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Here’s to You, the Holidays and Remembering What’s Important
 I read a quote somewhere that said, “I am staying up until midnight this New Year’s Eve—not to see 2021 come, but to see 2020 go.” While this draws a smile or a thoughtful nod from most, it is important to stay positive and remember what is important this holiday season. At ZeeVee, we are grateful to be able to say that we have remained 100% intact as a company throughout this trying time.
The pandemic has been a major disruptor to business. But along with some handwringing, we’ve heard stories of how many of our customers have found ways to move forward that may have exceeded their expectations. Some engaged their clients in discussions about projects that will commence post-COVID, while others took advantage of empty buildings these last months to initiate or complete projects. Across the board, they brainstormed innovative ideas that will better serve their businesses during COVID and beyond.
We took a good look at our business too. To combat any disconnection between us and our customers during COVID, we launched our SIGNAL Sessions and Certified Solution Partner Training webinars. We further enhanced our SIGNAL Partner program while doubling down on our SIGNAL Boost newsletter to keep everyone apprised of company developments and news. These have proven to be solid methods to start and continue conversations that are meaningful and important to our mutual success.
Looking back over the year, we have additional reasons to be grateful. We entered some of the most notable partnerships and projects in ZeeVee’s 12-year history. We bolstered our presence in key markets with leading distributors around the globe including Midwich in the UK, Itochu in Japan and Supertron in India. Our AVoIP, RF and video streaming products were featured in projects serving a wide array of applications including, but not limited to, entertainment, enterprise, higher education, government and hospitality markets.
No doubt most of you can recall your own victories in 2020 that have strengthened your resolve and heightened your sense of pride. I believe that all of us in the global ZeeVee community can agree—hard work pays off regardless of the business environment.
In this time of the year when we huddle (either virtually or in-person) with our families or others close or important to us—the very people for which we make our best efforts in life and in the workplace—we can take satisfaction in knowing we all found a way to get through 2020 and that 2021 will offer new possibilities to thrive.
Happy holidays and all the best to you, your families and your colleagues.
Bob Michaels
CEO, ZeeVee
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Mark Your Calendars for Our Upcoming Webinars
- December 10: ZeeVee Certified Solution Partner Training on AVoIP and RF Modulation: These popular monthly training classes provide participants a foundation or terrific refresher on the foundation elements of AV over IP and RF along with a primer of all associated ZeeVee products. The AVoIP class provides 2.5 AVIXA CTS credits while those who attend the RF course receive 1.0 credits.
Click here to register.
- December 15: SIGNAL Sessions – Episode 5 – Why Network Cabling Matters for Your AV over IP Applications: Partnering with ZeeVee, The Siemon Company will provide background on the need for higher-performance network cabling to support the bandwidth demands of AV over IP systems. Building off Siemon's information, ZeeVee will provide a rundown of other planning elements that should be considered to ensure that a network is properly engineered to support the delivery of audio and video whether compressed JPEG2000 (1Mbps) or uncompressed 4K SDVoE (10Mbps)
Click here to register.
- December 16: SIGNAL Sessions – Episode 6 - How to do Interactive Touch with Planar Direct-View LED Displays and ZeeVee’s AV over IP Solutions: Richard Threadgill, Regional Account Manager for Planar. will show how to do interactive touch with Planar’s next-generation of ERO LED products making touch LED a functional reality. James Chordas, Territory Manager for ZeeVee, will discuss how ZeeVee enables IP-based media distribution solutions and how easy it is to distribute and manage your AVoIP video signal delivery to all your Planar interactive touch endpoints.
Click here to register.
- December 17: Advanced Imaging with ZeeVee Director of Product Management Art Weeks: Another ZeeVee fan favorite as part of our instructor-led Certified Solution Partner Training, Art will provide a technical dive into how ZyPer4K (SDVoE) and ZyPerUHD (JPEG2000) AVoIP encoders and decoders, as well as the ZyPer Management Platform, work together to enable eye-popping multiviews, blended projection images and video walls. Earn 1.0 credit for this course.
Click here to register.
You can get additional information and register for these, and other upcoming events, via this link.
Our SIGNAL Partner website provides access to past SIGNAL Session webinars. To learn more about becoming a ZeeVee SIGNAL Partner, go to this link or contact sales@zeevee.com.
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Have you become a ZeeVee SIGNAL Partner yet?
