What is the difference between AES67 and Dante?

What is the difference between AES67 and Dante? Both AES67 and Dante are audio-over-IP (AoIP) standards that move uncompressed digital audio across a standard Ethernet network instead of analogue or proprietary digital cabling. Dante, developed by Audinate, is the dominant proprietary standard and is used in over 90% of pro AV deployments. AES67 is an open AES (Audio Engineering Society) interoperability standard that defines a common subset so equipment from different AoIP ecosystems can

AV as a Service vs buying outright: which is better?

AV as a Service vs buying outright: which is better? Buying AV outright is usually cheaper over the long run if you have the capital and keep the equipment for years, while AV as a Service (AVaaS) spreads the cost into a predictable subscription that bundles design, installation, support and a planned technology refresh. The right model depends less on the spreadsheet than on whether you want to own and manage the estate yourself or hand the whole lifecycle to a provider. From the floor. The

When should I use an AV consultant vs an AV integrator?

When should I use an AV consultant vs an AV integrator? Use an AV consultant when you need independent design and tender support on a large, regulated or multi-vendor project; use an AV integrator when you want single-point accountability for design, supply, install, commissioning and support on a standard commercial fit-out. The split is about who owns the outcome, not who is better at AV. From the floor. The hybrid model fails when nobody owns the seam. Consultant writes the spec, integrator

Does commercial AV cost more in London than the UK regions?

Does commercial AV cost more in London than the UK regions? Yes, commercial AV installation typically costs 10 to 25 per cent more in central London than in UK regional cities like Manchester, Leeds, Bristol or Birmingham. The premium is almost entirely in labour and site costs, not equipment. From the floor. The South East and home counties accounts I run sit in an interesting middle zone on this question. Reading, Crawley, Maidenhead and the western Surrey corridor pay regional labour rates

How do AV installation timelines differ between London and regional offices?

How do AV installation timelines differ between London and regional offices? Central London AV installations typically take 20 to 30 per cent longer than equivalent work in UK regional cities. The drivers are site access constraints, not the technical work itself; the same engineers fitting the same hardware can lose half a day per week to building logistics in central London. From the floor. My South East accounts often have a head office in central London and satellite offices in Reading,

What's the difference between an AV reseller and an AV integrator?

What's the difference between an AV reseller and an AV integrator? An AV reseller sells and ships hardware; an AV integrator designs the room, supplies the kit, installs it, commissions it, programs the control system and supports it. A reseller is fine when you have an in-house team who will do the rest. An integrator is necessary when you need a working room rather than a pile of boxes. The work each side does looks like this: | Activity | AV reseller | AV integrator | |---|---|---| |

What's the difference between an AV tender and an RFP?

What's the difference between an AV tender and an RFP? An AV tender is a formal scored procurement, typically used in public sector or regulated environments, where bidders respond to a fixed spec on published evaluation criteria. An AV RFP (Request for Proposal) is a less formal, commercial process with dialogue between buyer and bidder, where the solution itself can evolve through the conversation. An RFQ (Request for Quotation) is lighter still: just a price against a defined spec, no real

What is the best background music system for retail?

What is the best background music system for retail? A retail background music system needs three things: a licensed music source, a distribution architecture sized to the floor area, and calibration to 65 to 70 dBA at ear level so customers feel the atmosphere without conversation becoming an effort. The right setup depends on shop size, ceiling type and how many zones you need to control independently. The music source is a licensing decision before it is a hardware decision. Any UK

How much does a bar or pub sound system installation cost?

How much does a bar or pub sound system installation cost? A bar or pub sound system installation costs £1,500 to £4,000 per zone for background music, and a bar that also hosts DJs or live music needs a separate higher-output system for the main room, typically £5,000 to £15,000 on top. A typical pub runs 2 to 4 background zones (main bar, lounge or dining area, garden, WCs); a late-night bar adds the performance system and a DJ input. From the floor. The number that decides a bar system is on

BYOD vs native room: which is better?

