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Global Insights from Team ZeeVee
 As summer ends and a very different “vacation season” comes to a close, we at ZeeVee are taking stock of our global business as we strive for a strong finish to 2020.
In this month’s letter, I offer you a tale of three continents, with sales perspectives from the U.K and Europe, Asia and the U.S.
Rob Muddiman, EMEA Sales Director
Business Outlook in the U.K. and Europe
We all know how difficult the last few months have been for the  pro-AV industry, and ZeeVee is no exception. Thankfully, we are in a good position due to our focus on AVoIP, the dominant emerging technology. Acceptance is growing fast across all verticals and sectors, such that today we find that most large projects are designed with AVoIP as the core of AV distribution.
ZeeVee’s success has been built not just around making great products but on education. With much of the European AV industry on furlough, we took the initiative to run remote awareness and training programs aimed at end-users, not just to promote our products, but to educate integrators and end-users alike on the technology. By building their knowledge, informed decisions can be made. There is simply just too much misinformation being put out there and it’s not just a case of 1Gb versus 10Gb networks. There is more to understand before making these important decisions.
Ricky Tan, Regional Sales Manager - Southeast Asia
AVoIP Gains in Asia by Answering ‘What If’ Scenarios
 The AV market in Asia is seeing AVoIP solutions take a stronger hold among integrators and end-users. While the region has lagged behind the U.S. and EMEA in the adoption and deployment of AV over IP, we are now seeing pro AV colleagues starting to explore “what-if” scenarios that take AV beyond a single venue or room to a wider audience in multiple venues and locations. This is where AV over IP distribution starts to make sense and shows its superiority versus traditional AV matrices. The concept of “once the AV is on the network, you can send it to anywhere and everywhere” gives customers the ability to handle the growing list of “what-ifs” effectively and efficiently. In a nutshell, AVoIP is no longer something that is new or experimental—it is answering end-users needs in ways not previously possible.
Among the hottest vertical markets in Asia for AV distribution solutions in general are healthcare, education and government, particularly in command and control centers. Like Joe reports below, we have seen that projects are progressing during the current pandemic, including a university and airport in the region, as integrators and their customers take advantage of this “downtime.” So, while some projects have been temporarily halted, others have gone ahead to seize the opportunity. We firmly believe the opportunity pipeline remains healthy for the rest of 2020 and into 2021.
Joe Chordas, Vice President, Marketing & North American Sales
Taking the Long View in the U.S.
In the U.S., we are finding that integrators and consultants are  talking to their customers and planning post-COVID projects. It makes sense that these conversations are happening—even in this time of uncertainty. The lifecycle of projects take place over months, not overnight. Accordingly, more people are taking the long view and not letting current conditions put a halt to their new build and system upgrade plans. For instance, we are seeing increased engagement from end-users in the healthcare, higher education and government sectors. With many venues closed and employees working from home, we are seeing some significant projects progress without causing further interruptions to their operations.
We are confident that our continued efforts to educate pro AV professionals about the benefits and best practices for the deployment of AVoIP solutions are having an impact despite these challenging times. These programs include our new dual track series of SIGNAL Session and Certified Solution Partner Training webinars for integrators, consultants and end-users; as well as our newsletter and participation in educational activities with the SDVoE Alliance. Through these activities, we are able to hold up a fast-growing roster of real-world case histories that open the industry’s eyes to the possibilities and keep everyone focused on the prize.
There you have it – three global markets echoing similar findings on our current state of business. It’s good to see that, like us, our network of customers—from distributors to integrators and consultants to end-users—are working smarter and more nimbly than ever to move business forward.
Regards,
Bob Michaels
CEO, ZeeVee
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Mark Your Calendars for Our Upcoming Webinars
Certified Solution Partner Training - Advanced Imaging Capabilities in AV over IP -- A lesson focused on Multiview and Video Walls in the ZeeVee AV over IP ecosystem. Participants receive 1.0 CTS Credit.
Monthly ZeeVee Certified Solution Partner Training on AVoIP and RF Modulation; All participants receive up to 3.5 AVIXA CTA credits .
- October 8
- November 12
- December 10
You can get additional information and register for these webinars via this link.
Our SIGNAL Partner website provides access to past SIGNAL Session and Certified Solution Partner Training webinars. To learn more about becoming a ZeeVee SIGNAL Partner, go to this link or contact sales@zeevee.com.
