APG Displays Opens U.S. Headquarters and Expands Its United States Marketing Program at InfoComm 2015

Underscoring its commitment to provide all of North America with specialist AV distribution services and a series of unique wholesale-only rental partnerships, APG Displays, Canada’s leading distributor of video walls and other displays, is announcing its expanded U.S. marketing program and the opening of a U.S. headquarters office and showroom in Orlando, Florida. The announcement was made by APG Displays President David Weatherhead at InfoComm 2015 at Booth #3569 in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

“We’re excited to expand further into the United States marketplace,” Weatherhead said today. “Our new office allows us to better support our resellers and wholesale sub-rental partners. Plus, we will be in closer proximity to key rental and staging customers who service exhibits.”

The new office also puts APG Displays closer to the event market in Orlando. Prospective resellers and sub-rental clients can now visit the space and tour the demonstration showroom before purchasing or renting video walls. “This expansion makes it easier for our clients in Orlando to select displays,” Weatherhead added. “It also simultaneously broadens our reach in the U.S. market.”

At InfoComm 2015, APG Displays is showcasing displays and visual solutions from leading manufacturers like Prysm, Leyard, Orion, and NEC. “Our objective is to offer the U.S. market the same range of solutions backed by an exceptional level of support that our Canadian customers have long come to expect from APG,” Weatherhead said. 

The United States headquarters and showroom are being managed by Dan Ayerst, who noted that, “No other company is better able to meet the needs of resellers who want to sell video wall technologies or rental companies who need access to cutting-edge digital displays than APG Displays. We offer the most comprehensive portfolio of large video display solutions, each with customized accessories, technical support, and full system design and installation services. We’re very excited to bring our services to Orlando and the United States in general.”

The new office is located at 7685 Currency Dr, Orlando, FL, 32809. For more information, visithttp://www.apgdisplays.com/. 

Drones Offer Pro AV Dealers an Unprecedented New Revenue Opportunity as Surveillance Applications Take Off

Drones are becoming increasingly important in assisting first responders and law enforcement officials in the area of surveillance, according to Stampede President & COO Kevin Kelly, who today asserted that this increase in drone usage offers ProAV dealers an unprecedented new opportunity in security, live event, and law enforcement surveillance applications.

“It should come as no surprise that one of the most immediate and promising applications of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, is in the area of surveillance,” Kelly said. “Law enforcement officers, first responders, live event producers — anyone engaged in the critically important tasks of security and surveillance are quickly understanding the benefits of drones, and the FAA is beginning to allow their use for these applications.” 

Just last month, according to Kelly, the Michigan State Police department became the first police force in the nation to receive statewide authorization by the FAA to use drones for law enforcement purposes. After reviewing the department’s safety and program procedures, the FAA approved the use of an unmanned aircraft to photograph crash sites, search for lost people, inspect natural disasters and conduct surveillance. 

“All of these applications are casebook examples of how an exciting new technology like drones can be immediately incorporated by ProAV dealers into their product mix,” Kelly added.  “Our industry, collectively, has the dealer network with the expertise in the video category and the vertical market end-user relationships required to seamlessly integrate drones into meaningful solutions that save time, money and in some cases, lives." 

According to Kelly, two issues have stood in the way of making the use of drones a practical reality for customers who need and rely upon cost-effective surveillance solutions in their day-to- day life — concerns about privacy and the availability of educational resources to train drone operators.  “In my opinion, both of these concerns can now be addressed in a way that allows for this remarkable new technology to quickly become a mainstream part of 21st century surveillance,” Kelly commented. 

The FAA has made it very clear that it is in the process of developing standards and guidelines for the safe and legal use of drones in commercial applications, in ways that do not violate an individual’s right to privacy. The guiding principle in this process is to make sure that drones are used, not in a broad general way, but rather in an controlled environment where the owner/operator would have a right to have a security professional present. “The altitude limit of 500 feet further ensures that drones used for surveillance will not be used to monitor the activities of the at large general population,” Kelly added. 

Secondly, Kelly said, there is now a very clear path forward for ProAV dealers seeking to offer their drone customers a complete solution.  “Thanks to a strategic alliance Stampede has formed with Unmanned Vehicle University (www.uxvuniversity.com) ProAV dealers will now be able to purchase and resell to their customers specific certified courses that will enable them to operate drones in a safe and sanctioned way,” he added. 

Unmanned Vehicle University is now designing dedicated manufacturer based product training that is customized to show vertical market specific dealers how to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles into their product offerings to customers.  Finally, there is a way to educate dealers on how to integrate drones into their commercial offering and then provide the necessary training to both their employees on the category and their customers on how to operate the drones, providing a complete turnkey solution.  What’s more, the dealers will profit when they resell UVU’s unique training courses.  

“The size commercial drone market will grow to be 12% of the $98-billion in cumulative global spending on aerial drones over the next decade,” Kelly added. “This partnership with UVU will help our customers to be ready to go when these licensing and training regulations are finalized. It will also allow our dealers to offer UVU’s training courses to their end-users as part of their camera drone offering and profit on every class they sell.”

