The Integrated Home

We’re looking at control in this episode with industry guests, Robin Courtenay of SMC and Jeremy Aston of Channel Smart Buildings.

Why have a control system? What are the benefits that a control system brings and do consumers appreciate them? What are the integration challenges, especially when you move beyond AV into lighting, blind, security and HVAC control?

We’re also asking who is accountable when things go wrong on a system. Does the buck always stop with the integrator, and how do you handle those situations?

In our Hot Seat slot, Robin also reveals the three industry people he’d want to join his rowing boat crew on a transatlantic voyage.

This show is recorded in the Head Office of KNX Stockist and KNX Certified Training Centre, BEMCO.

The Integrated Home is sponsored by Meridian Audio. We support Together For Cinema – to find out more, visit www.togetherforcinema.co.uk.

With the help of Custom Electronic Design's Nick Moore and Nicolai Landschultz of integration firm, IndigoZest, we explore the home network.

How important is the network to the experiences we create for customers? Where are the business opportunities and what training is out there that can help you deliver robust networks for your customers? And, how should you deal with that frequently asked question: isn’t everything wireless these days?

We also hear from Nicolai, a Copenhagen native, on what he thinks is the best, 'must-see', TV drama box set to come out of Denmark in recent years. Spoiler alert: it's not "The Killing"!

As IMAX Enhanced makes its European demonstration debut, Gabriel Cosgrave, General Manager, Europe at Xperi joins us from the company's European HQ in Ireland to reveal what's behind this new technology. He explains how IMAX Enhanced will help your customers get the most out of their home entertainment and where you can go to experience it for yourself.

This show is recorded in the excellent Reference Cinema of pod supporter, AWE in Epsom.

The Integrated Home supports Together For Cinema – to find out more, visit www.togetherforcinema.co.uk.

The Integrated Home is sponsored by Meridian Audio.

We take a look at digital marketing, social media and branding for integration businesses in the company of self-confessed social media junkie, Ben Davies from Inspire AV, and Nicola Fulstow of CEDIA-award winning integrator, SONA.

How should integrators present themselves to customers? What social media channels work best? Is it all digital these days? Or, is there a place for old school marketing tactics?

We also take a look at the related topic of how integrators use social media when they're called in for upgrade work on another integrator’s project.

And, we find out more than we possibly ever wanted to know about Ben Davies in our Hot Seat slot. What exactly does he have in common with Breaking Bad star, Aaron Paul?

Make sure you also listen out for your third and final chance to enter our competition to win a Sony Home Cinema Projector, retailing at £5,000, from podcast supporter, AWE.

This episode is brought to you from the Colony Club in Wilmslow and includes a few Joy Divison references for the die-hard Factory Records fans in the industry (Jeff is one of them).

The Integrated Home supports Together For Cinema – to find out more, visit www.togetherforcinema.co.uk.

We turn the spotlight on all things audio with the help of Pip Evans, the main man at London-based NV Integration and Barry Sheldrick, Sales Director at Meridian Audio.

What are customers looking for when they listen to music in the home? Is it all about convenience or is quality making a comeback? What role does content have to play in the discussion? And, how can we persuade customers about the benefits of great sound in a media room and home cinema set up?

We also look at two demo options for installation businesses without their own dedicated showroom space. Can a showroom collaboration with an interior designer work for your business? And, what are brands doing to support installers in selling their services?

Make sure you also listen out for a second chance to enter our competition to win a Sony Home Cinema Projector, retailing at £5,000 from podcast supporter, AWE.

This episode is brought to you from the home of hi-res audio, the Meridian Reference Theatre at the company's HQ near Cambridge.

The Integrated Home supports Together For Cinema – to find out more, visit www.togetherforcinema.co.uk.

Sponsored by Meridian Audio and AWE, The Integrated Home is a Wildwood and Alfi Media Production.

We examine the big issue of lighting in the company of Homeplay’s Managing Director, James Ratcliffe, alongside Nic Black, Principal of The Pyramid Group.

We ask how integrators can bring lighting design and lighting control into their business. What's involved and how will embracing lighting change your business offering for the better?

As the CEDIA Awards open for entry, we also talk to James and Nic about taking part in Award schemes. What does it take to win an Award and is it worth all the effort?

The episode is recorded in one of the industry’s newest showroom spaces, the Homeplay Experience Centre in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey. James tells us about the Experience Centre, explaining how it came about, how the project evolved and, now it's open, how it's working.

We're very excited to launch a new, in fact, our first competition. Listen to this episode and subsequent shows in this season for a chance to win a Sony Home Cinema Projector, retailing at £5,000 from podcast supporter, AWE.

The Integrated Home supports Together For Cinema – to find out more, visit www.togetherforcinema.co.uk.

Sponsored by Meridian Audio and AWE, The Integrated Home is a Wildwood and Alfi Media Production.

