically for hotel and MDU integrations.

See how simple it is to collaborate with devices from Creston and Jabra in this video demo — it’s literally one-touch wireless conferencing.

An update to one of Crestron’s most successful offerings is coming to market soon, with upgrades in everything from ergonomics to engravings: Crestron’s Next-Generation Horizon® Keypads are here. 

The pandemic didn’t just change the way the world works; it changed the way the world learns. While the social disconnection of school closings had many negative effects, there was a silver lining: we began to learn how to better leverage tech for education. In fact, there’s a growing body of evidence that technology could actually help drive student engagement.

Just in time for the ISE® trade show, Crestron is introducing the latest devices in its DM NAX™ Audio-over-IP line of products: The DM-NAX-AMP-X300, a flexible, 300-watt network amplifier that’s loaded with enough features to make it perfect for a variety of both commercial and residential projects

While space precludes a mention of every project we spotlighted this year, here’s a sampling of some outstanding examples of technology integrations that rely on Crestron solutions. These nine case studies really illustrate the depth of expertise that Crestron pros bring to every job and the quality of the gear that’s being installed.

Now that wireless conferencing has been added to Crestron AirMedia® technology, it’s the perfect time to review three primary benefits of this feature: cost savings, flexibility, and BYOD capability.

The Crestron Home® OS 3.16 update is here. It features two remarkable features: New functionality for tunable LED fixtures and an intuitive whole-home lighting control package that will automatically appear on client’s touch panels.

How does control enhance the experience offered in every space? How does virtual control make for a more efficient operational model? What are its other benefits? Here’s part two in our series excerpting Crestron’s latest eBook, Virtual Control Solutions for the Modern Workplace.

The latest update of the Crestron Home® OS — version 3.15 — goes live this month with several features taking center stage new collaborations with high-end manufacturers such as Black Nova and GUDE, and the ability to remotely reboot most Crestron IP devices in a home.

July 16 is Artificial Intelligence Appreciation, so we’ve decided to give a very brief overview of just what AI really is, what it does well — and where it needs to grow.

An integrator who’s well-versed in lighting solutions can use that knowledge as a powerful tool in the discovery process for the residential dealer/integrator. Crestron’s Phillip Pini shares some advice.

The Crestron NEXT Europe Road Trip is at roughly its midpoint, and before the rolling display moves into Scandinavia, we get an update from the “fixed” booth at ISE. (Spoiler alert: The Crestron stand was big. REALLY big.)

Lighting design — especially with tunable LEDs — has been historically complex, with variables such as programming making the application of tunable lighting a job for extremely skilled professionals. But technological advances such as the Crestron Home® OS, paired with its attendant LED light fixtures, can remove elements of programming complexity. There’s still, however, a demand for professionals who understand the various applications of lighting, the effects of color and temperature, and how to integrate tunable light with other lighting and shading solutions. We speak with Mark Greenawalt from the firm Creative Designs in Lighting for some expert advice. 

One aspect of the new hybrid, digital workplace is the need for wireless conferencing. As the technology evolves, it allows every space to become a potential point of digital collaboration for any organization. As one digs into these flexible, adaptable solutions, questions arise: What’s involved in these deployments? How does one ensure interoperability — not to mention security — in inevitable BYOD situations? And how much money (and man-hours) can a company save with wireless solutions versus hard-wired conferencing installations?

We’ve seen a massive rise in the number of businesses whose staff includes a mix of remote and hybrid employees, and that’s led to the rapid expansion of video conferencing platforms. The digital workplace — with its combination of remote and in-person collaborators who need to communicate effectively — is here to stay. The right platform will provide effective solutions for each of three pillars of the digital workplace: video conferencing, wireless presentation, and scheduling.

Diving into the Crestron Home™ platform for the first time? Solutions Engineer Chase Bouchard has some advice to make that initial integration a breeze.

The pandemic accelerated several workplace trends that had been slowly gaining traction in recent years: namely, a growing number of remote and hybrid employees and the expansion of video conferencing platforms. The digital workplace — with its combination of remote and in-person collaborators who need to communicate effectively — is here to stay. Crestron has created an eBook on the subject called “Keys to the Digital Workplace.” Here’s an excerpt that defines the digital workplace and helps the reader understand how to begin choosing the right platform.

