Construction Industry & Investing In Technology

After reading a recent article in ConstrucTech magazine, a few thoughts came to my mind that have been brewing for quite some time. The article focuses on how construction firms are being forced to look more towards technology solutions to help improve efficiencies in their organizations. It talks about how technology can really help contractors to be better at estimating and project management efforts if they would just use the tools they already have better, and start taking things like BIM (Building Information Modeling) seriously.

While I agree that technology can really help any organization who is serious about improving, I have a little bit of a different approach than most. Just as the article says that builders are on average using only 20-30% of the capabilities of their current software systems, I think there is a reason for that. Software and technology is only good to a company if it is easy to use and manage. You can have all the features in the world but if the system isn't easy to use, it is for nothing.

My suggestion to the construction industry is this:

Start focusing on ease of use, and improving communications. This doesn't mean having more meetings or sending out more articulated addendums (althought that couldn't hurt). It means taking a fresh approach to how builders communicate internally and externally on projects. Why not start using new (and sometimes free) communications tools such as Blogs, Twitter & LinkedIn groups? Instead of sending out individual emails to every sub contractor on your project, setup a blog and give subcontractors access to that blog. All new status updates can be posted here such as RFP's, RFI's, addendums, project drawings, etc....

Why not setup a private Twitter group for your internal project teams and use if for sending out frequent, up to the minute updates to your team? Everyone has cell phones right? By communicating things in real time, you can save precious money & resources.



Something very cool to look in to is a product called BaseCamp created by a company called 37Signals. This product is an EXTREMELY easy to use Project Management tool that focuses on the communication aspect of projects. By using a Blog type format for organization, a new project can be setup online where files can be stored & shared, all communications can be centralized, and things like project calendars and the like can all be centralized. Finally all communications with all team members can be kept in one place. It plays very nice with email as well.

In closing, I really just want to drive the point home that technology shouldn't be about more and more features. Technology should help enable. Enable better communcations. Enable better efficiencies. Enable people to do their job and only their job.

How does your organization rate when it comes to this simple concept? Does the technology you use empower or slow down your employees? Take a really close look and answer honestly.....

Customer Loyalty Programs - The Next Frontier

I've written a lot about RFID and it's applications for businesses. There are tons of new applications and solutions being developed that I can't even begin to keep up with them. I talked a couple weeks ago how car dealerships are starting to use the technology. Today I read about a new solution that can be deployed in a number of different enviornments including retail and restrurants - particularly fast food restaurants.

Check out this article for complete details. The idea is that a customer can get and RFID enabled "customer loyalty card" that is linked to personal details via a customer focused web site. Every time the customer comes to the store, a RFID reader picks up the customer information and can display certain information to the store employee. Information such as "this customer always orders chicken sandwiches without pickles". This enables the employee to offer a better customer experience by automatically alerting the customer that they will make the sandwich without pickles.

Over time, the data is recoreded and stored under the customer profile. You can see how this information can become extremely valuable to the store owner.

When integrated with Digital Signage and possibly even video communications, there are all sorts of cool things you can start to do with this technology. I can think of a number of ideas. What about you? What could we build using this technology to help you and your organization?

Calling all Architects! AMX Education Program for CEU's

As with all other aspects of our lives, technology is becoming more and more integrated in to the built environment.  It is now possible to have a "smart" home or office building capable of automating complex tasks such as lighing regulation, heating & cooling regulation, daylight harvesting, shade & blind control, sound & video distribution, and a number of other devices.  

As a designer it is important to stay ahead of the curve and know how to work with technology in your design.  Technology and architecture really can co-exist to create amazingly beautiful - and functional - spaces.  

MediaLogix is your partner in Technology Systems design & engineering.  We are commited to working with you to design cutting edge homes and offices.  We have partnered with AMX to offer our architect partners a series of classes designed to educate you on technology systems integration and how to integrate these systems in to your projects.  

Choose from any of the following classes for AIA and/or IDCEC credits:

A/V Control Systems for Commercial Properties

In this one-hour course students will have the opportunity to 1) understand the principles of an A/V Control System, 2) learn about issues that must be considered when designing for a control system, 3) observe the functional roles of each piece of a control system and 4) learn how a control system can help achieve LEED points 5) see examples of an A/V Control System in Commercial applications.

A/V Control Systems and Energy Efficient Applications

In this one-hour course students will be introduced to the idea of using an A/V control and automation system to contribute to the energy efficiency in all building types. Participants will learn practical soltions for integrating control systems and the possible contribution a control system could have in a project seeking LEED certification.

Introduction to Digital Signage

In this one-hour course students will be introduced to the features and benefits of using Digital Signage. Each student will have the opportunity to understand 1 ) What Is Digital Signage, 2) Digital Signage Definitions, 3) What is Pre-Packaged Digital Signage and 4) How to plan and design a project for Digital Signage.

