Luxury Residential Complex Redefines Convenience With ELAN
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When maintaining a 31-acre luxury residential living community a performing arts center, a surround sound theater, 4 dining venues and 26 free-standing villas, the ability to remotely control audio/visual content is key. That’s why the management team at The Garlands of Barrington, a luxury 55+ residential living community in Barrington, Illinois, turned to Digital Home Technologies to replace their old Crestron system with a newer, more user-friendly solution.
“With several large facilities that are constantly in use and require vigorous audio/visual control, it’s impossible to physically troubleshoot an issue on demand,” integrator John Goldenne of Digital Home Technologies said. “For the community’s upscale residents who are accustomed to high-end service, delayed entertainment and informational presentations are inexcusable. That’s where ELAN comes in.”
Goldenne worked with Director of Food & Beverage Istvan Abdai and Information Systems Director Joe Parado to customize the system to best suit management’s needs. “With our old system, we needed a third party consultant to come in and troubleshoot any technical difficulty,” Abdai explained. “It was essential to all of us that this new system offered complete control and was both reliable and easy to use.”
To maximize control across the entire complex, Goldenne recommended that they install an ELAN g!systemcontrollerin the executive conference room, another ELAN controller in the performing arts center, and a third ELAN controller matched with an ELAN audio controller in the Grill to manage the restaurant’s existing speakers. All controllers connect to one ELAN g! network so that any management personnel with a smartphone can control the audio/visual content from anywhere. “The challenge with this installation was the sheer size of the property,” Goldenne emphasized. “By integrating four different controllers into separate spaces with both new and existing technologies, I was able to condense a massive space into one, neatly interwoven network.”
To upgrade the quality of the presentation and informational space, Digital Home Technologies outfitted the Complex’s performing arts center with a Dalite 159" Dia Tensioned Contour Electrol Screen and an Epson G6750WU Projector 6000. “We host various events for over three hundred residents, including weekly movie nights and monthly play productions,” Abdai said. “It was very important to me that I was able to control the drop-down projector right from my smartphone to ensure that everything runs smoothly.”
The Garlands of Barrington also rents out public spaces to local groups and businesses in the area. Activities ranging from real estate training sessions to local town hall meetings take place in the performing arts center. The Breakfast Rotary Club, for example, hosts events at The Garlands each Thursday. “With ELAN, I can ensure that all of the technology is up-to-par and on-schedule for these groups without having to be in the room,” Abdai added. “ELAN definitely offers a new level of customer service when we rent out the space to third parties.”
In the Grill, one of the four dining venues at The Garlands, Goldenne recommended that the Complex add an ELAN audio controller to serve as the control unit for their existing speakers. “The controller’s eight audio/video inputs allow restaurant personnel to choose from their favorite music and video sources and instantly play them on demand,” Goldenne added. “This eliminates the task of switching out a CD or physically changing the channel. Now, management personnel could simply tap their finger and pull content from any source and play it on the restaurant’s HD TV.”
In addition to customizing the public spaces for convenience, Digital Home Technologies also upgraded the on-site executive conference room with an Epson 4750 projector and a Samsung BD-F6700 Smart Blu-Ray player to accompany the room’s existing drop-down Stewart motorized screen. Now, The Garlands’ executive team can link their laptops to the screen for slideshows or informational offering presentations.
Since the project’s completion, Abdai is extremely pleased with the new system. “A handful of our closest management personnel already have the ELAN g! app on their smartphone,” Abdai continued. “ELAN allows the entire on-site management team to control the content on the HD TV at the Grill at the same time that they are dimming the lights in the surround sound theater. It’s life-changing for us.”
The Garlands of Barrington is an award-winning community for people ages 55 and older. They offer members an uncompromising lifestyle in a resort-like setting with unprecedented amenities and services.