May 30, 2001

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A SMART Surprise

By Gary Kayye, CTS


 

 

 

 

 

Before you read this, a disclaimer: No, SMART Technology is NOT a client of Kayye Consulting. This is just that good - good enough to warrant an entire issue on one, single product introduction that will be talked about by EVERYONE at INFOCOMM in the systems market.

You read that right. SMART Technologies, the manufacturer responsible for creating the entire product category known as electronic white boards, will introduce a totally revolutionary idea at INFOCOMM.

Known internally in SMART by codeword, The Crane, the product is basically a 'boardroom in a box'.

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SMART's Concept: Today, installation of small boardroom and conference room systems take two men (or women) almost one day. You really can't do it with one, in most cases, as it generally takes two people to install a screen and to hang a projector in the ceiling. Smart believes there's a good chance that 70-80% of small systems are close to being identical (i.e. a PC, a VCR, a DVD player, a projector and a screen).

So, enter The Crane.

The Crane includes a console that would house a PC, a VCR, a DVD player, an audio system, a SmartBoard (that's the electronic whiteboard AND the projection screen), projector (designed specifically with the NEC LT-150 in mind) and even a proprietary simple, dedicated control system. It's designed to fit either a 60" SmartBoard or a 72" SmartBoard, so it's not for every room, but for small rooms, it's an all-in-one solution.

The Key: The patent-pending design of The Crane, itself, is the key to this being a creative design. It houses a telescoping arm (a la The Crane) that stretches out from above the center of the SmartBoard screen and it's where the projector is mounted - no installing the projector in the ceiling. The arm houses the cabling that routes the RGBHV, video, control and power signals to the projector.

OK, OK, I know it's not for every installation and it's certainly far from perfect, but it's cool, it's simple (really simple to install and use) and it's like taking the concept of selling projectors as boxes and making it available to for small, simple systems.

Oh, and the word from the few dealers who got a sneak preview of it last week was: wow and awesome. Almost all of them were in the systems integration market and didn't see it as competition, but complimentary to their strategy. They saw it as something that would help them relieve their backlog a bit when they are busy and the client doesn't really require a truly custom integrated solution.

The Keys:

  • The sleek design of the Boom includes a channel for projector cabling and easily folds down for safety and for service.
  • The Console neatly conceals the computer, video players, and the built-in projector control panel incorporates power, source, brightness, contrast and volume controls, eliminating the need for using the projector's remote control.
  • The Console also provides convenient guest-laptop support using the SMART X-Port 10 automatic AV switcher (also found in other SMART products, including Expression 303 and 503 and Rear Projection SMART Board 3000i).

The Price: Under $3500.

Gary Kayye is Chief Visionary of Kayye Consulting - a firm that specializes in providing marketing consulting and training development to the professional audiovisual industry. He spent 12 years at Extron and AMX as VP of Sales and Marketing before founding his own firm. He can be reached at www.kayye.com or via e-mail at gkayye@kayye.com.

 

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