Most AV is sold as a stack of gear. We design it around how your space makes money and how it stays running, then build it, install it and support it as one accountable partner.
Commercial AV services cover the design, integration, installation and support of the audio, video, control and network systems that make a commercial space work.
The difference between a system that earns its keep and one that frustrates your staff is whether the design started from the business outcome or from a parts list someone pulled off a spec.
We design around the former, because that's where our background is. We think about how your venue makes money, how guests or employees use the space, and how the system stays running after we leave. Then we choose the technology to serve all three.
We're a design-build integrator: we design it, engineer it, build and prove it in our shop, install it, commission it and support it. As a commercial AV company we keep the whole job in-house, and we work with clients locally and nationally, from a single venue to a multi-site rollout.
Tell us what you're trying to build. We'll walk the space, show you what the room can become, and design the system around it before you commit to equipment.
Let's TalkEach one is engineered against your space and your operation, never pulled off a catalog.
Most AV is specified from a parts list, so it never quite fits how the business runs.
We design from the outcome, the operation and the support model together.
Business-outcome design is the core CT POV
What you can tell on a walk-in
Walk into any venue and two things give away whether the AV was designed or just installed.
The first is audio. Can you hear what the operator wants playing, clearly, without it cutting out or fighting the room? Bad audio drives customers away, and so does no audio. Most of it comes from speakers thrown up without accounting for direction, height or how a hard room bounces sound.
The second is sightlines. Was the video placed for the majority of the seating or does half the room have to crane to see it? A lone TV stuck on a wall isn't drawing eyes - it's just in the way.
Both come back to one idea: a screen should be a content source and not a TV on a wall. When audio and sightlines are designed first, the room works for the people in it. When they're an afterthought, no amount of expensive gear fixes the experience.
The difference
Five things separate a designed system from a pile of gear on a wall.
Sightline analysis. We map the views from the actual seats before we place a display, so the room reads from every position that matters.
Audio coverage analysis. We design audio for direction, height and the room's acoustics, zone by zone, instead of hanging speakers and hoping.
Professional gear. A customer rarely sees low-end gear from the front of the room, but the operations team feels it through constant reboots and a system pieced together over years.
A simplified full system. High, mid or low tier by budget, where the simplicity shows up in how easily it runs. You get the strongest version of what your budget supports.
Support that actually resolves. Most issues are solved remotely in under 15 minutes. Around 47% of tickets close in under an hour and roughly 72% within 24 hours, without sending anyone on site.
Design-Build
A bid-spec document is only as good as whoever wrote it, and most take shortcuts. We design around three things at once.
A bid-spec stack usually originates from someone unqualified to write it: an architect who put TVs on a wall but doesn't know where the speakers go; or an IT team that wants the simplest system at the lowest cost to keep it off their plate. Either way, you get a gap between what was specified and what the venue actually needs, and you find out after it's installed.
Our commercial AV design takes three things into account together:
Design-build also lets the real stakeholders see the outcome before it's built, which kills the "I want to change this six months later" problem. The advice we give clients is simple: instead of chasing a fixed number off a spec, set a realistic technology budget and let us build the best commercial AV system for it.
Before you spec anything
Start with the outcome, not the parts list
What we deliver
One team responsible across every layer of the system, so nothing falls through the cracks between commercial AV contractors.
We design and install the full commercial AV stack, bringing every layer together under one team: commercial sound systems with multi-zone audio, video walls and displays, control systems that run the room from one interface, digital signage, distributed AV over a wired backbone and commercial lighting, plus the networking and structured cabling underneath it all.
The design and engineering behind it run through AV consulting and AV system design, and we tie every piece together with AV programming into one control system. Because it's one integrator across all of it, the layers are designed to work together from day one. The rack is built, wired and proven in our shop before it ships, every cable labeled on both ends, so the install crew arrives with a system that already works and a future technician can read every run three years later.
Commercial AV installation companies design, integrate, install and supports the audio, video, control and network systems in a business space, from a sports bar's video walls and zoned audio to a corporate office's conference rooms. The difference between a commercial AV installer and a true integrator is that the latter ties every layer into one system that works together, rather than hanging separate pieces. As a design-build integrator we design around your business outcome, engineer it, build and prove the rack in our shop, install it on site, commission it and support it, locally and nationally, from a single venue to a multi-site rollout. You get one accountable crew instead of a stack of vendors working in silos.
In a bid-spec project, someone writes a specification, then integrators bid to install exactly that. The catch is the spec is only as good as whoever wrote it, and it's often an architect or an IT team working outside their expertise. Resultingly the system that gets installed doesn't match what the venue needs in actuality. Design-build means the same partner designs and delivers the system, taking the technology, the revenue model and the support plan into account together, and letting you see the outcome before it's built. That's what prevents the expensive change orders and the 'I'd change this' regret that show up after a bid-spec job is done.
Generally no, and there's a reason. We need to understand the design to stand behind the system, so we don't do install-only work as a rule. If you bring a parts list, we'll consider it only after reviewing the design documents and running it through our engineering process. Sometimes it's generally right and needs a couple of modifications, sometimes it's good to go. And if it's consumer-grade gear, we won't touch the install. It's not just that we're turning down work. It's that our name goes on whether the system performs, and we can't promise that on a design we didn't vet.
It depends on the size of the space, the systems involved, and the outcome you're after, which is exactly why we don't quote off a generic spec. Most prospects price AV like retail, comparing it to TVs from a big-box store. But a designed system buys operational flexibility and an experience that brings customers back. The better approach is to set a realistic technology budget, and we'll design the strongest system that fits it, with tiered options per location so you can see what each level of investment changes.
We design and integrate the full commercial stack: commercial sound and multi-zone audio, video walls and displays, digital signage, AV control systems, AV programming and the networking and structured cabling underneath. We also offer commercial AV consulting and design as standalone services when a project needs design work before anything is built, which is common on new construction. Because one team handles all of it, the layers are designed to work together from commissioning.
Client successes drive Crunchy Tech to become better. Below is how our customers feel about us.
Just do it. Spend the money. It’s well worth it. It’s not worth your time, hassle, energy, and stress of trying to make it look right and do it right when there’s somebody who has been doing it for years and has perfected the craft.
Just do it. Spend the money. It’s well worth it. It’s not worth your time, hassle, energy, and stress of trying to make it look right and do it right when there’s somebody who has been doing it for years and has perfected the craft.
Understanding the key differences between integrated design-build and traditional design-then-build approaches to commercial AV projects.
Read article arrow_forward
A comprehensive guide to commercial audiovisual installation — what it includes, how it differs from consumer setups, and what to expect.
Read article arrow_forwardTell us about your vision and we'll put together a custom proposal.
