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 Dane Roth, Director, Global Media Relations at Shure.
AVNETWORK: What changes has your company made during the COVID-19 pandemic?
DANE ROTH: Over the past year, Shure has worked diligently to protect the health and safety of all our Associates while maintaining business continuity and limiting disruptions for our customers. Our sales, technical support, customer service, and operations teams have been operating as usual and supporting our users as we have always done, although we’ve had to adjust to the changing needs of our customers and the industry.
What has emerged as a clear picture is that more people will be relying on virtual conferencing, now and in future. From businesses adopting a mix of office and remote working, to educational facilities changing to distance learning and hybrid classrooms, our customers are evaluating their conferencing needs and scalability, determining what makes the most sense for their users to stay connected.
Interestingly, even before the pandemic, a Shure-commissioned survey among 401 business professionals and IT experts found that only 36 percent of the people surveyed believed that their organizations had the right technology to support virtual meetings, while three out of five felt their employers needed to make improvements. Now that more and more business is being conducted virtually, having the right audio conferencing equipment—and support—is essential and Shure is poised to be a leader in providing solutions in this area.
AVN: How can integrators better position themselves to profit from the products and/or services you have to offer?
DR: With the changes that COVID-19 has brought to organizations across all sectors, there is a heightened emphasis on virtual conferencing solutions to keep people connected. Not everyone will return to the office or campus immediately—if at all. In order to maintain productivity, it’s important to provide the same audio quality to all users, regardless of their location.
For our certified integrators, we have provided guidance to help them identify and capture AV opportunities in this new business environment, and point them towards where their knowledge, skills, and specific Shure solutions will be most in demand. A comprehensive report is available exclusively to our partners, but as a key takeaway, it’s critical to add value for customers which includes:
- Invest in training. Discover available solutions, how they can be used to solve customers’ specific problems, and learn about key technologies and industry developments.
- Keep in touch with your customers. Understanding what customers are thinking, what they need, and their concerns can be invaluable. The more you understand them, the more you can be ready to go when they need you.
- Be agile and creative. People’s needs have changed, so learn as much as you can, consider new ways in which technology can be utilized to solve problems, and be flexible in your approach.
- Add services. Think about how you can add value to your offering. There‘s a huge opportunity to continue to be the specialists; the vast majority of products are not at a point where they don’t require an integrator, so your skills will be in demand.
To continue to succeed, we will have to be proactive, responsive, flexible, and maintain a focus on supporting customers as they transition to a ‘better normal’, whether that’s within an enterprise, a learning environment, government facility, or elsewhere.
AVN: Tell us about your latest product.
DR: Last year, we introduced the Shure Audio Ecosystem , which provides a flexible audio system architecture for all room types and sizes, and ensures end users can experience a high-quality, more unifying AV conference experience. As the market is looking at AV technologies geared around simple deployment, intuitive operation, and seamless compatibility with leading collaboration platforms, Shure is offering a complete solution in one place comprising
- Microphones: Ceiling Array Microphones, Table Array Microphones, and Linear Array Microphones
- Loudspeaker: Networked Ceiling Loudspeaker
- DSP: Audio Conferencing Processor and Audio Processing Software
- Software: System Configuration Software and Remote Management Software
- Accessories: Network Mute Button and Audio Network Interfaces
Click here to read a review of Shure's Audio Ecosystem.
AVN: What are you most looking forward to at the 2021 PSNI Supersummit?
DR: Shure has partnered with PSNI Global Alliance for many years and we are always excited to get a chance to directly interact with its Certified Solution Providers and other Preferred Vendor Partners. Being close to our partners enables us to get first-hand insights and identify how we can work together to adapt and better serve our mutual customers. While of course we would appreciate being able to meet in person, the virtual exhibition platform that PSNI has chosen for its Supersummit ’21 promises some great interactions with attendees, and we look forward to catching up with partners from around the world. Our teams in the U.S., Europe, and Asia will be online throughout all regional sessions of the virtual summit and we encourage all attendees to reach out and discuss some of the new innovations and strategies we can adopt to get ahead of the curve and change with our industry.
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