BYOD vs native room: which is better? BYOD is better when users move between platforms (Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Webex) and the organisation wants to keep room hardware platform-agnostic. Native (MTR, Zoom Rooms, Webex Rooms, Google Meet hardware) is better when the organisation has standardised on one platform and wants consistent one-touch join across every room. Most UK estates run a hybrid: huddle rooms BYOD, larger rooms native. From the floor. The component that decides this argument

Can you join a Zoom meeting from a Microsoft Teams Room?

Can you join a Zoom meeting from a Microsoft Teams Room? Yes. A Microsoft Teams Room can join a Zoom meeting through Direct Guest Join, a built-in feature that opens the Zoom meeting's web client on the room console using the room's camera, microphones and speakers, and the same route works for Webex and Google Meet. It is a guest experience rather than a native one: the room sends and receives audio and video and can view shared content, but in-room content sharing, chat, recording and layout

What's the difference between a Cat A and a Cat B AV fit-out?

What's the difference between a Cat A and a Cat B AV fit-out? A Cat A fit-out is the landlord's base building delivery (shell, raised floors, suspended ceilings, basic M&E, blank walls) where AV is almost always limited to conduits, blanking plates and occasional ceiling provision for the future tenant. A Cat B fit-out is the tenant's fit-out (branding, partitions, furniture, kitchen, AV) where the full AV system is actually specified, supplied, installed and commissioned. The distinction

Are ceiling microphones better than table microphones for large boardrooms?

Are ceiling microphones better than table microphones for large boardrooms? For boardrooms with 12 or more seats, ceiling microphone arrays typically beat table microphones on aesthetics, coverage and cable management. Table mics still win in a few specific room conditions, but the default choice for modern executive boardrooms is a ceiling array driven by beam-steering DSP. From the floor. The hidden cost on a ceiling array job is the HVAC survey before you mount one. We have walked into

What is a classroom interactive display?

What is a classroom interactive display? A classroom interactive display is a large-format multi-touch panel, typically 65 to 86 inch, that replaces the projector-and-whiteboard combination for front-of-class teaching. Pupils and teachers can write, annotate, drag objects and run educational software directly on the screen using fingers or a passive stylus. The dominant UK brands are Promethean ActivPanel, ViewSonic ViewBoard, Samsung Flip, Clevertouch and BenQ Board. From the floor. The

What's the cost of running Microsoft Teams Rooms vs Zoom Rooms?

What's the cost of running Microsoft Teams Rooms vs Zoom Rooms? Total cost of ownership for Microsoft Teams Rooms and Zoom Rooms is closer than most procurement comparisons suggest. Hardware costs are essentially the same because both platforms certify the same OEMs (Logitech, Poly, Yealink, Cisco, Neat). The real difference is in recurring per-room licensing and AI feature add-ons, which together typically swing TCO by 10 to 15 per cent over a five-year window. From the floor. The TCO

Crestron vs Extron: which is better for meeting rooms?

Crestron vs Extron: which is better for meeting rooms? Crestron and Extron are the two dominant proprietary AV control and signal-distribution platforms, and the choice usually comes down to ecosystem breadth versus control simplicity. Crestron is the stronger pick for control-heavy boardrooms and estates that want one ecosystem spanning AV-over-IP video, lighting, blinds, room booking and building management. Extron is the stronger pick for AV-signal-led rooms and standardised estates, where

Crestron vs Q-SYS: which is better for meeting rooms?

Crestron vs Q-SYS: which is better for meeting rooms? Crestron is the stronger choice for control-heavy boardrooms and complex AV-over-IP estates that need deep automation, room scenes and integration with lighting, blinds and BMS. Q-SYS is stronger for audio-led rooms (training rooms, larger meeting rooms, performance spaces) and native integration with Microsoft and Cisco video platforms. Many UK estates run both: Crestron for control and video distribution, Q-SYS for DSP and audio. |

Do you need a dedicated PC or appliance for Microsoft Teams Rooms?