 Now’s a great time to become a ZeeVee SIGNAL Partner. We’ve just added major enhancements to our SIGNAL Partner portal that provides you with access to a richer package of timely and comprehensive technical enablement, business development and financial resources essential for success in the AV market.
Registered partners gain access to an improved portal interface that provides real-time notifications and communications on products and company news. Among the highlights of the program’s enhancements, partners now gain faster access to resources such as:
- A streamlined deal registration process and associated benefit
- More in-depth tech primers, white papers and training videos in “Art’s Corner,” created by Director of Product Management Art Weeks
- A formal minimum advertised pricing (MAP) policy to protect partners in the marketplace
- Exclusive on-demand access to all previous ZeeVee SIGNAL Sessions and
- The complete archive of all ZeeVee SIGNAL Boost newsletters
To learn more about the SIGNAL Partner Program, please go to partners.zeevee.com or contact your ZeeVee sales rep.
Featured Partners
 Telmark Supply S.A.C.: We are happy to announce a key partner in South America, Peru, based distributor Telmark Supply S.A.C. A leading telecommunications company, Telmark is expanding its business to provide its market with SDVoE AVoIP solutions featuring our ZyPer4K and ZyPerUHD products. The company’s philosophy is “No matter what you do, you can always do better.” We fully agree!
Bild + Ton: This Swiss integrator’s staff of 130 employees does it all—from consulting to project  management to the installation of entire AV systems. As an independent subsidiary of a group of companies, Bild +Ton can access an array of competencies at any time so that customers enjoy all-around service from a single source. The high level of competence and team spirit of the employees creates the positive dynamics that promote long-term relationships with partners and clients.
 Siemon: Siemon is an industry leader specializing in the design and manufacture of high quality, high performance IT infrastructure solutions and services for data centers, enterprise LANs and intelligent buildings. Headquartered in Watertown, Connecticut, and with global sales, technical and logistics expertise spanning 100 countries, Siemon offers the most comprehensive suite of copper and optical fiber cabling systems, cabinets, racks, cable management, data center power and cooling systems and intelligent infrastructure management solutions. Don’t miss the webinar we are co-hosting with Siemon on December 15 (see ZeeVee University column for more details and registration link).
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“NA” HD RF Video Encoders / QAM Modulators Now Ship in “Test” Mode
 Our latest “NA” model HD RF video encoders/QAM modulators, like the now retired “MX” versions, are pre-configured in “test” mode to pass HDCP content out-of-the-box—saving integrators significant time and effort. Now, partners purchasing products with the “NA” suffix no longer need to contact ZeeVee support for an “enable code” to do this. Discontinuing the “MX” versions of these products eliminates the confusion between similar model numbers that have led to ordering and fulfillment errors in the past.
ZeeVee ZyPerMX2 and ZyPerMX4 Encoders Support Seven Streaming Formats
ZyPerMX2 and ZyPerMX4 now support seven streaming formats, including RTMP, for direct streaming to YouTube Live, Wowza, Twitch, IBM USTREAM and Sermon platforms, and RTSP that establishes and controls media sessions between endpoints.
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‘SDVoE Live! Tuesday Talk with AV Pros’ Prompts Industry Conversations
In a move to provide a platform to communicate with the industry during COVID and beyond, the SDVoE Alliance has announced a new “edutainment” series called SDVoE Live! Tuesday Talk with AV Pros that will provide pro AV news commentary, training on a variety of important pro AV concepts, illuminating case studies, panel discussions and more. The debut episode, “A New Architecture for Network Convergence,” was posted on December 1.
The 30-minute shows are scheduled for every other Tuesday and will be hosted by SDVoE Alliance president Justin Kennington from Cape Cod, Massachusetts and SDVoE Alliance head of education Matt Dodd from Tiverton, United Kingdom. Special guests will take part in many episodes. In fact, ZeeVee’s Head of Business Development - UK & Ireland Charlie Sullivan will be featured in the February 9 episode entitled “Why Samsung Doesn’t Use AMX.”
The program’s hosts look to strike a balance between entertaining and educating viewers.
“We’ll have fun, but we will also provide the high-quality education that system designers, integrators and tech managers have come to expect from the SDVoE Academy,” said Kennington. “No one else in pro AV is doing this and it’s about time. Different to other prominent Americans, I am leveraging my presidency into reality TV stardom.”
“You’ll have a know-it-all Brit and an opinionated Texan facing off on controversial topics in pro AV,” said Dodd. “There are bound to be sparks and that will be part of the fun.”
Additional episodes, that will post on Tuesdays at 1 PM ET (New York), include:
- December 15 – “What is a Network, Anyway?”