In the early 2000s, the custom AV industry experienced a resurgence in motorized shading. Up to that point, shading was noisy and inefficient. Today, however, customers expect silent, intelligent, low voltage operation in a top tier shading system, which are now classified as “automated shading” or “intelligent natural light control.”

The Horizon® Thermostat is the embodiment of brains and beauty when it comes to climate control. It is a versatile, wall-mounted heating and cooling thermostat with an integrated humidistat that can control a wide variety of heating and cooling systems typically found in residential applications.

The workplace of 2021 (and beyond) is dramatically different from the workplace of 2020–perhaps for the better. As the way we interact, collaborate, and engage has changed, so have the tools we use.  Crestron’s answer for the new and evolved needs of today’s digital workplace– AirMedia® wireless presentation and collaboration system.

As Shure announces its expanded partnership with Crestron and an industry-first software certification from Microsoft Teams, Director of Technology Partnerships, Paul Gunia, discusses how this certification shapes a new era in audio conferencing for the wider AV industry.

Today, organizations want to make technology in meeting spaces “disappear,” while also making it feel responsive to the user. In every space. Consistently. And without costly signal routing and tedious setup. Now, you can.

We all love technology. It’s why we got into this business in the first place. But let us not forget that it is a business, and businesses need to make money. The trick is how to continue to grow your business through economic, political, and market shifts. There are a few relatively easy ways to grow your business with a little help from Crestron.

Employing dozens of networking, security, and AV standards, Crestron’s DM NVX is already the most interoperable AVoIP solution in the market, and now Crestron’s DM NVX platform is fully unleashed through the publication of a well-documented RESTful API (application programming interface).  What does this mean for our customers, dealers, and partners?  By releasing and officially supporting the API our customers now have complete freedom to integrate DM NVX into virtually any application using the development tools of their choosing. Programmers are no longer locked into proprietary software applications and have total discretion to deploy, monitor, and control the devices from any platform.

The new DM-NVX-E760 bridging encoders bring together our decade long leadership in HDBaseT® protocol compatible DigitalMedia™ products with our cutting-edge DM NVX® AvoIP platform.

The guest connection experience has been a hot topic since the dedicated AirMedia presentation systems, the AM-200/300 launched. Previously the recommended solution to support a guest use-case was to have a separated VLAN with one-way port communications, but now we have a new option. Enter Guest Access Mode for the AM-200/300: another way to enable seamless guest presentation.

With everything that has happened in 2020, people are looking for the Ultimate Getaway. A chance to relax in a private and controlled environment, away from crowds and possible threats. Thanks to my work for Crestron, I have discovered what I believe to be the Ultimate Luxurious Holiday Getaway.

Before I dive into listing all the reasons why claiming your customers’ control systems (and perhaps even your own) is going to make your life a whole lot better, let’s clarify some basics.

Crestron has two web-based tools under myCrestron naming:

myCrestron RMS (Residential Monitoring Service): Web portal for the residential dealers

myCrestron DDNS (Dynamic DNS): Dynamic DNS service that allows remote connection for ISPs that have dynamic public IP addresses.

This is not some lofty, feel good self-improvement blog; or a dry business operations lecture about process; or even about system configuration, programming, or installation. These are simple, actionable things that you can do right now regardless of your business model or clientele. These ten habits are simple, but they are not always easy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the way we work. Social distancing has made connection and collaboration more of a challenge, yet all the more important to achieve. Office and meeting rooms, always at a premium, must now work even harder. Going forward, seamlessly working together, regardless of which conference room or what building we’re in or which video conferencing application we or a guest happens to be using will be the hallmarks of the successful workplace.
 
The question: how best to get there?
 

One thing that has been a huge boost to our business has been takeovers. Through some significant trial and error, and a lot of planning, we have come up with the 5 key steps to ensure our takeovers go smoothly. We can get in and out and give the homeowner a better experience than they ever thought they could have.

There have been studies commissioned on how prevalent technology in conference rooms are and studies many times often prove what is known by many conference room users. The technology that is inside of the room rarely satisfies the entire need for the meeting being held and often presents challenges that inhibits the intended use of that space.

Microsoft has created alliances between themselves, Cisco, and Zoom for room systems interoperability. Each of the participants in this alliance will be able to leverage this new solution to deliver a depreciated meeting experience for each other’s platforms on their own room system devices.