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.”

Drones Are Coming to Houston as Part of a Three-Day Career Seminar!

 Anyone interested in learning everything they need to know to start a career as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) pilot should make a point to attend a special three-day seminar on “The Fundamentals of UAVs” being hosted by Unmanned Vehicle University (www.uxvuniversity.com) from March 27—29 in Houston at the Houston Marriott South Hobby Airport Hotel located at 9100 Gulf Freeway, Houston, Texas.  Unmanned Vehicle University, based in Phoenix, Arizona, is the only university in the world that is licensed to offer graduate degree programs in Unmanned Systems Engineering.

The first-of-its-kind seminar is designed to provide participants with a comprehensive introduction unmanned aerial vehicles and the many high paying career opportunities this rapidly growing field is likely to create over the next ten years.  “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have already revolutionized the way our military conducts field operations,” Unmanned Vehicle University Provost John Minor said today. 

“Now, they’re revolutionizing the way that Americans live and work every day,” Minor asserted. “The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working hard to establish the guidelines under which drones can be used in commercial applications as diverse as agriculture, construction, real estate, security, news gathering, and media production, but the one thing they have already made very clear is that properly certified training and education is mandatory. With the imminent commercialization of unmanned aerial vehicles now at hand, we will be hosting on a series of three-day seminars around the country to show how individuals can get in on the ground floor of this exciting new industry.”

For $1,999, participants will receive a comprehensive introduction to one of the fastest growing career opportunities in the world. According to Minor, UAVs are predicted to create 70,000 high paying careers over the next several years at salaries that range from $90,000 to more than $200,000. “Our three-day seminar is optimal for people looking to increase their UAV employment opportunities, start their own UAV business, or begin a career as a UAV Pilot,” Minor said. “Plus, the seminar counts as four credits towards a university undergraduate or graduate degree program.”

In addition, participants will receive free DJI drone upon completion of the three-day seminar. For more information on registration, visit http://www.uxvuniversity.com/. Any active duty member of the United States Armed Forces will automatically receive a $100 discount off the $1,999 seminar fee. Please call 602-759-7372 or email jroetzer@uxvuniverstiy.com to claim your coupon code for online ordering.

Stampede Celebrates Year of Record-Breaking Growth at CEDIA 2014

Paced by the addition of a number of new manufacturers to its vendor portfolio, along with a substantial growth in the number of dealers in its network, Stampede Presentation Products, Inc. is celebrating a record-setting year of growth at CEDIA 2014 in Denver, Colorado. 

The new manufacturers who have appointed Stampede to serve as a distribution partner include Canon Security, Circle Technologies, UC Clearone, Furman, BlueBOLT, DJI Drones, Walkera, EPSON, HP Tablets, LG Electronics Consumer, Lumens, Marshall Electronics, Mustang, Neurona/Greenpeak, Samsung Consumer, Samsung Hospitality, Sharp Consumer, SONY EVI, Vaddio, VDO360, Vision, and Wyrestorm among many others. According to Kelly, these manufacturers are electing to work with Stampede because of the depth of its market knowledge and the strength of its dealer network, which has grown to more than 11,500 dealers this past year. 

A rapidly changing industry is also playing to Stampede’s strengths, according to Kelly.  “The Age of Interactivity is now giving way to a new Age of Hyperactivity characterized by an always-fast, always-on Internet and, as a result, a new era of unprecedented opportunity is now unfolding — creating sales opportunities for dealers that were unimaginable a few short years ago. 

“At a time when the traditional AV industry is maturing, a new personalized industry is rising up to take its place, one that is built upon the ideas of connecting, integrating, and sharing devices in entirely new eco-systems built around highly customized software applications,” Kelly explained.  “This shift is challenging our industry to stop using the terms ‘audio and video’ and start using the terms ‘see, hear and control’ in order to understand the business opportunities that this shift is creating.”

Stampede has taken a number of strategic steps to empower its 11,500 dealers to take advantage of this seismic shift by consumers and professionals to connect, integrate and share devices at work, school, government and home.  “Since last year’s CEDIA Show we added 20 new product lines and several new core platforms that traditional AV products can attach to,” Kelly said. 

Even more encouraging for dealers and integrators, Stampede’s sales are growing in all three of its primary product categories — displays, projectors, and unified communications, which is by far the fastest growing segment of the company’s business. 

Kelly reaffirmed Stampede’s commitment to constantly add value to every system installation it is involved with.  “Value adds margin for our dealers,” Kelly told Vendor Summit attendees.  “And, thus far in 2014, Stampede is adding value at an unprecedented level that cannot be matched by any other distributor in the business today.  We can add this value on a consistent basis because we are focused exclusively on meeting the needs of the ProAV dealer community.  We are not distracted by other industries and market segments.  We devote 100 percent of our time and considerable resources to helping dealers grow their business.”  

Meeting the demands of growth, however, requires an expanding commitment to maintain face-to-face training, online learning, and readily available credit facilities to qualified dealers, “all of which Stampede is committed to providing,” Kelly added.  “Last year we increased our available monthly credit line by 28 percent, enabling us to serve as a bank to our dealer partners.  This year we are opening a new southwest regional office and adding to our field sales team network to increase the number of contacts we can have with dealers and their customers. ”