Important Factors When Providing A/V Installation Services

If doing system design work for installs, it’s well worth the time and effort to get a modeling program and learn how to use it. One night with a poorly arrayed system is bad enough ¬ don’t install one that stays that way permanently. It’s smarter and cheaper to do it right the first time.

This type of software and affiliated tools can be useful in a touring business as well. If you haven’t dabbled with one of these programs, frankly, you’ll be amazed at how much the software can teach about system and room behavior.

It’s also extremely beneficial to have, and know how to use, a system analysis program such as (Gold Line) TEF or (Rational Acoustics) Smaart. Careful testing, analysis and tuning are required to maximize the benefit of a new system installed on behalf of a client, and you may be called upon to provide proof of performance once a system is finished.

Further, many consultant-designed jobs require performance documentation as part of the completion paperwork.

Contracting/install can help lower costs on the sound reinforcement side of a business. Most equipment manufacturers reward companies for doing more business, usually in the form of lower prices and freight allowances. Thus quantity purchasing can be leveraged to buy rental inventory at a deeper discount.

Further, trucking and warehouse costs can be amortized over more jobs. And, you might even be able to find a good 1099 subcontractor and turn him/her into a full-time employee, locked in for the concert season.

One other caveat is that timetables can be slippery in the contracting work, so that big church project you begin in the dead of winter ends up needing to be finished during your first big spring festival weekend.

But understanding the idiosyncrasies of the contracting business and staying in control of the details help make it a valuable addition to a hire company’s basket of services.

And if we couldn’t handle pressure, we wouldn’t be doing this, right?