Do you need a dedicated PC or appliance for Microsoft Teams Rooms? Yes. Every Microsoft Teams Room requires either a dedicated all-in-one appliance or a dedicated Windows IoT PC. You cannot run MTR on a shared room laptop, a hot-desk PC, or a standard Windows desktop on the corporate network. The MTR application is locked to a kiosk-mode device joined as a resource account, and the room calendar binds to that device, not to a user. Two architectures are supported by Microsoft, and both are

What is a desk booking app?

What is a desk booking app? A desk booking app is software (usually phone, web and Outlook plug-in) that lets staff reserve a hot desk, neighbourhood seat or specific workstation in advance, see who else is in that day and check in on arrival. It's the core tool offices use to run hybrid working without overcrowding on Tuesdays and ghost-towns on Fridays. From the floor. What tells me a desk booking rollout will succeed is whether the workplace lead can demo the booking flow in under 30 seconds

Do I need AV drawings for a fit-out?

Do I need AV drawings for a fit-out? Yes. AV drawings are essentially mandatory on any commercial Cat B fit-out beyond a single huddle room, and they are the document set that turns an agreed design into a buildable, M&E-coordinated installation. Without them the install team is improvising on site, which is the most reliable way to overrun budget and programme. From the floor. The coordination point that decides the programme is the M&E clash. Lighting grids, sprinklers, PIR sensors and HVAC

Does Martyn's Law apply to hotels?

Does Martyn's Law apply to hotels? Yes. Martyn's Law (the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025) applies to a hotel where 200 or more people may reasonably be expected on the premises at the same time, counting staff, diners, spa users and event guests rather than bedrooms, with the enhanced tier from 800. From the floor. Hotels get the count wrong because the number they know is bedrooms. The Act cares about the Saturday in June when the ballroom has a wedding, the restaurant is full of

dvLED vs LCD video wall: which should I choose?

dvLED vs LCD video wall: which should I choose? Choose an LCD video wall for smaller, close-viewed or budget-constrained installations where thin seams between panels are acceptable, and dvLED (direct-view LED) for a seamless, large or bespoke-shaped wall where the absence of bezels and the freedom of size justify the higher cost. Both display the same content; the difference is construction, seams, scalability and price. From the floor. The number that should drive the decision is viewing

What is education digital signage?

What is education digital signage? Education digital signage is a network of commercial-grade screens deployed across schools, colleges and universities to show wayfinding, lesson timetables, exam information, student notices, safeguarding alerts and visitor information. The brief is different from retail or corporate signage because the audience is large, captive and rotates several times a day at lesson changeover, and the screens often carry safeguarding-critical messaging. From the floor.

What is the Evoko Liso?

What is the Evoko Liso? The Evoko Liso is an 8-inch Android-based meeting room scheduling panel that mounts outside the room and shows the room's name, current availability, the next booking and the day's schedule, with red, amber or green LED status lighting visible from down the corridor. It's one of the original purpose-built room booking panels, made by Swedish manufacturer Evoko, and it pairs with the company's Naso management software or third-party platforms via standard calendar

Is there free digital signage software?

Is there free digital signage software? Yes, free digital signage software exists for small or single-screen deployments, but the genuinely free options come with one of three trade-offs: hardware lock-in, a screen-count cap or limited features. The realistic free shortlist for UK SMEs in 2026: From the floor. Free CMS plus self-hosted Pi setup looks attractive at procurement, costs more than ScreenCloud over five years once you factor the engineer time. A single 3-hour debug call on a

What is hospitality digital signage?

What is hospitality digital signage? Hospitality digital signage is a network of commercial-grade screens deployed across hotels, resorts, restaurants and conference venues for guest information, wayfinding, event boards, in-room content and food and beverage menus. It differs from retail or corporate signage in that the audience is paying guests, the content is often integrated with the property management system (PMS), and the operational tempo runs 24/7 with overnight content rotation. From

How much does a hotel background music system cost?

