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JANUARY 2021

New Year, New Opportunities

As 2021 rolls in, we at ZeeVee wish all of you a happy and prosperous new year!

Last year presented its set of unique challenges, which I certainly don’t need to reiterate here. The turn of a new year is a great time for introspection and an opportunity to strategize for the next one.

When a big challenge is thrown at the industry (and let’s be clear - COVID-19 is one of the biggest), it offers a great opportunity to measure the character of your partners in how they respond to it.

While our sales, and most likely everyone else’s, were down as a result of the pandemic, this was certainly not the fault of our integrators, partners and customers.

It would not have been fair, or very considered, to try to solve our own short-term revenue and business challenges on the backs of you, our customers and partners, who yourselves were hurting, in many cases worse than we.

Instead, we have chosen to take the long view and invest further and double-down on support, education, positive incentives, service and anything we can do to help our customers through this knothole instead of pushing them to simply pump more iron out the door to solve our problems. The healthier and stronger we can help our customers remain through the tough times, the better we will all be in the long term, so we can BOTH capitalize on the good times, which will surely come again.

So here is my ask of you; when you evaluate your supplier base, take a hard look at their goals and how they line up with your goals. Are they going to have your welfare in mind when the going gets tough, or are they going to prioritize their own interests over yours at your expense?

Things we have seen other suppliers require – like difficult and moving incentive targets, restrictions on products and manufacturers you are ‘allowed to have in your portfolio’ and ’force-fitting’ inappropriate products into applications where they are not the best fit – are all characteristics of a supplier working for their own interests above yours.

At ZeeVee, we believe your supply partners should have your back — not beat you up and drive your margins down so that you barely make a profit. When your “partner” uses its size and market standing to take advantage of you — with a “you need me more than I need you” attitude — it could be a sign that the so-called partnership isn’t really one at all.

One of the founding tenets of ZeeVee that is written into our corporate mission statement is that "no customer shall ever be dissatisfied.” Are you getting this high level of dedication from your current manufacturer partners? If not, we’d love the opportunity to speak with you.
 


Bob Michaels
CEO, ZeeVee

 

Mark Your Calendars for Our Upcoming Webinars 

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. 
North American Cable Equipment, Inc. (NACE), founded in 1992 and headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, is a leading supplier of electronics, cables and installation hardware to the data, security, satellite TV, cable TV and video surveillance industries. Its design and manufacturing capabilities are complemented by a world-class supply chain and customer service that offers clients the best value in high quality end-to-end solutions available for today's complex video and data transport requirements. For more than 6 years, NACE remains ZeeVee's top partner. In large measure, this is due to their focus on product knowledge, second to none processes, and the ability to help customers understand their needs by asking the right questions and listening carefully to their answers.

Torpedo Factory Group, headquartered in London and with three offices throughout the UK, has spent over 50 years in the audio-visual industry, providing innovation and technical expertise to those seeking the best in presentation and performance technology. The company is highly regarded as a superior technology integrator with outstanding integrity and professionalism. The firm recently installed a ZeeVee ZyPerUHD-driven project in the London office of Dentons, a global law firm that ranks as the world’s fifth-largest in 2020.

Vega Global, established in Hong Kong in 1986, is one of the largest system integrators and managed service providers for audio-visual solutions, video conferencing and collaboration technologies. The firm designs, implements and supports solutions across all industries to enhance the way businesses compete, operate and communicate. It currently has a network of more than 600 professionals working across 22 offices in 16 countries. Vega integrated our ZyPer4K (SDVoE) product set in a major project at the corporate headquarters of Jardine Matheson, a multi-billion dollar trading company based in Hong Kong.
 
Our AVoIP, RF modulation and video streaming signal distribution products are often paired up with other market leading products from pro AV and IT industry leaders. Here are some prime examples:
 
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link—and you better believe the network cabling you choose matters to the performance and reliability of the AV over IP applications you are creating. The Siemon Company, an industry leading designer and manufacturer of high quality, high performance IT infrastructure solutions and services, points out that Category 6A cabling is not simply recommended—it’s required to support our ZyPer4K encoders and decoders on a 10 Gb/s Ethernet network (10GBASE-T). Shielded cabling is also recommended to eliminate crosstalk and provide superior heat dissipation and thermal stability for remote powering (PoE).

For video monitors in public-facing venues such as a museum, retail store or entertainment venue, today’s consumers have come to expect the same touchscreen experience they get from their smartphones and tablets. Planar features its TVF Series displays with stackable, cable-less design for creating unique fine pitch video wall systems. These monitors are ruggedized with the company’s proprietary ERO (Extended Ruggedness and Optics) technology that protects pixels for interactive touchscreen applications from casual contact, front and edge impact, dust, humidity, electrostatic discharge (ESD) and liquids—including cleaning fluids that adhere to CDC guidelines.

Smart Monkeys, Inc., is a show control design and programming firm that has contributed to some of the most well-known entertainment projects around the world with its ISAAC Platform. The first fully integrated and centralized AV/IT management platform was developed especially for large-scale architectural AV applications. The ISAAC Workspace platform software suite provides a unified programming and front-end client interface for AV system components, including our ZyPer4K (SDVoE) and ZyPerUHD (AVoIP) encoders and decoders, while reducing the need for extensive client interface programming and customization.
 
Bob Michaels Reelected to SDVoE Alliance Board of Directors

ZeeVee’s CEO Bob Michaels has been reelected to the SDVoE Alliance board of directors. Bob sees his continuing role on the SDVoE Alliance board as a major opportunity to help advance the industry’s prominence and promote widespread adoption of SDVoE technology.

