How to choose an A/V service provider.

• Position: Business Toolbox

Audiovisual isn't just slide shows on rickety projectors anymore. The A/V industry, like everything else, has taken a gigantic leap into the technological future. Audiovisual systems enable a business to get their message across more effectively, because in many cases, visual presentations of information are much more memorable

Your company likely doesn't have anyone with expertise in A/V. It's not uncommon to see IT specialists called in to try to set up a firm's A/V system just because they have a basic techie background. But real A/V specialists are engineers who can design to your company's exacting specifications. They do everything from hanging a projector from the ceiling of your meeting room to installing a motorized screen that comes out of the wall to programming the software that facilitates it all. When they are done, they can also provide an AutoCAD drawing of the system much like an architect's plan for a home. Your conference room can be transformed into a state-of-the art think tank, with all the equipment controlled by a single remote.

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Seventy-five percent of all projection systems sold are for PowerPoint presentations, but A/V services range from LCD projectors to interactive whiteboards to audio and video conferencing systems that enable your staff to exchange ideas from as far away as separate continents. Technological advances have kept pace with those in consumer electronics, with wall-hanging plasma displays that can handle inputs from different sources, including DVD and computer sources. With all these technologies, your meetings can include interactive video, striking graphical representations of any kind of data, and information that viewers can engage with in powerful ways, whether the context is an employee in-service training, consultations with business partners or proposals to...