How much does a hotel background music system cost? A hotel background music system costs £1,500 to £4,000 per zone installed, and a typical hotel runs 4 to 8 zones (lobby, bar, restaurant, spa, WCs, terrace and function room), so most properties land between £6,000 and £32,000 before licensing. The per-zone figure covers speakers, amplification, a share of the DSP, cabling and commissioning; ceiling type, zone size and whether the zone also carries paging move it within the range. From the

What is a hotel TV system and what does it cost per room?

What is a hotel TV system and what does it cost per room? A hotel TV system is the headend, distribution network and in-room hospitality TVs that deliver television channels, a branded welcome screen and guest services to every bedroom, and in the UK it costs £150 to £350 per room to install excluding the TV, with hospitality TVs available from under £500 per room. The headend or IPTV middleware is priced per property at survey, because it depends on the channel line-up, the room count and how

How do framework agreements work for AV procurement?

How do framework agreements work for AV procurement? Framework agreements let UK public sector buyers procure AV from a pool of pre-vetted suppliers without running a full OJEU tender each time, using either a direct award up to a defined threshold or a mini-competition for larger spend. They cut legal and tender overhead, compress procurement timelines from months to weeks, and give buyers contractual cover that the supplier and pricing structure have already been competed at framework level.

How do I check an AV integrator's references properly?

How do I check an AV integrator's references properly? Check AV integrator references by requesting 2 to 3 from the same sector at comparable scale, calling each one directly, and asking specific questions about how the integrator handled the parts that went wrong. Most integrators look the same on a good day. The differentiator is how they behave on a bad one. The brief to give the bidder when requesting references: same sector (legal, financial services, education, hospitality, public

How do I choose a commercial AV integrator?

How do I choose a commercial AV integrator? Choose a commercial AV integrator on capability fit, accreditations, lifecycle approach and verifiable references, not on lowest headline price. The cheapest bid is rarely the cheapest project once warranty year 2, support response times and replacement cycles are factored in. From the floor. After 23 years of running this business, the question I would ask any integrator before signing is who owns the relationship in year three. A good install on day

How do I escalate an AV fault that's not getting resolved?

How do I escalate an AV fault that's not getting resolved? If an AV fault has been ticketed more than twice, has produced more than one engineer visit and is still not fixed, escalate in writing through four explicit asks: a named technical contact, a written root-cause analysis (RCA), a 30-day stabilisation plan and, if those don't land, escalation to the account director. A good support contract will have these mechanisms baked in; a poor one will resist them, which is itself useful

How do I evaluate AV integrator quotes?

How do I evaluate AV integrator quotes? Evaluate AV integrator quotes by normalising scope, normalising timeline and normalising lifecycle, then comparing on like-for-like. The headline price is the worst basis for comparison because each bidder will scope, sequence and support the project differently. From the floor. The tell on a bid I do not trust is the assumptions section. A short, vague one with a lot of "the client will provide" is the bid where every assumption that proves wrong becomes

How do I fix echo and poor audio on Teams and Zoom calls?

How do I fix echo and poor audio on Teams and Zoom calls? Echo and poor audio on Teams and Zoom calls almost always trace to one of five causes, and the fix order matters: acoustic echo cancellation misconfigured on the room device, wrong audio device selected on the room PC, USB hub or cable issues, platform noise suppression interfering, and the echo actually originating at the far end. Work through them in that order before changing hardware. From the floor. The dead giveaway that a problem

How do I get one-touch join working reliably on Microsoft Teams Rooms?