Introduction to RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)

In this one-hour course students will be introduced to RFID control. Each student will be introduced to the concept of using an RFID badge in order to control, manage and monitor their environment in all vertical market applications. The course defines clearly RFID, 1) what is RFID, 2) features of an RFID system, 3) components of an RFID system and 4) how to plan for using an RFID based control system,

To get more information or sign up for any of these classes, please click here to contact us.  

We are happy to come to your office or will happily host the class at either our Downtown Denver or Littleton offices.  

 - The MediaLogix Team

Control your building with your iPhone!

Let me just start by saying how cool my job is. Really. I get to work with the newest and coolest technology available to businesses. Every day we seem to learn about something new that we haven’t used or implemented yet. One thing I knew was on the horizon but didn’t expect so soon was the Crestron Mobile App. Now anyone with an iPhone (and a Crestron control system obviously) can monitor, control and update their home or business from anywhere in the world right from their phone! All you need is a network connection which can be 3G, Edge or WiFi at this point.

Smart phones are taking over! This is just one of many amazing new tools that you will be able to use directly from your Smart Phone. We can’t wait to start implementing this with some of our customers. If one of you are reading this now and want to give it a try, just let me know!

The Dangers of Videoconferencing

While we are mostly serious folks over here at MediaLogix, sometimes humor is just what you need to bring you up from an otherwise slow monday!  Luckily this video pertains to one of the things we do best:  Videoconferencing!  The funniest part about this is that with Green Screen Technology, you can actually make any image your background when conducting a Videoconference call.  Just like how the newscasters do it.  

High End Car Dealerships Embracing RFID & Digital Signage Integration

I read more cool things about the uses for RFID every day. An article I just read in RFID Journal talks about how high-end car dealerships across America are starting to use RFID to improve customer service & experience. RFID equipped cars alert the service station workers as the car is pulling up and display information to the customer as they are driving in to the service center such as “Welcome back Mr. Wilson”. Additionally, the service can be linked to a customer database where information can be stored and routed as necessary. An example they give in the article talks about a new car buyer getting his car washed at the dealer. Since the RFID tag in his car is linked to his customer account, the system knows when the car is ready to be picked up and can send the customer an email, text message or both.

This is just the beginning of what is going to be happening with RFID. We already posted about how a retail store in Germany is using the technology. This is one example of what MediaLogix can do for industry specific clients. If you can dream it, we can make it happen.

What do you think about RFID? Does this stuff scare you or get you excited? Let us know about other cool RFID implementations you may know about?

Technology Systems Integration - What the heck does it mean?

This post is in response to a familiar question I get from clients and partners on a daily basis. The question is:

“What exactly is a Technology Systems Integrator?”

Here is the elevator pitch:

My company is a solutions company. We solve everyday business problems through the use of innovative and sometimes “radical” technology systems.

Of course that being said, the next logical questions is:

What the heck does that mean?!

And now we get to the real meat of my post. My industry (The Audiovisual and Systems Integration industry) is tough to understand. We are literally right in the middle where Audio systems (think churches, stadiums, performing arts centers), Video Systems (Think theaters, Big projection screens, Digital Signage), building technology (think intelligent buildings, automated systems controls, over the top boardrooms) and digital services (think video conferencing, interactive whiteboards) all meet up. It is extremely hard to wrap any one of things under one description, let alone all of them put together. We do so many things for so many different people and industries. Our biggest challenge is educating our partners on what it is we actually do. After all, our firm is a commercial contractor, systems design firm, engineering firm, software development firm and low voltage systems project management firm. On top of that, we work with acoustics, network systems, software systems, audio and video optimization and a variety of one off system types for specialty applications. We represent and sell literally thousands of different products from hundreds of different manufacturers. To further complicate things, we have different solutions and products for a number of different industries including Corporate, Non-Profit, Education, Hospitality, Government, Transportation, and more…

So to wrap things up here, I want to make a point. We are a solutions company. We help our clients increase efficiency, increase profits and increase their competitive advantages through the use of innovative technology solutions. It means something different to every client. It means we aren’t just “technology geeks”. We ask questions, we probe, we dig deep to understand the business our clients are in. We consult. We design. We engineer. We Value Engineer. Often we do this over and over again until we get things just right for our client. Overall while we do work with technology, the business we are in is really about leveraging the core competencies of our clients and amplifying those competencies through the use of intelligent systems.

Keep your eyes on our blog. This is where we will continue to post on Integrated Technology Design & Integration. We welcome feedback and thoughts on how you view our industry and what firms like ours can do to serve you and our other clients best!