- December 29 – “Leveraging Fiber Optics for Video Distribution” with guest Gary Vlaeminck, Cleerline Technology Group
- January 12 – “HDR Explained” with guest Stéphane Tremblay, Semtech
- January 26 – “The 8K Revolution in Pro AV” with guest Chris Chinnock, 8K Association
Additional information is available at sdvoe.org/live/.
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AV Technology
Vegas’ Westgate Resort & Casino Overhauls AV Distribution
November 19, 2020
 The Westgate’s massive Super Book video wall is comprised of 1,428 Daktronics LED tiles for a dazzling total of 26,000 x 2,200 pixels. To teach it some new tricks, the decision was made to transition from a traditional AV switching system to AV-over-IP signal distribution. The original backend was replaced by ZeeVee ZyPer4K SDVoE encoders and decoders, which run through Netgear M4500 switches to provide advanced routing, flexibility, and multi-matrix switching for a wide array of content. As a result of the upgrade, NMR was able to engineer 175 different multiviews—equaling a dozen multiviews per screen—that displays a seemingly endless combination of images simultaneously. LINK TO ENTIRE STORY
TechRadar Pro
Embracing IT innovations for AV applications
October 21, 2020
“There is no single AV solution that is going to work for all customers universally,” said Steve Metzger,  ZeeVee co-founder and VP, Hardware and Operations. “If you have medical operating theaters or control room applications, the requirements are stringent in terms of video quality and latency, and the price paid is bandwidth and network capacity. School systems tend to be more budget focused. Sub-frame latency may not be as important, so compressed solutions fit the bill. We have leading solutions for those applications as well.” LINK TO ENTIRE STORY
inAVate
ZeeVee adds support for Signal partner program
November 4, 2020
 ZeeVee has added a package of services and support for its AV integrators, distributors and consultants network, adding a redesigned portal interface that provides real time notifications and communications on ZeeVee products and news. A streamlined deal registration process is included, with tech primers, white papers and training videos featured in the program’s ‘Art’s Corner’. A formal minimum advertised pricing (MAP) policy to protect partners is also included, with on-demand access to previous ZeeVee Signal sessions alongside an archive of ZeeVee Signal Boost newsletters. LINK TO ENTIRE STORY
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Employee of the Month – Jim Chordas
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 Jim Chordas, ZeeVee's Territory Manager for Northeast USA and Canada, is an AVoIP and RF salesman extraordinaire and our SIGNAL Boost Employee of the Month. Since joining the team in 2018, Jim has placed ZeeVee’s products into a number of high profile venues across the region. In fact, he closed a deal that put ZeeVee’s products into more than 200 Charter Communications’ Spectrum stores this year.
“What I love the most about working at ZeeVee is the feeling that my co-workers are more like family members,” said Jim. “Everyone here is thoughtful and has a sense of urgency to meet clients’ and colleagues’ needs. Our engineering team goes above and beyond — fixing clients’ problems that aren’t even ZeeVee issues.”
He also finds it ‘pretty fantastic’ to be working with his brother, Joe, once again. This is their fourth gig together if you include their childhood paper route. Even after working more than 20 years in the industry, Jim still loves how AV continues to make users’ experiences more immersive and interactive than before. He has seen many bleeding edge products become mainstream over the years and enjoys seeing them incorporated into a wide variety of venues. Recently, ZeeVee’s ZyPer4k products, HDbridge 3000 encoders and decoders and RF modulators have helped revamp the Las Vegas Resort & Casino’s sports book—boasting the gaming industry’s largest (and “mind-blowing”) 4K video wall (see the story in this issue’s Live Wire).
“The pro AV industry has gone through a lot of tough and uncertain moments this year and will still need to navigate through uncertainty next year. Companies are rapidly changing the layout and function of displays in order to follow safe social distancing practices. Our customers are seeing how easily AVoIP can be used to communicate information about health and safety policies and procedures,” said Jim.
Selling ZeeVee products is not Jim’s only talent; he’s also an amazing pizza maker. He once won a contest in New Haven, Conn. (the pizza mecca of the U.S.), where his prize pie – gorgonzola, pepperoni and grapes with a dark chocolate balsamic glaze – was put on the restaurant’s menu for a full year (see photo above). Jim is married to his wife Katherine, and they have a daughter, Quinn, and a son, Burke. They can be spotted on the beach surfing or making epic sandcastles in the summer and skiing in the winter.
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