Why IoT in AV?

If you haven’t heard it yet: IoT is the trend for this decade. From fitness trackers to connected cars and smart city infrastructure, the Internet of Things can be found all around us. But what can it bring to you as an AV solutions provider?

IoT as a great service tool

Museum directors, event organizers and amusement park owners – if there’s one thing that gives them shivers, it’s most probably when technical issues pop-up right as visitors pour in or just when the headliner hits the stage. In an ideal world, technology would never fail at those most inconvenient moments. But we’re not living in an ideal world, or are we?

According to this report from McKinsey, IoT can be a big help in the prevention of these sudden technical breakdowns! In the report it reads that IoT-based predictive maintenance helps to reduce downtime by up to 50%, lowers maintenance costs by up to 40% and significantly extends the lifetime of your equipment.

By storing live information on runtimes and ambient conditions, for instance, the AV assets, like the Barco UDM and UDX projectors, can be monitored at all times without you having to be in the proximity of the physical devices. And based on that information, you can not only resolve potential issues much quicker but also effectively plan maintenances cycles to avoid future hiccups. So, no surprise breakdowns and no surprise intervention costs for your AV consumers.

Consequently, IoT offers opportunities to integrators to set up new service programs and bring in additional revenue streams. It opens doors for performance-based business models that use the measured data and theoretical models to deliver predictive services.

Cost-saving technology

IoT doesn’t only cut costs for end-users, it also enables a decrease in costs for integrators and solution providers. In multiple ways even.

Machine-to-machine communication has reduced the need for human involvement in routine processes, allowing more to get done in less time. Imagine, for instance, how much time it could save you if you automate the monitoring of your AV tools instead of manually checking statuses and updating monstrous data files.

And because your IoT devices are remotely accessible, you can monitor entire fleets at once and troubleshoot from anywhere in the world. It means you won’t have to travel across the globe for urgent service interventions that turn out to be simple issues that could’ve been solved quick and easy with instructions from a distance. Less travel, more time. And as they say: time is money.

Nonetheless, remote access and data storage also bring their challenges – security being one, for instance – which we’ll highlight some more in the next post of this IoT series.

Conclusion

Whether it’s an IoT-enabled coffee machine, heating system or traffic light, the Internet of Things always aims to make our lives easier. For ProAV businesses, smart projectors and visualization solutions mean maximum uptime and asset performance, improved cost efficiency, optimized serviceability, and ultimately a longer equipment lifetime.

At Barco we’re also recognizing the potential of IoT in AV. With the roll-out of our Barco Projector Management Suite platform, we’re offering a cloud-based solution for remote projector management. The Projector Management Suite is available for the UDX and UDM projectors, and you can choose from three packages with varying levels of smart features.

Learn more about this revolutionary platform here, or sign up for a free trial of the Barco Projector Management Suite Monitor level and experience the benefits of our IoT ProAV solution for yourself.