Biamp Harnesses the Power of AVB with Tesira
Quick Bio
COMPANY: Biamp
HEADQUARTERS: Beaverton, OR
FOUNDED: 1976
OBJECTIVE: Change the scale of possibilities for the way communications systems are designed and installed, affording new configuration options based on IT infrastructure.
In the time leading up to InfoComm in Orlando, FL last month, Biamp’s marketing efforts boldly proclaimed, “Change is coming.” This mantra was also ever-present internally at Biamp’s sales meeting this past April in Portland, OR, where vice president of North American sales Ron Camden opened the proceedings with a mix of humble northwestern earnestness and genuine excitement. “This will be a game changer,” he declared. “Not only in this business, but in the IT business as well.”
Integrators have the option of customizing Tesira with up to eight DSP-2s, for a total of 16 DSPs, in a single chassis, with up to 420x420 audio channels over a scalable digital media backbone (AVB).
The promised change arrived with the unveiling of Tesira, Biamp’s scalable media system for digital audio networking using Audio Video Bridging (AVB) as the primary digital media transport. Touted as an “enterprise-wide solution,” Tesira is made up of intelligent network modules that share and boost performance. It is equipped with modular scalable inputs and outputs, DSPs, and networked end-points, providing system design capabilities that include centralized, distributed, and hybrid applications. Integrators will also have the option of customizing Tesira with up to eight DSP-2s, for a total of 16 DSPs, in a single chassis, with up to 420x420 audio channels over a scalable AVB backbone.
True to Camden’s comment, the Tesira series was designed with the intention of improving relations between AV and IT. Along with the ease-of-setup brought about by AVB’s streamlined approach to networking, Tesira also brings expandability and upgradability in a cost-competitive package.
“Generally there are two reasons to come out with a new product—filling a need or keeping up with the competition,” noted Biamp vice president of business development Matt Czyzewski. “We are doing both.”
Among the problems Tesira solves from a business standpoint is scale. Its capacity will allow Biamp dealers to gain access to an increased number of medium to extra-large projects. Rather than supplanting Biamp’s existing products, Tesira’s aim is to help “get markets you haven’t been able to get,” Czyzewski said. “That’s how this product has been envisioned and scaled.”
After joining the AVnu Alliance two years ago, Biamp jumped head first into development of products based on the AVB platform. No stranger to network protocols, Biamp was an early CobraNet adopter and will continue to support the format with its existing products. But “all Tesira products are going to be AVB, period,” Czyzewski emphasized.
As the AV industry continues to move away from hardware sales into an advanced service provider model, Tesira will usher in new sales techniques. The card-based functionality of Tesira is a platform familiar to those in the IT world, and that industry long ago mastered the art of charging more for its services and the capabilities they can add with a single card swap. “We have to change the way we sell,” Biamp’s Ron Camden concluded. “We’re selling servers now. We’re not selling rooms. We’re selling campuses.”
Kirsten Nelson is editor of SCN.