How do I get one-touch join working reliably on Microsoft Teams Rooms? One-touch join on Microsoft Teams Rooms almost always fails for one of five reasons, and they're all configuration rather than hardware: the room resource mailbox is misconfigured in Exchange, the meeting was forwarded into the room rather than originally inviting it, ProcessExternalMeetingMessages is disabled, the organiser's invite came from a non-Teams calendar source, or the MTR account has stale credentials. Work the

How do I get utilisation data from my meeting rooms?

How do I get utilisation data from my meeting rooms? Real meeting room utilisation comes from triangulating three independent data sources: booking platform data (what was booked), occupancy sensor data (what was actually used) and AV usage data (what the room was used for). Relying on any single source typically overstates utilisation by 40 to 70% because booked-but-unattended ghost meetings, walk-in informal use and AV-free in-person meetings each get missed by different sources. From the

How do I integrate digital signage with my emergency comms?

How do I integrate digital signage with my emergency comms? You integrate digital signage with emergency comms by giving the signage CMS a priority-override capability that takes a trigger from your voice alarm system, fire panel, manual call point or mass-notification gateway, then pushes a pre-recorded full-screen message to every screen in the building within seconds. Done properly, the signage estate becomes a visible second channel alongside audio evacuation, which matters in noisy spaces,

How do I lay out a hybrid meeting room?

How do I lay out a hybrid meeting room? A hybrid meeting room is laid out so remote participants get equal presence with people in the room: camera at seated eye level, faces lit from the front, microphones distributed for even coverage, and the display visible to everyone seated. The starting point is to treat the remote participant as another seat at the table rather than a window into the room. From the floor. The layout question that gets argued at handover is the door swing relative to the

How do I reduce no-shows in my meeting rooms?

How do I reduce no-shows in my meeting rooms? Reduce meeting room no-shows by combining auto-release on the booking platform with check-in at the room and occupancy sensors that confirm someone actually arrived. A typical office runs at 30 to 45% no-show or ghost meeting rates before any policy is applied; 5 to 10% is achievable once the tooling and rules are in place. From the floor. The conversation that decides whether a no-show policy actually sticks is not the technology selection, it is

How do I roll out AV across multiple meeting rooms?

How do I roll out AV across multiple meeting rooms? A multi-room AV rollout succeeds on standardisation rather than perfection in any single room. Define 2 or 3 room standards (huddle, standard meeting room, boardroom), pilot one of each, refine the spec based on what worked, then phase the rest of the estate. Trying to design every room individually is the most common reason large rollouts run over time and over budget. From the floor. The hidden friction on a rollout is engineer continuity.

How do we switch AV support provider?

How do we switch AV support provider? You can switch AV support provider at your contract break or renewal, and a good incoming provider will take on your estate even if it did not carry out the original installation. The transition is straightforward: the new provider audits and documents what you have, takes ownership of monitoring and the helpdesk, and puts a clear SLA in place, with little or no disruption to the rooms themselves. From the floor. The one thing that catches people out when

How do you cover the whole UK from a South East AV head office?

How do you cover the whole UK from a South East AV head office? Strive AV covers the UK from a head office in East Grinstead, West Sussex, using a hub-and-spoke model: travelling engineer teams for on-site work, remote-first triage and programming from HQ, and named regional crews for large rollouts. Site surveys, installations and break-fix visits happen wherever the client is; the bench, the helpdesk and the design studio sit in the South East. From the floor. South East regional clients

How does AV remote monitoring work?

How does AV remote monitoring work? AV remote monitoring uses cloud-based platforms supplied by the major OEMs to track device health, firmware versions, certificate status, peripheral connections and room utilisation, then forward alerts to a support helpdesk so faults are caught before users notice. The platforms are vendor-specific: each OEM's monitoring covers its own kit and integrates loosely with the others. From the floor. Alert noise is what makes or breaks a monitoring service. A new

How does white-label AV installation work in the UK?

How does white-label AV installation work in the UK? White-label AV installation lets an overseas AV integrator win and own a UK project while a local UK partner physically delivers it under the overseas integrator's brand. The UK partner installs, commissions and hands over the system, and the end client deals with the original integrator throughout, not the subcontractor behind the scenes. From the floor. When we deliver for an overseas integrator, my team works to their method statements and

How long are AV hardware lead times in 2026?