In the company of two experienced industry practitioners, David Graham of Grahams Hi-Fi and Steve Moore of SMC, we cover two important issues facing integrators - how do you run a smart home project in another country and what can you do to generate recurring monthly revenue from service and after-care?

We’ll be asking what steps you should take to deliver on projects overseas and finding out how you can make a success of this kind of work for you and your customer.

Then, once we've figured out what makes Steve Moore tick - and heard the one word he'd use to describe his fashion sense - we'll examine why service is important for your business.

How can you offer after-care and why should you? What will change for your business if you do provide an on-going service package for your customer and what are the pitfalls to avoid?

This podcast is recorded in the London showroom of Grahams Hi-Fi.

The Integrated Home supports Together For Cinema – to find out more, visit www.togetherforcinema.co.uk.

Sponsored by Meridian Audio, The Integrated Home is a Wildwood and Alfi Media Production.

In the company of two experienced industry practitioners, David Graham of Grahams Hi-Fi and Steve Moore of SMC, we cover two important issues facing integrators - how do you run a smart home project in another country and what can you do to generate recurring monthly revenue from service and after-care?

We’ll be asking what steps you should take to deliver on projects overseas and finding out how you can make a success of this kind of work for you and your customer.

Then, once we've figured out what makes Steve Moore tick - and heard the one word he'd use to describe his fashion sense - we'll examine why service is important for your business.

How can you offer after-care and why should you? What will change for your business if you do provide an on-going service package for your customer and what are the pitfalls to avoid?

This podcast is recorded in the London showroom of Grahams Hi-Fi.

The Integrated Home supports Together For Cinema – to find out more, visit www.togetherforcinema.co.uk.

Sponsored by Meridian Audio, The Integrated Home is a Wildwood and Alfi Media Production.

In the warm and comfortable surroundings of the cinema showroom that belongs to Bespoke Home Cinemas in the fine city of Leeds, we're joined by Mel and Giff Malcolm, the husband and wife team behind Bespoke Home Cinemas, and from across the Pennines, we have Oliver Hall from CEDIA award winning firm, Ultamation.

Together, we explore the question of image rights and passing off. What happens if you find that a photo of one of your installations has popped up on the website of another integrator, with the implication that it's their work and not yours? What are your options to put a stop to this kind of disreputable behaviour?

We’ll also be looking at another problem area for professional home integrators - recruitment. How do you bring new blood into the industry? What attracts the right people and where do those employees of the future come from? Does short-term collaboration work if you want to scale up for larger projects to deliver a professional solution for your client?

The Integrated Home supports Together For Cinema – to find out more, visit www.togetherforcinema.co.uk.

Sponsored by Meridian Audio, The Integrated Home is a Wildwood and Alfi Media Production.

What’s happening in home cinema?

Is the big screen business going to get even bigger, and more immersive, now that we have IMAX Enhanced? What will this mean for dealers?

And, what’s going on with content?

At the recent CEDIA Expo in San Diego, keynote presenter, John Penney from Twentieth Century Fox painted a picture of IT companies taking over the entertainment industry and fighting amongst each other to deliver content directly to consumers.

Meantime, Netflix and SkyQ have announced that content from Netflix will be woven directly into the fabric of the SkyQ user interface.

So, who’s bossing what your customers are watching and what else is changing in home cinema that affects how we create immersive experiences for clients?

Chris Jones, Managing Director of Ideaworks and Ian Bolt, Chairman of Custom Sight & Sound, join us to look at what’s going on and help you make sense of it all.

We also try to find out who is better in a classic pop head-to-head that pitches Kate Bush against Earth, Wind & Fire!

This episode is recorded in the cinema at the Ideaworks Experience Centre, Great Portland Street, London.

The Integrated Home supports Together4Cinema – to find out more, visit www.together4cinema.co.uk.

Sponsored by Meridian Audio, The Integrated Home is a Wildwood and Alfi Media Production.

Whatever Earth Wind & Fire might say, we all know that September is a busy, back to work month.

The holidays are a dim and distant memory, the kids are heading off to school and it’s time to gear up for show season - a time that's full of innovations, new ideas and education opportunities.

From the 15th until the 23rd September, London is taken over by the London Design Festival, so there's no better time to talk about interior design and home technology.

We welcome two special guests to look at how designers and integrators collaborate, sometimes collide, but, ultimately, can work better together for the mutual benefit of clients. From the world of interior design, we're joined by Susie Rumbold of Tessuto Interiors, former President of the British Institute of Interior Design, and from award-winning, London integration business, ClearSphere, we have Director, Alistair Ingram.

Our home for this episode is the Crestron showroom, located on the second floor of the sourcing mecca for savvy interior designers, the Design Centre in Chelsea Harbour.

Later in the show, Phil Pini and Kate Fauset from Crestron are our guests. They will explain the showroom experience, how it works and give their insights into how this facility helps bring home technology to life for the benefit of interior designers, developers and integrators.