Valley View Agri-Systems Personalizes Office With Custom Table, Lighting Fixture, and ELAN g! System

Logos are one of the most important advertising tools that exist, helping us recognize and remember world famous brands regardless of language or location. Valley View Agri-Systems, a leader in grain storage and material handling solutions, took their logo to heart when redesigning their Arkansas office to impress visitors and potential clients. Using the logo throughout their design and incorporating an intelligent control system made by ELAN, the company created a meeting and working space truly unique to their brand.

In a new conference room dubbed “the war room,” a custom-designed conference table and lighting fixture in the shape of their logo accentuate the space and reinforce the idea that Valley View Agri-Systems is in control of the meeting environment. That control is further highlighted by the advanced ELAN g! control system, which allows meeting leaders to easily manage and use the war room’s audio and video systems from an iPad docked on the conference table or an ELAN HR2 handheld remote.

According to installer Ryan Heringer, owner of Jonesboro, Arkansas-based Sound Concepts, the consolidated control of A/V in the conference room and eight separate offices gives the Valley View staff another means of impressing potential clients and visitors.

“With a few taps they can pull up presentations and videos without any complications, every time,” Heringer said. “Anyone who has frequented board rooms for presentations using technology can likely tell you how frustrating it is when things don’t work perfectly, or that it is a nuisance for someone to require advanced knowledge to simply operate the TV and audio system. What we are able to provide through the ELAN g! system is a dead-simple interface that turns everything on and presents the video options and computer connections in a truly easy format so even a first-time user can dive into operating it with ease.”

In addition to the requirement that the system be basically foolproof, keeping everything hidden was a top priority. Using in-ceiling adjustable direction speakers and the wireless ELAN g! system, the only things visible in the room are an iPad for control and the TVs on the walls. Infrared signaling and IP connectivity allows for all the processing equipment, video players and amplifiers to remain behind the scenes in a rack located in small closet in the war room.

The war room consists of a 14-seat conference table in the shape of Valley View’s bulging-rectangle logo, situated directly beneath a matching lighting fixture designed in precisely the same shape. Beyond the head of the table is a wall-mounted 80” Sharp 1080p TV, with two 65” Samsung 1080p adjustable-angle TVs flanking the table’s long sides, providing easy presentation and video viewing for every person in the room. Eight in-ceiling speakers provide clear audio without cluttering the room.

Outside the conference room the integration extends into eight offices, each featuring a wall-mounted 40” Samsung TV and a single in-ceiling speaker. An ELAN S1616A amplifier/multi-room audio controller provides power for all 16 speakers throughout the conference room and offices, and can send separate signals to each room. This way the war room conference does not affect a smaller office meeting, while everything runs through the same reliable system. The equipment rack includes nine cable boxes, one for each separate room, in addition to two Apple TVs and an Integra Blu-ray player with access to Netflix and Vudu. A Binary 16x16 HDMI matrix switch routes all video from the equipment closet to the 11 TVs.

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ELAN® Debuts World's First Universal Remote Controller Featuring Built-In Whole Home Control

A universal remote controller that offers complete home control is now a reality through the new ELAN® g1 Controller from Core Brands’ ELAN Home Systems. Requiring no monthly contract and offering a wide variety of home control functionality, the ELAN g1 is leaps and bounds ahead of other low-cost home control solutions. ELAN has been making the easiest-to-use, yet most powerful home control solutions for more than 25 years, and this is the brand’s first entry into the sub-$1,000 market. That means for about the price of a new TV, users can gain complete control not just of their televisions and home theaters but also of their entire homes. 

The ELAN g1 lets homeowners use a single handheld remote control to manage up to 16 zones of security, two electronic door locks, an audio/video receiver with up to 32 connected TVs, up to 24 lighting keypads, three thermostats, three IP surveillance cameras and up to 16 groups of irrigation. With ELAN’s deep experience in home control, the system is designed to be fully expandable to grow with any user’s home or budget. 

Everything comes in one package, including the main controller, the remote and several accessories that installers can use to maximize the system’s functionality. While using the system is as simple as using a TV, ELAN only offers the system through certified professional technology integrators. This provides users with a g! system personalized to their needs. No two users are the same, so working with a professinal integrator allows owners of homes, apartments and condos to maximize the value of their system and ensure smooth operation for years to come. A list certified integrators can be found at http://elanhomesystems.com/where_to_buy.asp.

For more information on the ELAN g1, please visit www.elanhomesystems.com.

Super Bowl Champ Greg Jennings is the MVP of His Family's Entertainment Thanks to the ELAN g! System

As an elite athlete in a team sport, Greg Jennings knows a thing or two about coordination. The Super Bowl champion, two-time Pro Bowler and current starting wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings understands that not only does he have to perform perfectly to make a play work, but every player on the team has to work together and do exactly what they are supposed to. This mindset of perfect performance carried over into his home when he recently upgraded to an ELAN g! system, which he chose because of the system’s high reliability, simple user interface, wide third-party component support and future expandability.

“We knew the ELAN system would make life easier,” Jennings said, “and it puts a new spin on the idea of less is more. Now we have less electronic components in each room with less frustration to get everything working. We instead have more functionality and more enjoyment with our automation equipment. It wouldn’t have worked for our family if it were hard to use. Now that ELAN offers new features with the g! system, I knew I wanted it! I anticipate new features and functions of my home control system like other people get excited about a new iPhone.”