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 The National Institute of Education in Singapore, which trains and provides advanced degrees to teachers, sought a solution for distributing AV presentations from its main lecture hall to four other “overflow” rooms. For this project, Multiview was an essential requirement to support presentations sourced from two cameras and a PC. The AVoIP system NIE created included ZyPer4K HDMI copper encoders, ZyPer4K fiber decoders, the ZyPer Management Platform and the ZyPer Power Center.
Singapore Pools, a lottery and sports betting operation, is  upgrading its broadcast system from analog to digital. The betting center has separate areas designated for different types of betting. The new broadcast system will need to show an array of horse racing and sporting events simultaneously on different channels. All incoming video sources are sent to the ZeeVee HDBridge 3000 and broadcast over the gaming firm’s existing RF coaxial network. Additional ZeeVee gear used for the project includes HDBridge 3000 RF/IP media module blades and the ZySync DVB-T digital set top box.
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It’s All About Control…
ZeeVee’s ZyPer Management Platform (ZyPerMP) is a robust solution for configuring, maintaining and facilitating day-to-day use of AV systems based on our ZyPer family of products. However, many end-users choose to use a control system, which offers a single screen touch panel that enables them to direct AV signals to monitors on-the-fly and conduct other commands, without using a computer or going online.
From our beginnings, we decided not to manufacture our own control system as there were already a great number of reliable solutions on the market. Our focus, instead, has been on facilitating compatibility with these familiar systems through our ZyPerMP.
Flash forward to today and you’ll find that compatibility with ZyPer4K, ZyPerUHD and ZyPerHD is one of our major market differentiators. We work perfectly well with leading control systems from Crestron, RTI, QSC (Q-Sys Control), Control4, Barco (Overture), Elgato (Stream Deck) and DTVGameControl.
Our compatibility with these leading control systems is achieved through built-in support or the use of external modules or drivers, which interface between the primary controller and the ZyPerMP to translate commands. We not only support the most basic and common API commands, to allow the routing of video from any source to any destination, but also the ability to activate special features such as multiview and video walls.
This approach has led to our success across a broad array of vertical markets from hospitality, retail and enterprise to medical, healthcare and education. Supporting this approach is our fully-documented API for the ZyPerMP which enables control system manufacturers, customizing older systems or introducing new systems, to make them compatible with our family of products.
So, when you speak with your customers or think about system control for your own in-house applications, think ZeeVee. No other manufacturer has the ability to match up with as many of the control systems from the industry’s leading providers. Contact your rep or sales@zeevee.com for additional information.
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SDVoE: Just What the Doctor Ordered for Medical Applications
 AV plays an important role in today’s medical and healthcare facilities. As the health and well-being of countless patients are at stake, requirements for participation in this market are properly stringent. This is especially true regarding the visual precision needed for surgical instruments and the complex procedures in which they are used.
High quality video with reliable two-way audio is also essential in “connecting” doctors in operating theaters, labs and lecture halls to the colleagues with whom they are consulting and to students they are instructing that may be located in another part of a building, across a campus or anywhere in the world.
To meet the exacting needs of today’s medical applications, SDVoE AV signal distribution is proving the best solution. In fact, we’ve seen strong examples of where this technology is being leveraged at hospitals and healthcare facilities in Europe and Australia.
A strong case in point is the AV system in the Quadram Institute in Norwich, England, a groundbreaking medical center focusing on food science and health, that was installed by our UK partner Snelling Business Systems. The new $105 million facility houses one of the UK’s largest endoscopic and bowel cancer screening suites capable of handling more than 40,000 procedures a year, making it one of the largest in Europe.
To support its crucial diagnostic, teaching and research mandates, the facility’s administrators created an SDVoE AV system, driven by ZeeVee ZyPer4K encoders and decoders for fiber Ethernet to capture and stream AV sources over a 10G optical IP network. The AV system optimizes its ability to accommodate procedures with video imaging of the highest quality (4K 4:4:4) with near zero latency, as well as to elevate the level of collaboration between clinicians, students and researchers in another room, across the campus or in another part of the world.
