Newsletter: Integrator Profile—May-June 2022
Integrator Profile – Chris Gimbert, Howard Technology Solutions
This new section of our newsletter features prominent integrators and their standout projects leveraging ZeeVee technology. If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming Integrator Profile, email us at zeevee@feintuchpr.com.
Howard Technology Solutions, headquartered in Ellisville, Mississippi, is a leader in the manufacturing, distribution and reselling of innovative, reliable and high-quality technology equipment. It is a division of Howard industries, one of the largest private companies in the state. As part of its customer commitment, Howard Technology Solutions employs a highly trained team of network professionals who are ready to provide their customers with a full range of services such as installation, procurement, consulting and more.
Chris Gimbert, AV sales engineer covering Arkansas and Northern Louisiana, is currently working on an AV system upgrade for the State of Arkansas Department of Information Systems which provides internet for the state’s public buildings including schools and government offices. He also recently completed an installation at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock. Both projects needed powerful AVoIP products to enable end-users to monitor and manage AV content over the network, as well as to be better prepared for critical public safety matters such as natural disasters.
ZeeVee’s ZyPer4K encoders and decoders were selected for both projects because of their ability to deliver uncompressed 4K resolution content directly over standard 10Gb Ethernet networks. The ZyPer4K’s scaling algorithms, and the ZyPer Management Platform, combined with Ethernet switching, allows users to effortlessly create and manage video walls without sacrificing video quality.
On top of this, ZeeVee’s products were readily available – no small issue in this supply chain-challenged era. ZeeVee was able to ship what Chris needed within three to four weeks, whereas competitors’ lead times ranged from six months to a year. He also liked the intuitive nature of ZeeVee’s products and how easy it is for IT department staff, which may not have a deep knowledge of AV, to manage them on the network.
“ZeeVee has the unique ability to let users control the endpoints on a computer rather than a control system. All our clients have to do is pull up the ZeeVee ZyPer Management Platform software, which is loaded on a supervisor’s computer, and choose which video goes to which screen. It seemed to me like the most logical way to control the system,” said Chris. “My opinion is that everything needs to go over a network switch. From an IT perspective, it gives the most controllable aspect to the user, which they can use whether they understand AV or not.”
The upgraded AV system at the Baptist Health Medical Center uses ZeeVee’s ZyPer4K encoders and decoders to transmit channels from a series of computers and cable boxes to any number of the response center’s 22 displays. In case of an accident or major weather event, the hospital’s staff can use the displays to monitor events in real-time and coordinate resources where they are needed.
Chris says that the pandemic revealed the importance of technology and how it could best be utilized to create a valuable learning environment both at home and in the classroom. Over the next few years, he sees further advancement in AV technology and its applications in the corporate, government and healthcare sectors as the importance of technology in the workplace becomes more prominent.