“ZeeVee is not only an early adopter of SDVoE technology but one of the ‘whisperers’ which evangelized the technology and pushed for its greater prominence,” said Michaels. “We remain a passionate supporter of the technology and fully committed to educating integrators, consultants and end-users as to its many benefits.”

Justin Kennington, who retains his role as president of the SDVoE Alliance, points to the organization’s accomplishments during a tough 2020.

“Despite the challenging year in our industry, we’ve been able to expand our audience reach with two successful in-person tradeshows — ISE in February and InfoComm Beijing in September, numerous online events, a network design help program, an online SDVoE product guide and more than 50 new courses in SDVoE Academy.”
 
SDVoE Academy Expands to More than 100 Courses

For those designing, integrating, installing, selling or managing pro AV systems, SDVoE Academy is a free resource for learning the skills needed to take advantage of the latest AV signal management technology. Now, more than 10 self-paced courses and case studies cover video and networking basics, system design considerations and sales tips. There’s even a track that leads to SDVoE Design Partner certification. You can learn more at www.SDVoE.org.
 
Have You Checked Out SDVoE Live! Yet?

SDVoE Alliance’s recently-launched SDVoE Live! Tuesday Talk with AV Pros program is building momentum. The 30-minute programs are posted every other Tuesday and are hosted by SDVoE Alliance President Justin Kennington and SDVoE Alliance Head of Education Matt Dodd.

Many of the episodes feature special guests—and, as previously reported, 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.” Additional episodes include “HDR Explained” with guest Stéphane Tremblay, Semtech, on January 12 and “The 8K Revolution in Pro AV” with guest Chris Chinnock, 8K Association, on January 26.

Additional information is available at sdvoe.org/live/.
 
Sound & Video Contractor
Signal Distribution Control Roundup
December 5, 2020
 
Earlier this year, ZeeVee brought several new signal distribution products to market for their Zyper 4K line. Among them: the ZyPer 4K AV Decoder with Dante supports IP-based transport and distribution of uncompressed streaming audio. This decoder enables users to route any audio source within a ZyPer4K deployment to a Dante network to take advantage of features such as “human” readable names for all connected devices, automatic device discovery, one-click routing, and low deterministic latency. The ZyPer4K Quad Encoder Card for Netgear M4300-96X (formerly ZyPer4K HDMI Module) is the world’s first Ethernet switch with integrated HDMI connectivity for the distribution of 4K/UHD and HDR content. It plugs into the 96-port NETGEAR 10G M4300- 96X Modular Managed Ethernet switch and accommodates up to four HDMI sources. LINK TO ENTIRE STORY
 
Essential Install
SDVoE Alliance Confirms Board of Directors for 2021
December 16, 2020
 
The SDVoE Alliance today announced its 2021 board of directors made up of pro AV experts from the six steering member companies; Black Box, Christie, IDK Corporation, NETGEAR, Semtech and ZeeVee — plus Grandbeing who won this year’s election to represent the contributing member companies. Justin Kennington retains his role as president of the SDVoE Alliance. Heading into its fourth year, pro AV’s fastest growing industry alliance has grown to 51 members shipping over 500 products, and more than 1300 certified SDVoE Design Partners. LINK TO ENTIRE STORY
 
GGB News
Westgate Sportsbook Revamps Audiovisual System
November 29, 2020
 
Westgate sought a system worthy of Las Vegas scale, something to outdo its existing video wall. What NMR came up with is a fully new SDVoE AV-over-IP infrastructure, with enhanced RF modulation, that will feed monitors throughout the room, while improving control. Work began in April and was finished in less than three months thanks to the lack of patrons during this time frame.

The massive video wall consists of 1,428 Daktronics LED tiles for a total of 26,000 x 2,200 pixels. 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.
LINK TO ENTIRE STORY
 
Employee of the Month — Danh Nguyen
Meet Danh Nguyen, Senior Operation Technician and our January Employee of the Month. Danh, who joined the company in 2013, is responsible for finishing, customizing and checking all of our products that leave the building. In other words, he’s our last line of defense before products get shipped to customers. Whether it’s rain or shine, day or night, or even a pandemic, Danh is a key part of the team working hard to ensure ZeeVee can meet any and all customer needs.

“The best parts of working at ZeeVee is being around my co-workers, who happen to be some of the most eccentric and entertaining people I have ever met. I also enjoy the challenging work,” said Danh. “ZeeVee has done an exceptional job at fostering a professional work environment while also encouraging employees to be themselves.”

Danh expects the upcoming years to be an enormous growth opportunity for ZeeVee and the pro AV industry. He is confident that when society begins returning to ’normal,’ the demand for high-quality AV systems will increase and ZeeVee will remain in a good market position.

According to Steve Metzger, co-founder and VP hardware and operations, Danh and his team’s role is crucial to ZeeVee’s success in getting businesses to choose the company’s AV solutions.

“While ZeeVee may not be the largest AV supplier on the market, we pride ourselves on being the most attentive to the quality of our products and being the most responsive to the needs of end-users,” said Metzger. “Like any company, ZeeVee has processes and procedures to ensure quality and reliability, but Danh provides a set of eyes and good sense above all procedures that can spot potential issues before they become real and affect the quality of goods going out the door.”

When Danh isn’t working hard at ZeeVee, he’s at home in Worcester, Massachusetts, with his spouse and three kids. In his free time, he loves to swim, take walks, play songs on his guitar and read news about his native Vietnam.
 
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