Supersummit, the flagship event for Certified Solution Providers of the PSNI Global Alliance, is set to take place virtually on March 30.
Ahead of the event, AVNetwork caught up with some of PSNI's Preferred Vendor Partners to get the scoop on their latest products and hear why they're looking forward to the 2021 Supersummit.
Interview with John Henkel, pro AV product marketing manager at Netgear Business.
AVNETWORK: What changes has your company made during the COVID-19 pandemic?
JOHN HENKEL: Really there were not a lot of changes we have had to make. We already had a distributed team from around the world working together. I’d say the main change is that we really ramped up our online presence with more webinars, virtual meetings, and—of course—virtual trade shows.
AVN: How can integrators better position themselves to profit from the products and/or services you have to offer?
JH: Netgear realized years ago that we needed to make things easier for the AV integrator. Coming from the IT world, our switches were very, very capable at a reduced price from other IT switches. However, they can be complicated for an AV customer. So, we made our switches work out of the box in most configurations and developed a new AV-centered GUI for an even easier way to change the configuration when needed. All of this means integrators can feel more confident about deploying AV over IP and spend less time on the network configuration—which directly translates to money in the pocket!
AVN: Tell us about your latest product.
JH: Our latest products, the AV Line of M4250 switches, were just expanded to include higher port counts and larger PoE budgets rounding out this line of “built from the ground up for pro AV” switches. They look different than other switches—perfect for an AV rack or in a conference room. They function different than other switches; they work out of the box for most configurations and have a new, simple-to-use GUI. They even have software-controllable fans for noise-sensitive environments and extra mounting options for outside the rack.
AVN: What are you most looking forward to at the 2021 PSNI Supersummit?
JH: We want to hear about how integrators are finding new opportunities for business and what challenges they are experiencing. We want to help lessen the pain points and help grow their business ... and we are looking forward to connecting with people!