Local integration firm Automation Design + Entertainment installed a legacy ELAN system with house-wide audio through Niles speakers in Jennings’ home four years ago, and when ELAN g! was introduced, integrator Peter Cook knew that Jennings needed to see it. 

“ELAN’s recent advancements in usability, component support, streaming music service support and the newer touchpanels and remotes make it one of the best home control systems available,” Cook said. “Greg and his family loved their existing ELAN system, so it was natural to recommend he check out the new functions and the new control app. The mobile accessibility is a huge benefit, especially for someone who travels a lot, and the seamless integration with his HAI security system and HAI thermostats give him complete mobile control and accessibility. They no longer have to wonder if the house is okay, because they have eight cameras that they can check in on anytime, anywhere.”

Jennings agrees that the remote access is one of the most valuable aspects, saying that “As a family that travels a lot and spends a good portion of the year away from this home, the remote access capabilities are very important to us. When I’m home, my favorite part of the system is the multi-room audio because my whole family loves their own music. Then when we’re away, it’s incredible to be able to check our cameras and security system no matter where we are. We love the peace of mind it offers.”

“Automation Design + Entertainment installed the system when we built the house four years ago, and they provided such great service and support that I never thought of hiring anyone else,” Jennings added. “I stay in touch with them pretty regularly, so when they told me about some of the expanded features of the new ELAN g! system, I worked with them to install the equipment and touchpanels I needed to bring my system up to speed. Now that it’s identical to use the system through the wall-mounted touchpanels and our mobile devices it’s easier than ever. With the g! system’s improved reliability, new user interface that is identical on all devices, mobile device operation and expanded control for thousands of products ranging from TVs to lawn irrigation systems, Jennings said that upgrading was a no brainer. 

As many parents know, having four kids under age 8 can be quite a handful, especially if you want to entertain guests. For Jennings, having many of his home’s subsystems integrated and controllable from an iPhone makes managing everything as simple as can be, so he has more time to focus on his family and guests. It also occasionally gives him an opportunity to have a bit of fun even if he isn’t in the room, as happened at a recent party.

“We entertain family and friend pretty often for Sunday dinners, and it’s so convenient to have control of everything from my iPhone,” he said. “That way if the music is too loud or the lights are too dim I can adjust it without leaving the room or interrupting a conversation. Recently I had everyone in the house laughing because I recorded a video at a previous party, and without telling anyone I started playing the audio from the video through every speaker in the house. So out of nowhere everyone started laughing inside, outside, everywhere! It was great and I couldn’t do fun things like that without the ELAN g! system.”

Multi-room audio is the biggest trend in home electronics, and Jennings system was designed to offer each member of family the best possible listening experience. The most important part of his audio system is that it’s also multi-source, so each room can play different music at the same time. And the system is so easy to operate that his 7-year-old can even choose her own music on an ipad! 

“It’s so nice to have individual control over each room, even if it’s just so I don’t have to listen to the Frozen soundtrack for the hundredth time!” Jennings joked. “My kids love that movie so they can use their iPad to play in their rooms or outside, while I enjoy my music in whatever room I happen to be in.” 

Core Brands Begins Delivering New ELAN g1 High Performance, Affordably Priced Entertainment and Control System

The new ELAN® g1 brings the award-winning ELAN Home Control Platform to the broadest range of applications.

Leveraging the capabilities of its new ELAN Control Platform, leading home entertainment and control technology manufacturer, Core Brands (a Nortek company) today began dealer deliveries of its breakthrough high-performance, affordably priced ELAN g1 entertainment and control system. The controller is designed for media rooms, smaller projects, secondary homes, builder packages and as a universal remote alternative, thus bringing the benefits of the ELAN Control Platform to a significantly wider audience.

Shipping now, the ELAN g1 System Controller is a versatile lower-point-of-entry controller and OSD extender for CI integrators and their customers.  Although affordably priced, this new controller is robustly configured with 3 IR outputs, 1 IR input, 1 bi-directional RS-232 input, 1 sensor, 1 HDMI output (720p/1080p) and 1 audio output.  Its built-in WiFi enables all of its functions to be IP controlled, and PoE enabled, it uses dramatically less energy than conventional controllers. It is shipped complete with a hand held remote, top of the line IR sensor, three IR emitters and a serial adaptor.

The g1 features integration of up to 16 zones of security; 2 door locks; media that that can control 1 AVR, 32 displays and an unlimited number of ELAN zones; as well as controls for lighting (24 devices and up to 24 custom g! keypads), climate (3 stats), video (3 IP cameras), irrigation (16 groups and 256 zones) — plus the ability to add on an unlimited number of ELAN and Core Brands attachments. 

“With the new ELAN g1, Core Brands is offering dealers a full featured, yet very affordably priced entertainment and control system that delivers more performance and greater value than is offered by competitors in similarly priced systems,” asserted Joe Lautner, Director of Control at Core Brands.  “The g1 resets the benchmarks for robust performance at a value price in the CI control market.  It’s going to enable our dealers to earn a great deal of new business in both the consumer and light commercial markets.”