The SDVoE solution is ideal for procedures that are being monitored in remote locations, the system also enables two-way audio and uncompressed 4K video with near zero latency from multiple sources simultaneously. These sources can include cameras at the tip of medical instruments, as well as those that shows exactly where the tool is during procedures; a wide-angle view of the operating theater; and a “clinician view” that enables the audience to see the technique being employed by the doctor. The image quality of video captured during medical procedures is also important for monitoring coloration and texture of membrane and tissue which could be a cause of concern.
Another key benefit of SDVoE AV systems in the medical sector is galvanic isolation, which eliminates stray currents that compromise visual acuity during procedures.
Offering additional value to medical facility end-users and integrators is the worry-free deployment and configuration of SDVoE systems. For instance, ZeeVee products are auto-discovered by the ZyPer Management Platform that controls the system. In addition, IP switches, including those from Netgear, are pre-configured for AVoIP distribution.
Lastly, the SDVoE solution ensures future-proofing of medical AV systems by not limiting the system to a set number of inputs and outputs that cannot be changed without replacing an expensive traditional matrix switch. This and 10-bit HDR support enables institutions to expand their applications with the latest technology at any future point without having to replace the core infrastructure.
Working on projects in the medical/healthcare arena? Contact your ZeeVee rep or sales@zeevee.com to see how we can be of assistance.
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SDVoE Alliance Blog
Interview with Bob Michaels
July 23, 2020
 In this post I sat down with Bob Michaels of ZeeVee. We touched on a lot of topics, including ZeeVee’s history as one of the earliest adopters of SDVoE (before it was SDVoE!), and the insight that lead Bob and his team to completely skip HDBaseT and move straight into AV over IP. Bob even claims that ZeeVee pushed NETGEAR into the pro AV space, as my interview with Laurent Masia seems to confirm. LINK TO ENTIRE STORY
AVNetwork
Netgear M4300-96X Feature (ZeeVee mention)
July 15, 2020
“Netgear's pro AV line of switches includes a wide range of  switches for all types of AV over IP installations: both 1Gb to 10Gb. Our switch line includes half-rack width, full-rack width, and even a 2RU modular switch—the M4300-96X—that accommodates a wide variety of cards. And our partners at DVIGear and ZeeVee offer a nifty HDMI encoder module for our 96X switch that allows you to encode 4 HDMI streams using SDVoE technology right there at the switch—no need for external encoders.“ LINK TO ENTIRE STORY
Installation Mag Tech/Design (Italian)
Webinar SIGNAL Session di ZeeVee per la videoproiezione PRO
August 21, 2020
 (Translated from Italian) Among the many advantages offered by ZyPer4K, compared to traditional matrix switching solutions, is the ability to create multiviews and video walls without additional hardware. In addition, support for genlock and frame sync for video projection allows you to easily position and move content within the video wall space for virtually endless visual possibilities. Projector Edge Blending will also be discussed, which allows multiple projectors to display each part of an image, creating a single large image without interruptions. LINK TO ENTIRE STORY
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The Employee of the Month – Oscar Purwin
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 Meet Oscar Purwin, ZeeVee’s Principle Software Engineer, who has worked with us since 2007 and has been an integral part of software development on nearly every product we’ve brought to market. From the ZvPro 280 to the ZyperMX4, he is very proud of his ability to combine his knowledge and experience from past products to create the next-generation gear that will revolutionize the pro AV industry.
“This year has been a rollercoaster,” said Oscar. “But I’m thankful to be working with such a close-knit family at ZeeVee. It’s a great experience to collaborate with smart and understanding people every day.”
Oscar is amazed at how fast the pro AV industry is growing, from both a producer and consumer standpoint. He draws a comparison between it and the network company expansions of the 1990s. Everyone wants audio and video – and they want it everywhere. ZeeVee creates and provides seamless market solutions that meet this demand. Oscar is particularly proud of his part in pushing the limits of what the pro AV industry can achieve.
“We work hard, really hard, to make our customers happy. There’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to get an effective solution from the company from which you brought a product. If I have the knowledge to improve someone’s experience with our products, why wouldn’t I do that,” said Oscar.
When he isn’t with his work family, Oscar can be found in Carlisle, Massachusetts, with his spouse, three children and Bluetick Coonhound. In his free time, he and his family love biking, hiking, skiing, spending time at the beach and enjoying countless other adventures.
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