How long are AV hardware lead times in 2026? AV hardware lead times in 2026 range from 1 to 16 weeks depending on category, with standard displays and certified video bars at the fast end (1 to 3 weeks from UK distribution) and dvLED video walls and matrix switching at the slow end (8 to 16 weeks, often build-to-order from China or EMEA factories). The post-2020 supply chain has stabilised but stock-versus-order behaviour still varies sharply by product family, which means project sequencing

How long does meeting room AV installation take?

How long does meeting room AV installation take? Meeting room AV installation typically takes 1 to 2 days for a huddle room, 3 to 5 days for a standard meeting room, and 1 to 2 weeks for a boardroom with custom programming and joinery. Multi-room rollouts across an estate are phased over weeks rather than days, with crew sizing and room sequencing planned around floor access, working hours and network cutover. From the floor. The programme slip I see most often is not the AV install itself but

How long has an AV integrator been operating, and does it matter?

How long has an AV integrator been operating, and does it matter? The age of the company on its own does not predict delivery quality. What matters is continuity of personnel, repeat-client percentage and whether the business has survived a couple of cycles intact. A 3-year-old integrator built around engineers with 20 years of accumulated experience is often a better bet than a 30-year-old shop where the senior team left 18 months ago. From the floor. In 23 years of running this business I

How long should an AV system last before refresh?

How long should an AV system last before refresh? A commercial AV system typically lasts 5 to 7 years as a whole room before a refresh is warranted, although individual components have very different lifespans. The refresh decision is rarely driven by hardware failure; it is driven by platform deprecation, warranty expiry and manufacturer end-of-life support. From the floor. The trap is mixing refresh cycles across components in one room. Replace the VC bar at year 4 alongside a 9-year-old

How much does a hearing loop installation cost in the UK?

How much does a hearing loop installation cost in the UK? A hearing loop installation costs around £300 to £900 for a counter or reception loop, £1,500 to £4,000 for a small meeting room or classroom perimeter loop and £4,000 to £12,000 for a large room, hall or place of worship, installed and commissioned to BS EN 60118-4. Phased-array loops for metal-framed buildings, auditoria or where overspill between rooms must be controlled run £10,000 to £25,000+, and portable loops cost £150 to £400

How much does a Microsoft Teams Room cost in the UK?

How much does a Microsoft Teams Room cost in the UK? A Microsoft Teams Room costs £3,000 to £8,000 installed for a huddle room, £8,000 to £20,000 for a standard meeting room and £25,000 to £60,000+ for a boardroom in the UK in 2026, with the Teams Rooms licence on top: Basic is free for up to 25 rooms per tenant and Pro is about £36 per room per month. The certified bar is a smaller share of that total than most buyers expect; displays, microphones, control, cabling and commissioning make up

How much does a video wall cost?

How much does a video wall cost? A video wall typically costs between £6,000 and £100,000 or more in the UK, and the technology you choose is the biggest single driver. A tiled LCD video wall usually lands at £6,000 to £35,000, while a seamless dvLED (direct-view LED) wall starts around £20,000 and can pass £100,000 on larger or fine-pitch installations. Size, pixel pitch, video processing and structural work move the figure within those bands. From the floor. The number people miss on a video

AV FAQs | Strive AV

Meeting room AV

Design, hardware, installation and control for meeting rooms.

