As we begin to shift our focus on the coming new year, Pro AV companies are still busy in the headlines.
G&D North America, the U.S. subsidiary of KVM manufacturer Guntermann & Drunck GmbH (G&D), recently celebrated the opening of its new headquarters and ControlCenter-Xperience (CCX) in Houston. You can read our full coverage here.
Exertis Almo has entered into a distribution agreement with The Glimpse Group (Glimpse). Glimpse provides enterprise-focused augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) software and services, along with professional development training for professors, teachers, and IT directors. Check out the full story here.
Avocor is now part of an $8 billion company, or thereabouts. On Sept. 25, AUO Display Plus (ADP), a subsidiary of AUO Corporation (AUO) and a global provider of industrial and commercial displays, announced the acquisition of Avocor, an innovator in collaboration and communication solutions. Get all the details here.
What else did you miss? Sit back, relax... we got you covered.
People News
K-array USA Welcomes Andrew DeCesare as New Account Manager for Corporate Accounts
K-array USA has appointed Andrew DeCesare as account manager for corporate accounts. With over two decades of experience in audiovisual integration sales, DeCesare brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the K-array team.
In his new role, DeCesare spearheads business development initiatives for KSCAPE focusing on corporate clients. His extensive background in both the corporate and entertainment sectors, coupled with his involvement in several large design projects, positions him to drive growth and expand K-array's presence in the U.S. market.
Company News
HP Strengthens Workforce Experience Platform with Acquisition of Vyopta
HP has acquired Vyopta, an Austin-based provider of collaboration management solutions, offering analytics and monitoring for large, unified communications and collaboration (UC) networks. Vyopta brings extensive expertise and infrastructure to turbocharge the development of HP’s Workforce Experience Platform and provide customers with more insights and capabilities.
The HP Workforce Experience Platform, launched earlier this year, is designed to improve the employee experience and simplify IT management by giving customers control over their digital ecosystem from a single pane of glass. Today’s news marks the next step in the Platform journey to create a more comprehensive workplace view for customers and set HP further apart from competitors.
This acquisition will accelerate HP’s existing platform strategy and expand its capabilities to include space and application management, offering customers:
- Enhanced Fleet Management with Vyopta as a core feature that provides multi-vendor monitoring, analytics, space utilization and occupancy tracking, and planning insights.
- End-to-End Insights based on telemetry captured from on premises and cloud collaboration technologies to deliver visibility across devices, applications, infrastructure, and networks and proactive troubleshooting, recommendations, and data-driven workplace decisions.
- AI-Powered Platform with accelerated Managed Collaboration Solutions integration and enriched datasets for employee experience management.
- Rebuilt SaaS Platform using a modern microservices architecture with improved integrations, scalability, and security
Blaze Audio Selects TCB Sales for Representation Throughout the United States West Region
Blaze Audio has selected TCB Sales to represent the company’s products throughout the Western United States regions of Northern California, Northern Nevada, and Hawaii. TCB Sales joined Blaze Audio in January 2024. Jill Levine, Blaze Audio’s western regional sales manager, will oversee the activities of TCB Sales.
TCB Sales is an independent sales representative firm based in Northern California. The company has been in business since 2017 and, factoring the experience of the staff, has 30-plus years of experience in selling and designing audio, video, power, sound masking, and infrastructure products. From professional audio to commercial buildings and residential installation, the company has the knowledge and access to the products that solve many integrated system requirements.
Starin Announces Partnership with Bose Professional
Starin, a Midwich Group company, and value-added distributor of unified communications and Pro AV products, announced a distribution relationship with Bose Professional.
With Starin’s continued focus on integrated audio, this partnership expands Starin’s offering to include Bose Professional audio solutions, including the innovative EdgeMax, DesignMax, and ShowMatch loudspeakers to high-performance amplifiers, configurable processors, and the ControlSpace ecosystem. Bose Professional resellers will now have access to Starin’s sales and technical services expertise and support.
Neat Opens First US Experience Center and Office
Neat opened the doors of its first U.S. experience center and office. Located at in San Jose, CA, this space will serve as both an employee workspace and an experience center for partners and customers to explore Neat’s product portfolio firsthand. The experience center is equipped with Neat and partner technologies, and includes large conference rooms, huddle spaces, open-seating theater, phone booths, an R&D lab, and hot desks.
San Jose, located in the heart of the Silicon Valley, is a natural fit for the video innovator’s first U.S. office. The office is located near local commercial hubs Santana Row and Westfield Valley Fair, making it ideal for hosting and entertaining guests. The office is the latest development in Neat’s expansion in the U.S. market. The company made several strategic US hires over the past two years, including CEO Janine Pelosi, CRO Todd Meister, head of marketing and communications Priscilla Barolo, and GM for Americas Rick Hill, as well as building a strong network of U.S. channel partners.
Pro AV Around the World
Though we focus on the North American market, make sure you check out some of the Pro AV stories across the globe.
- Atlona Adds Five Countries to EET Group’s European Distribution Territory: Atlona is spreading its partnership with commercial AV distributor EET Group throughout continental Europe, bringing Atlona closer to customers in key growth markets. EET Group will absorb all product distribution responsibilities for France, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, and provide value-added services to the resellers that provide sales and integration services in each country. EET Group will also supplement distribution services throughout Denmark to provide added support in an increasingly busy AV market.
- HH Audio Announces New Distribution Partnership with Sound Factory for the GCC: HH Audio, part of the U.K. Headstock Group of companies, has appointed Sound Factory FZCO, based in the UAE, as an official HH distribution partner in the GCC including the Middle East, CIS, and parts of Northern Africa.