Advanced Brings York University Atrium To Life With Stunning Ultra-Thin Bezel Videowall Installation!

York University’s Schulich School of Business, one of the world’s top business schools, wanted to replace their dim projector screen with a vivid display to compliment the modern aesthetic of their new atrium. To do so, they turned to Advanced, Canada’s leading AV integrator, to envision and install a 4x4 panel 55” LCD ultra-thin bezel videowall in the school’s new space.

“Advanced is honored to have been selected for this prestigious project,” Advanced President David Weatherhead said today. “The school’s former projector screen was not compatible with the room’s natural light. We were able to replace the old system with a videowall that vividly delivers content to students.”

The ultra-thin LCD bezel videowall with a 4mm seam gap is made up of 16 panels to display one, complete image. The content feed, comprised of announcements, videos and photos, is managed from the network operations room. All content is managed and displayed by a BrightSign XD digital media player.

“The ultra-thin bezel LCD videowall is the ideal technology for this space because it is as visually stunning in high ambient light and more cost effective than traditional LED displays,” Weatherhead said. “The videowall’s content distribution mechanism allows administrators to send an image to any monitor from the network operations room. This gives them complete control over the content in real time.”

What’s more, the videowall is easily serviceable due to the unique pull-out videowall bracket system Advanced installed. Since the University runs the display twelve hours per day, it’s important that the videowall can be easily serviced should a failure happen.  “The videowall mounting system allows for increased maintenance flexibility, which is vital when managing a display in a public space,” Weatherhead added.

Known as Canada’s Global Business School™, the Schulich School of Business in Toronto is ranked among the world’s leading business schools by a number of global surveys. Schulich’s MBA program is ranked #1 in the world by the Aspen Institute (a Washington, DC-based leadership think tank) in a global survey that identifies which schools are doing the best job of preparing future business leaders for the environmental, social and ethical complexities of modern-day business. Schulich’s MBA program is ranked #1 in Canada by Forbes.

Advanced Makes Pro A/V Accessible With Its New Web Store!

Underscoring its commitment to providing AV services to professionals across Canada, Advanced, North America’s leading AV integrator, today announced the launch of the “Advanced Store”, a fully transactional web store that provides Canadian customers with professional audio and video products. 

“Advanced Store is focused on professional AV,” Advanced Co-President David Weatherhead said today. “We’re differentiating ourselves by providing highly trained technical sales staff and strong customer service.  With Advanced Store, we are offering customers an accessible and easy-to-use platform to order products directly from manufactures.” 

Advanced Store is serviced by InfoComm qualified sales and customer service staff to ensure that each customer’s most technical AV questions are thoroughly answered. Additionally, Advanced has developed its own training plan to support new hires to the Advanced Store team. “We’re committed to providing the best customer service staff in the AV web business,” Weatherhead added.

The website is fully integrated with Advanced’s logistic systems, allowing for instant warehouse dispatch, live inventory, and automatic FedEx tracking. Plus, all products are offered at discounted rates.

“Many web stores that sell pro AV products don’t get close to integration services. Since Advanced has in-house technical design and installation knowledge, we can provide real value to our web clients,” Weatherhead said. “This website will compliment Advanced’s current site, which offers complete system integration services. We want our customers to rely on us as a one-stop-shop to suit all of their professional audio/visual needs.” 

The store, officially launched today is accessible at store.advanced-inc.com.

APG Displays Strengthens Its North American Presence With New Office in Orlando, Florida

Underscoring its commitment to provide North America with specialist AV distribution services and a unique wholesale-only rental partnerships, APG Displays, Canada’s leading distributor of video walls and other displays, today announced its expansion from Canada into the United States market with the opening of a new 5000 square-foot office and showroom in Orlando, Florida.

“We’re proud to announce our greatly anticipated expansion into Orlando,” APG Displays President David Weatherhead said today. “This new office allows us to better support our resellers and wholesale sub-rental partners. Plus, we will be in closer proximity to key rental and staging customers who service exhibits.”

The new office also puts APG Displays closer to the event market in Orlando. Prospective resellers and sub-rental clients can now visit the space and tour the demonstration showroom before purchasing or renting videowalls.  “This expansion makes it easier for our clients in Orlando to select displays,” Weatherhead added. “It also simultaneously broadens our reach in the U.S. market.”

This past year, APG Displays has experienced record-breaking growth, having signed a North American distribution agreement with Green Hippo for their new AViary Video Processor Range.

“No other distributor is better able to meet the needs of resellers who want to sell video wall technologies or rental companies who need access to cutting-edge digital displays than APG Displays,” APG Displays General Manager Dan Ayerst said today. “We offer the most comprehensive portfolio of large video display solutions, each with customized accessories, technical support, and full system design and installation services. We’re very excited to bring our services to Orlando.”

The new office is located at 7685 Currency Dr, Orlando, FL, 32809. For more information, visit http://www.apgdisplays.com/.