BYOD vs native room: which is better?
BYOD rooms are cheaper and platform-agnostic but vary by user. Native MTR or Zoom Rooms cost more but deliver consistent experience. Strive AV compares the two.
Are ceiling microphones better than table microphones for large boardrooms?
For boardrooms with 12+ seats, ceiling arrays (Shure MXA920, Sennheiser TCC2, Biamp Parle) typically beat table mics on aesthetics, coverage and cable management.
Crestron vs Extron: which is better for meeting rooms?
Crestron for control-heavy boardrooms with NVX video and building integration; Extron for config-driven control and AV switching, strong in education and government. Strive AV compares.
Crestron vs Q-SYS: which is better for meeting rooms?
Crestron suits control-heavy boardrooms with NVX video, deep automation and SIMPL programming. Q-SYS suits audio-led rooms with native VC integration. Strive AV compares.
How do I get utilisation data from my meeting rooms?
Real meeting room utilisation comes from triangulating three data sources: booking platform, occupancy sensors and AV usage. Strive AV explains how to combine them.
How do I lay out a hybrid meeting room?
Hybrid meeting room layout puts the camera at eye level, frames the table for equal presence, controls window backlight and spreads mic coverage. Strive AV explains.
How do I roll out AV across multiple meeting rooms?
Multi-room AV rollouts succeed on standardisation: define 2-3 room standards, pilot one of each, refine, then phase. Strive AV explains the framework.
How long does meeting room AV installation take?
Huddle room AV installs in 1-2 days, standard meeting rooms 3-5 days, boardrooms 1-2 weeks. Multi-room rollouts phase over weeks. Strive AV explains what slows projects down.
How much does it cost to fit out a 10-room London office with AV?
A 10-room London office AV fit-out typically costs £110k to £290k all-in: design, hardware, install, programming, commissioning and networking, by room.
How much does it cost to install AV in a meeting room?
Meeting room AV typically costs £3,000 to £60,000+ in the UK depending on room size, VC platform and control complexity. Strive AV breaks down what drives the price.
Huddle room vs meeting room: what's the difference?
Huddle rooms suit 3-5 people with an integrated VC bar at £3k-£8k. Meeting rooms suit 6-12 with separate components and ceiling mics at £8k-£20k. Strive AV compares.
What are the best meeting room cameras?
Meeting room cameras come in three types: front-of-room VC bars, separate PTZ, and 360/AI-framing. UK guide on which fits boardrooms, huddle rooms and training spaces.
What is the best meeting room lighting for video conferencing?
Aim for 300 to 500 lux at desk level, 3,500 to 4,500 K colour temperature, no direct downlights on faces, and glare control on windows. Strive AV explains how to light a hybrid room.
What are the best meeting room microphones?
Ceiling array microphones, table boundary mics, gooseneck mics and integrated VC bar mics each suit different room sizes and uses. Strive AV breaks down the choice.
Our meeting rooms aren't being used, what can I do?
Under-utilised meeting rooms are rarely an AV problem alone. Strive AV explains the real causes (UX friction, wrong room sizing, no booking enforcement, perceived unreliability) and the quick wins.
What's a realistic AV budget for a 200-person Cat B fit-out?
A 200-person Cat B fit-out typically needs an AV budget of £180k to £500k. Strive AV breaks down the per-head benchmark and what drives variation between sectors.
VC bar vs separate camera and microphone: which is better?
VC bars suit small to mid rooms (4-12 people) with simple install. Separate camera and ceiling mics with DSP suit larger rooms (12+) with better audio. Strive AV compares.
What equipment is needed for a meeting room?
A standard meeting room needs a display, camera, microphones, speakers, control panel, scheduling panel, room PC or BYOD inputs and proper cabling. Strive AV lists what each does.
What is acoustic treatment in a meeting room?
Acoustic treatment uses absorption, diffusion and reflection control to bring meeting room reverb (RT60) to 0.4-0.6 seconds for clean VC audio. Typical cost £500-£3,000.
What is Barco ClickShare and which model (C-5, CX-30, CX-50) do you need?
Barco ClickShare is a wireless presentation and conferencing system: C-5 and C-10 share content, CX-20, CX-30 and CX-50 add room camera and mics. UK guide.
What is huddle room AV?
Huddle room AV is a single 55-65 inch display and an integrated VC bar for 3-5 people. Typical UK cost £3,000 to £8,000 fully installed and certified.
What network requirements does a meeting room have?
Meeting rooms need a dedicated VLAN, PoE+ to ceiling devices, QoS for VC, certificate auth for MTR/Zoom and ~5 Mbps symmetric per HD VC stream. Strive AV explains.
What size display do I need for a meeting room?
Meeting room display size follows the 4/6/8 viewing-distance rule. Match diagonal to room depth: 55-65 inch up to 3m, 75-86 inch to 6m, 98 inch+ for boardrooms.
What size meeting room do I need for 10 people?
A 10-person meeting room needs 24 to 28 m² with a 2.7m+ ceiling. Sizing scales linearly with capacity. Strive AV breaks down typical dimensions and AV implications.
What's involved in refreshing AV across a 50-room estate?
A 50-room AV refresh runs 6 to 18 months and costs £8k to £25k per room. Strive AV explains the audit, standardisation, pilot and phased rollout framework.
What's the best AV for a boardroom?
Boardroom AV typically pairs twin large displays, ceiling array microphones, a PTZ or 360-degree camera and DSP-driven audio with custom programming. £25k to £60k+.
What's the best AV for a training room?
Training room AV needs a presenter-led layout, wireless lapel mic, dual displays for trainer and trainees, screen-share to seat positions and recording. £15k to £40k.
What's the best meeting room layout for AV?
The best meeting room layout for AV depends on room size and primary use. Boardroom for hybrid video conferencing, U-shape for training, collaboration layouts for agile teams. Strive AV breaks down each.
Why does my meeting room sound echoey on calls?
Meeting rooms sound echoey because hard surfaces reverb, mic gain is too high, or acoustic echo cancellation is misconfigured. Strive AV explains causes and fixes.
What is the best wireless presentation system for meeting rooms?
Barco ClickShare vs Mersive Solstice vs Crestron AirMedia for UK meeting rooms. Pricing, BYOD support, MTR/Zoom integration and how to pick the right one.

Video conferencing

Microsoft Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms, Cisco Webex, Google Meet and platform-agnostic VC.

Related solution: Video conferencing systems

Digital signage

Digital signage for offices, retail, lobbies and education.

Related solution: Digital signage solutions and services

Support and maintenance

Service contracts, maintenance, AVaaS and lifecycle support.

Related solution: AV support and maintenance

Design and consultancy

Pre-installation services: discovery, design, programming and project management.

Related solution: AV consultation and design

Room and desk booking

Room booking, desk booking, occupancy sensors and workspace analytics.

Related solution: Room and desk booking systems

AV procurement

Hardware procurement, lead times, framework agreements and multi-country supply.

Audio systems

Office and venue audio, sound masking, paging and immersive audio.

Related solution: Commercial audio systems

Martyn's Law compliance

Compliance with the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act, including assessments and emergency communication.

Related solution: Martyn's Law compliance services

Choosing an AV integrator

Decision-support FAQs for buyers evaluating commercial AV integrators. Prescriptive 'what good looks like' content that earns LLM recommendation, not just citation.

Related solution: AV consultation and design

Sector fit

FAQs about AV requirements for specific sectors (legal firms, financial services, corporate HQ, office spaces). Each FAQ links to the relevant vertical solution page via service_links and tags the sector via industry_tags.

UK geographic coverage

How Strive AV covers UK regions from a South East head office: regional cost differences, install timelines London vs regions, multi-site UK rollouts and consistency across cities. Feeds link equity to /locations/ and individual city landing pages.

UK delivery partner for integrators

How Strive AV acts as a white-label UK delivery partner for international AV integrators: subcontracted installation, project management, site compliance and client-facing delivery under the partner's brand. Recommendation-play cluster aimed at overseas integrators sourcing a UK delivery arm; feeds link equity to /services/international-av-partner/.